Summertime in Brandenburg.

This series of pictures taken at the small town of Premnitz in Brandenburg has a personal narrative to it, recalling shared moments in family as much as a flavour of past GDR life.

100 km West of Berlin, Premnitz ist the home to Gerda and Winfried, the grandparents of my brother-in-law. For a couple of summers now, we have been kindly invited to spend summer time together with my sister and her family.

Not without pride, Winfried recounts how he built the little house by himself in the 1970s, when scarcity and surveillance in former GDR made this a challenge demanding a great deal of ingenuity and courage. Ever since, it has been a place where the family comes together. A place that exhales the kind and welcoming attitude of the grandparents.

For us, vacation in Premnitz includes fishing, sailing on the Havel on Paul's little boat, swimming and hiking; and gardening with great-grandfather for the little ones. And obviously we don't miss a single Kaffee-Kuchen (the German tea time) kindly prepared by Gerda.

This series is an attempt to capture these simple pleasures and the unique atmosphere invoking memories of former GDR vacation time.