Gaby Christensen

Gaby Christensen: garden and landscape planner, beekeeper, city guide, preacher and, above all, enthusiastic Lüdinghausen resident

Gaby Christensen loves Lüdinghausen. The people, the town, the landscape, the castles, the nature. "I can't imagine a more beautiful city to live in," she says. Her favorite places? Ludgerusplatz by the church. And the Borg. Why? "The Borg is right in the middle of life. Everything is here: Fauna, flora, water, the old mill. People of all generations bustle about. And Frantz and Annette Wittkamp's happiness chair symbolizes the Cittaslow idea, which is very close to my heart."

The 65-year-old goes into raptures when she talks about her adopted home town. "We have a high quality of life here. There are great cafés and restaurants in the city, there's a lot going on here culturally. And the retail sector is so diverse that I buy almost everything in town." Just like Cittaslow! The native of Ulm once landed here for professional reasons and stayed because she likes it here so much.

Serenity when gardening

Gaby Christensen lives on an old Münsterland farmstead near Seppenrade. Everything is in bloom, the chickens are clucking and the bees are buzzing. The garden and landscape designer has created a little garden paradise here. "My garden is also my favorite place," she says, "and my place to relax. I don't need a gym, a sun studio or meditation. I get all of that in my garden." However, serenity is very important to her when gardening. "If you jump up at every weed you see, you can't enjoy your garden."

Gaby Christensen discovered her love of plants and nature as a child. "My parents and granddad set me a great example. My mother loved perennials and my father would throw his tie aside when he came home from work and go to his tomatoes." Even as a child, she had her own flower bed and planted flowers there that she bought with her pocket money. "Pink bellis" - she still remembers them today. And they still bloom on her terrace today.

After graduating from high school, the Lüdinghausen native first did an apprenticeship as a gardener and then studied garden and landscape planning. "It's my absolute dream job," she says. She enjoys sharing her passion and therefore regularly opens her garden to the public. "The open garden - it's like a garden party where you don't know who the guests are. It's a lot of fun to get talking to people."

Passing on her love for Lüdinghausen

Gaby Christensen has found her "second dream job" (quote) at Lüdinghausen Marketing - as a city guide and as a member of staff in the tourist information office, or as project manager for garden and Cittaslow topics. "Here I can pass on my love of nature, sustainability and, above all, Lüdinghausen. I also get to meet lots of different people and I really enjoy that."

Lots of voluntary work

But that's not all: the 65-year-old has been a volunteer in the Protestant church for many years. She was a presbyter for a long time and is now a preacher, which means she is allowed to conduct church services, weddings and marriage ceremonies. In her church work, ecumenism is particularly close to her heart. "Other forms, other times, other places - that's the only way the church has a chance of surviving," she is convinced. And her success proves her right - no church service has as many visitors as the ecumenical open-air service at Vischering Castle. Incidentally, Gaby Christensen is also a hobby beekeeper. She actually only went to the beekeepers' association because she was interested in the subject and wanted to find out more. "And barely two months later, I had my own bee colony," she recalls with a smile.

Gaby Christensen has always been involved in the town: On the parents' council at the kindergarten, as chair of the school care committee, chair of the support association... "It's a matter of course for me. And I get a lot in return!" Nadine Wenge