In 2020, Jakob Engel walked his Way of St. James from Görlitz to Trier in 45 days. On his 1010 km long route, he set off from Görlitz in August in midsummer temperatures and arrived in Trier in the fall and in the rain on October 2, walking four official German Camino de Santiago routes in succession. We have therefore divided his pilgrimage report into these four articles:
Part 1: Via Regia (you are currently reading this part)
Part 2: Elisabethpfad
Part 3: Lahn Camino
Part 4: Mosel Camino.
Part 1
Via Regia – from Görlitz to Eisenach
What a beautiful path and what an experience!
As I said, I started in Görlitz and walked via Bautzen, Leipzig, Freyburg, Naumburg, Buchenwald concentration camp and Erfurt to Eisenach. From here, I followed the Elisabeth Trail via many small towns to Marburg. From Marburg to Wetzlar, the official start of the Lahn Camino, I walked along the Lahn Hiking Trail. From there, I walked via Weilburg, Villmar, Limburg and Bad Ems to Lahnstein. The Moselle Camino started on the opposite side of the Rhine to Lahnstein at Stolzenfels Castle and ran via Alken, Traben-Trabach and Monzel to Trier. The official end of the Moselle Camino is at the grave of the apostle Matthias, the only apostle buried north of the Alps. My route ended a good 2 km further on in Trier Cathedral. I knew from the first day of planning that I wanted to end my walk there.
Although I didn’t collect any stamps, I got a pilgrim’s certificate at the pilgrims’ office opposite the cathedral. Thank you Carmen for making this possible 🙂
The ecumenical pilgrimage route, as the Via Regia is also known, leads across wide, open fields for a large part of the way. For the most part, the path is flat as a flounder, more or less forest-free and also leads over some longer asphalt paths. In Germany’s smallest wine-growing region, the Saale-Unstrut area, it gets a bit hillier. Near Weimar, I was able to walk up the Ettersberg, where the Buchenwald concentration camp is located. The route then continues relatively flat and before Eisenach I enjoyed being able to run through a forest and over a mountain, the Hörsel.
There are many pilgrims’ hostels along the Via Regia. It is possible to stay overnight in hostels along the entire route. Some of the hostels were also closed due to Corona. However, I had decided to stay in guesthouses. Apart from corona, this was also because most hostels require a sleeping bag and a sleeping mat. I didn’t want to carry both as extra weight on my back on my way. There are plenty of guesthouses in most places. In the beginning, I found that it can take a long time to find accommodation at short notice. In Bautzen, I was only successful on the 13th call. However, this difficulty was the real exception until Treis-Karden on the Moselle. After my experience in Bautzen, I always booked the guesthouses about a week in advance. I later found out that for some guesthouses the effort of accommodating someone for one night is too much and so they don’t accept pilgrims.
What I found very impressive on the Via Regia was 1000 years of German history. I passed several 1000-year-old castles and many old and beautiful churches. Naumburg Cathedral is a church that impressed me more than almost any other. And with my pilgrim’s pass, I got in free of charge. This also applies to other churches, such as Merseburg Cathedral. I kept coming across Martin Luther along the way, especially in Erfurt and at Wartburg Castle, where he translated the Bible into German. Johann Sebastian Bach is also everywhere. I was in St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he worked for a long time, in the house where he was born in Eisenach and in the church where he was baptized.
I deviated from the Via Regia at Buttelstedt. As it was difficult to find accommodation in Buttelstedt, I took the opportunity and took the bus to Weimar in about 15 minutes. Here I was able to follow in the footsteps of Goethe and Schiller. From Weimar, I walked to the Buchenwald concentration camp. This day of recent German history was the most strenuous of my journey. On the one hand, there was a change in the weather and on the other, I found the visit emotionally exhausting.
Up until the day before my visit, it was warm and midsummer. On the day itself it was only around 16-18 degrees, cloudy and stormy. The concentration camp is situated in an exposed location at the top of the Ettersberg and I was freezing during the two-hour guided tour, which was very well done, and I found the strong wind very exhausting. However, the weather suited the depressing location. Despite the circumstances, I am glad that I deviated from the official Way of St. James and visited the concentration camp! Visits like this always make me realize in a very vivid and tangible way that we must prevent something like this from happening again, in whatever form.
After Buchenwald, the temperatures were more pleasant, so walking was easier. Erfurt was my next stop after Buchenwald, a really beautiful city with a very pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. Before Eisenach, the low mountain range I had longed for began with the Hörsel. Here I was able to enjoy the forest for the first time in a long time.
The Via Regia ended for me in Eisenach after about 400 km. Before I continued on the Elisabeth Trail, I allowed myself two days of rest.
Conclusion of the Via Regia:
The vastness of the landscape and the heat along the Via Regia was the right start for me to detach myself from my everyday life and broaden my horizons.
Hiking and experiencing 1000 years of German history impressively showed me my roots and was therefore a good foundation for my future path!
My stops on the Via Regia/ the ecumenical pilgrimage path:
- Melaune
- Bautzen
- Kamenz
- Königsbrück
- Grossenhain
- Strehla
- Dahlen
- Wurzen
- Leipzig
- Schkeudiz (here I briefly deviated from the Way of St. James, as the 30 km to Merseburg were too long for me at over 30 degrees)
- Merseburg
- Freyburg
- Naumburg
- Eckhardsberga
- Weimar (the end of my route that day was actually Buttelstedt, I didn’t find any accommodation there, so I took the bus to Weimar, a very nice decision)
- Daasdorf am Berge (south of the Buchenwald concentration camp. I only hiked on the Via Regia again from Erfurt)
- Erfurt
- Gotha
- Eisenach
Continue to part 2: Elisabeth Trail
