Nature photographer Dirk Manderbach from Wilnsdorf has created a stunning 2026 calendar that captures the wildlife and plants of the Siegerland region in extraordinary moments. The calendar, titled "Siegerland Wilderness - Tiny and Beautiful," showcases twelve impressive photographs that reveal the hidden natural beauty still thriving in this German region.
Manderbach possesses not only the necessary equipment but also a trained photographer's eye that recognizes beautiful subjects and evaluates their potential in the camera viewfinder. His background as a studied biologist gives him a significant advantage in wildlife photography. Understanding how specific insects move on particular plants, or knowing that certain birds don't fly alone, helps him predict and capture natural behaviors that might otherwise be missed.
The photographer's expertise in animal behavior and habitat requirements makes his work more efficient, though he acknowledges that predictability in nature always has its limits. His son Heiner Manderbach designed the calendar layout, creating an elegant presentation of these remarkable images that document the region's shrinking natural habitats.
Manderbach still finds the wilderness he dreams of in these locations, even though red deer (featured in September) and roe deer (August) are the only mammals portrayed that have adapted to survive in human-altered landscapes. The truly wild refuges of Germany have shrunk to tiny islands within cultural landscapes that continue to move further away from nature.
Even private gardens can serve as crucial wildlife habitats. Visitors to Manderbach's naturalistic garden at his home on the village outskirts immediately notice the buzzing and humming of numerous insects during summer months. Flowers bloom everywhere, creating welcome oases for birds flying over cleared agricultural fields, as well as for butterflies and beetles.
The calendar showcases remarkable close-up encounters throughout the year. The Yellow-banded Furrow Bee (July) appears to compete with a bright yellow composite flower in his perennial garden for brilliance. The three spring months feature tiny ecosystem contributors in grand detail: a Peacock butterfly shakes off the cold winter days in March while feeding on nectar from white cherry blossoms, a honey bee dusts itself with pollen while moving through delicate pink apple blossoms in April, and a May bug hangs upside down from a rose leaf in the lush growth of May.
"Wilderness still happens, even right outside our front door," Manderbach explains, trusting in the complex interactions between plant and animal life. Living creatures have always practiced adaptation. A Robin waits quietly on a lichen-covered branch during a winter snow shower, while jackdaws call to each other as they fly over bare treetops on a clear February afternoon.
These momentary encounters with remaining wilderness hold special importance for Manderbach. Selecting from thousands of photographs, he chose images that tell stories about real experiences in his homeland of Siegerland. The photographer draws inspiration from Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky's famous quote: "Beauty will save the world." This philosophy guides his work and gives him hope for the survival of local wilderness areas.
The DIN-A3 format calendar "Siegerland Wilderness - Tiny and Beautiful" is available at several local retailers, including Alpha Bookstore at Francke-Buch GmbH Siegen on Sandstraße 1, Hugendubel in the City-Galerie, and the farm shop at Birkenhof in Wilgersdorf. Photography enthusiasts can follow Manderbach's work on his Instagram account (foto_dima) and Facebook page (fotodirkmanderbach), where he continues to share his discoveries of the region's natural beauty.
