Via Romea Germanica (Germany)

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: courtyard of the former Franciscan friary in Stade, by the statue of Abbot Albert / Scharnitz on the border with Tyrol; the operator ends the German stages in Mittenwald, the Camino Ninja map continues to Scharnitz
• Length: 1,094.8 km
• Duration: 54 stages, average 20.3 km, longest 37.6 km (Dinkelsbühl–Nördlingen)
• Elevation: ↗ 8,900 m / ↘ 7,961 m
• Highest point: 1,010 m at km 1,073.3 near Kaltenbrunn between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Klais; lowest point Stade at 2 m
• Landscape: geest, moor and heath in the north, the Harz and the Thuringian Forest in the middle, Main Franconia and the Tauber valley, the Nördlinger Ries, the Lechfeld, the Pfaffenwinkel and the Werdenfelser Land
• Operator: Förderverein Romweg – Abt Albert von Stade e.V., founded in 2009 in Hornburg, with partners in Austria and Italy
• Waymarking: a pilgrim's staff with the lettering VIA ROMEA GERMANICA on a blue background, mostly as stickers
• Pilgrim passport: Stade–Rome pilgrim stamp passport for 7 € from Ostfalia-Verlag (as of September 2026)
• Accommodation: parish halls and community rooms by arrangement, few true pilgrim hostels, youth hostels, guesthouses and hotels
• Connecting routes: in Scharnitz continue on the Via Romea Germanica (Austria); along the way 16 Ways of St. James cross or accompany you
• Best time: May to October; the Harz, the Thuringian Forest and the Alpine stages can have snow into May

Overview

The Via Romea Germanica is the Rome road of the north. Around 1236 Abbot Albert of St. Mary's Abbey in Stade traveled to the Pope, and in his chronicle, the Annales Stadenses, he left a route description with places and miles. Since 2009 an association has turned it into a waymarked pilgrim route running some 2,200 kilometers from the Elbe to St. Peter's Square. The German section is just under half of that.

You walk through almost all of Germany's upland and cultural landscapes between north and south. First flat through moor and heath, then over the Harz and the Rennsteig, through vineyards on the Main, through the walls of Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, along the Lech to Augsburg and through the Pfaffenwinkel to the Alps. Twice you cross the former inner-German border: beyond Hornburg and near Eußenhausen.

To be honest: this is not a Way of St. James to Santiago but a road to Rome, and the infrastructure is thinner than on the Camino Francés. There are few pilgrim hostels, many places to stay "by arrangement", and you will rarely meet other pilgrims. In return, the Via Romea keeps sharing its path with Ways of St. James.

Other Names

The operator writes VIA ROMEA Germanica; in everyday use the route is simply called Via Romea or Romweg (Rome road), and in the association's name Romweg – Abt Albert von Stade. Italians also say Via Romea di Stade. Historians call the medieval basis the Stader Itinerar (Stade itinerary). Individual sections had their own names: near Celle the road was called Dietweg or Folkweg, over the Harz Trockweg. In Italian, "Romea" denotes a road taken by pilgrims to Rome.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you want to walk a long route through Germany that doesn't stop at state borders, and if you are drawn to history that was already written down in the Middle Ages. Ideal too if you walk the route in sections: almost every stage ends at a railway station or a bus line, and the operator's twelve regions work well as holiday weeks.

To be honest, though, it is not for you if you are looking for hostel life with a pilgrim community: you are often alone, you have to organize accommodation yourself almost everywhere, and many parish halls only open after a phone call. Not for you either if you expect a flat 20-kilometer stage every day: between Dinkelsbühl and Schongau there are three stages of 36 to 38 kilometers that you should split. And in the north there is a lot of asphalt – according to the touring portal, almost half of the very first stage.

Route & Landscape

From the Elbe over the Harz (km 0–393): From Stade the route crosses the geest to Harsefeld and Zeven, through moor and heath via Soltau to Celle (km 199.3), then through more densely settled country to Braunschweig (km 261.5), Wolfenbüttel and Hornburg. Beyond the old border near Osterwieck the path climbs via Wernigerode into the Harz forest and descends via Hasselfelde to Nordhausen (km 392.8).

Through Thuringia and Franconia (km 393–844): Through the Thuringian Basin you reach Gotha (km 500.1) via Bad Langensalza, then cross the Rennsteig to Schmalkalden and Meiningen. Through the Rhön you go on to Schweinfurt and Würzburg (km 690.1), along the Main to Ochsenfurt, through the Tauber valley to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, over the Frankenhöhe to Dinkelsbühl and into the meteorite crater of the Ries to Nördlingen (km 843.6).

From the Danube to the Alps (km 844–1,094.8): The Wörnitz valley leads via Harburg to Donauwörth, the Lech to Augsburg (km 934.3). After the wide Lechfeld the Pfaffenwinkel begins at Schongau. Via Oberammergau and Ettal you reach Garmisch-Partenkirchen, climb to the highest point near Kaltenbrunn, continue to Mittenwald beneath the Karwendel and through the Isar valley to Scharnitz.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We follow the operator's 54 stages; the kilometers come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 1,094.8 km. Two deviations: the official stage end Bellen (stage 5/6) is not on our chain of places, so we use Brockel; and the last stage continues beyond Mittenwald to Scharnitz. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bad Neustadt, Schweinfurt and Rothenburg lie 0.6 to 1.0 kilometers off the route.

1. Stade → Harsefeld (23.5 km) — On a causeway through the Frankenmoor to the former abbey of Harsefeld.
2. Harsefeld → Zeven (28.3 km) — Wide open land and small villages to the St.-Viti church.
3. Zeven → Gyhum (14.7 km) — Flat, on the edge of the Königsmoor.
4. Gyhum → Scheeßel (16.9 km) — North German lowlands; Scheeßel has all services.
5. Scheeßel → Brockel (14.3 km) — Moorland; do your shopping in Brockel.
6. Brockel → Neuenkirchen (20.5 km) — Along the Hahnenbach through the moor to the pilgrim hostel in the parish barn.
7. Neuenkirchen → Soltau (11.2 km) — Heath and moor on the western edge of the Lüneburg Heath.
8. Soltau → Wietzendorf (15.6 km) — Forest along the railway to the Jakobikirche (St. James's Church).
9. Wietzendorf → Bergen (17.4 km) — Through the Wietzendorfer Moor, clearings and copses.
10. Bergen → Sülze (10.9 km) — Past burial mounds to Wohlde and into the old salt village.
11. Sülze → Celle (26.0 km) — Villages, then a long stretch through forest into the former ducal residence.
12. Celle → Eltze (28.7 km) — Via Wienhausen and its convent heading south.
13. Eltze → Braunschweig (33.5 km) — Long, via Rietze and Wendeburg.
14. Braunschweig → Wolfenbüttel (14.7 km) — A short day into Lessing's town.
15. Wolfenbüttel → Hornburg (23.1 km) — Via Börßum to the castle town on the edge of the Harz.
16. Hornburg → Osterwieck (11.8 km) — Across the old inner-German border.
17. Osterwieck → Wernigerode (21.0 km) — Field tracks, a gentle climb, the Charlottenlust viewpoint.
18. Wernigerode → Elbingerode (11.9 km) — Through the Harz forest onto the plateau.
19. Elbingerode → Hasselfelde (18.6 km) — Past the limestone quarry and Königshütte.
20. Hasselfelde → Neustadt/Harz (21.1 km) — Mostly forest, almost level, downhill at the end.
21. Neustadt/Harz → Nordhausen (9.1 km) — The shortest stage, into the open southern Harz.
22. Nordhausen → Münchenlohra (19.1 km) — Small villages towards the Thuringian Basin.
23. Münchenlohra → Ebeleben (28.2 km) — Hills of the Thuringian Basin, long and lonely.
24. Ebeleben → Kirchheilingen (19.5 km) — Villages and fields.
25. Kirchheilingen → Bad Langensalza (14.3 km) — On an old railway line via Thamsbrück.
26. Bad Langensalza → Gotha (26.2 km) — Rolling hills, and at the end the former residence town.
27. Gotha → Friedrichroda (17.9 km) — Climb out of the basin to the Thuringian Forest.
28. Friedrichroda → Schmalkalden (21.9 km) — Via the Spießberghaus and the Rennsteig, descent via Floh-Seligenthal.
29. Schmalkalden → Meiningen (22.5 km) — Wooded, then down into the Werra valley.
30. Meiningen → Mellrichstadt (23.5 km) — Forest and fields, crossing the old border near Eußenhausen.
31. Mellrichstadt → Bad Neustadt (16.7 km) — Through the Streu valley into open hills.
32. Bad Neustadt → Münnerstadt (12.5 km) — Hills and forests of the Rhön.
33. Münnerstadt → Schweinfurt (28.3 km) — A broad valley, finally through the suburbs.
34. Schweinfurt → Bergtheim (27.5 km) — Along the Main via Wipfeld, then into the countryside.
35. Bergtheim → Würzburg (19.2 km) — Through the fields into the bishop's city.
36. Würzburg → Ochsenfurt (23.2 km) — Up the Main valley, via Eibelstadt and Sommerhausen.
37. Ochsenfurt → Aub (15.8 km) — Via Hopferstadt and Oellingen through the Ochsenfurter Gau.
38. Aub → Rothenburg ob der Tauber (27.4 km) — Into the Tauber valley, via Tauberzell and Detwang.
39. Rothenburg → Schillingsfürst (15.7 km) — Up onto the Frankenhöhe.
40. Schillingsfürst → Feuchtwangen (20.9 km) — Along the Romantic Road, via Kloster Sulz.
41. Feuchtwangen → Dinkelsbühl (12.9 km) — Into the walled town.
42. Dinkelsbühl → Nördlingen (37.6 km) — The longest stage, via Wilburgstetten, Fremdingen and Wallerstein into the Ries; split it in Fremdingen.
43. Nördlingen → Harburg (27.4 km) — Open country and forest, via Mönchsdeggingen to the castle.
44. Harburg → Donauwörth (14.9 km) — Along the Wörnitz to where it flows into the Danube.
45. Donauwörth → Meitingen (26.0 km) — Small villages, Kloster Holzen.
46. Meitingen → Augsburg (22.4 km) — Along the Lech canal into the city.
47. Augsburg → Igling (37.1 km) — Across the Lechfeld and via Klosterlechfeld; split it in Untermeitingen.
48. Igling → Schongau (36.2 km) — Via Denklingen, Hohenfurch and Altenstadt; split it in Denklingen.
49. Schongau → Rottenbuch (17.4 km) — Through the Ammer valley; Peiting stays 3.5 kilometers off the route.
50. Rottenbuch → Saulgrub (11.1 km) — Over the Echelsbach Bridge, first views of the Alps.
51. Saulgrub → Oberammergau (12.7 km) — Into the Ammergau Alps.
52. Oberammergau → Garmisch-Partenkirchen (19.2 km) — Via Ettal and Oberau, Farchant into the Loisach valley.
53. Garmisch-Partenkirchen → Klais (12.6 km) — To the highest point near Kaltenbrunn.
54. Klais → Scharnitz (14.2 km) — To Mittenwald, the official end in Germany, and through the Isar valley to the border.

The difficulty lies not in the elevation but in the length and the logistics. Only the Harz, the Thuringian Forest and the edge of the Alps involve real climbs; in the north there is a lot of asphalt. You should split the long stages in the Ries and along the Lech; the short ones in the Harz and on the heath you can combine.

"Bone Tirri, Romam ire volo": Abbot Albert writes a travel guide

Albert of Stade became abbot of the Benedictine abbey of St. Mary in Stade in 1232. Around 1236 he went to Rome to have Pope Gregory IX approve a stricter, Cistercian-style rule for his monastery. The Pope agreed; the monks at home did not. In 1240 Albert joined the Franciscans at the Johanniskloster, in whose courtyard the route begins today, and there he wrote his world chronicle up to the year 1256.

In the middle of this chronicle, at the year 1152, he inserted a conversation between two monks, Tirri and Firri. The two share wine through arithmetic puzzles – historians of mathematics regard it as the very first liquid-pouring puzzle – and then Firri asks the way: "Bone Tirri, Romam ire volo, expedias me de itinere." Tirri promises: "Loca tibi nominabo et miliaria interponam." And he names places and miles, for several routes over the Mont Cenis, the Gotthard, the Great St. Bernard and the Brenner. In the 1950s the historian Heinrich Krüger checked the figures and found them so accurate that they fell within the tolerance of a modern odometer.

For you this means: today's Via Romea Germanica follows the Brenner variant, which according to the association Albert took on his way home – only in the opposite direction, from north to south. The only surviving manuscript of the chronicle, a 14th-century copy, is kept in the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel, at the end of stage 14. To be honest: in many places the places Albert actually named differ from the waymarked route, and the sources disagree on whether the journey took place in 1236 or 1237.

From a founding meeting to a pilgrim's staff: how the road came back

On 30 January 2009, municipalities from the edge of the Harz to Bavaria founded the Förderverein Romweg – Abt Albert von Stade in Hornburg; its first chairman was the mayor of Hornburg. Today 28 German towns and municipalities belong to it. Together with Italian partners the shared logo was created, the pilgrim's staff on a blue background, and in 2018 the European umbrella association with partners from Germany, Austria and Italy.

In autumn 2020 the Council of Europe certified the Via Romea Germanica as a Cultural Route. In 2024 it was placed under special review, and the Council of Europe's route page now states that the certification was withdrawn in 2025; the German association does not mention this on its website. The route itself is unaffected: waymarking, pilgrim passport and stamp points continue to be maintained, and in 2025, for example, four new stamps were added in the Fremdingen parish community.

Highlights Along the Way

• Johanniskloster Stade (km 0) — the start, in the courtyard of the former Franciscan friary by the statue of Abbot Albert, who wrote his chronicle here.
• Braunschweig (km 261.5) — city of Henry the Lion with its cathedral and Burgplatz; crossing point with the Braunschweiger Jakobsweg.
• Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel (km 276.2) — home of the only manuscript of the Annales Stadenses.
• Wernigerode (km 332.1) — half-timbered town with a castle above the rooftops, gateway to the Harz.
• Würzburg (km 690.1) — bishop's city on the Main with the Residenz and cathedral; end and start of several Ways of St. James.
• Rothenburg ob der Tauber (km 756.5) — first the church of Detwang in the Tauber valley, then the walls of the old town; three Ways of St. James start or end here.
• Nördlingen (km 843.6) — town with a fully preserved wall in the middle of the Ries, the crater of a meteorite impact almost 15 million years ago.
• Augsburg (km 934.3) — Roman city on the Lech with its cathedral and the Fuggerei, entered together with the Augsburger Jakobsweg.
• Rottenbuch (km 1,025.0) — collegiate church at the start of the Pfaffenwinkel, whose name ("priests' corner") comes from its density of monasteries and pilgrimage churches.
• Oberammergau and Ettal (km 1,048.8 and 1,055.8) — the Passion Play village and the Benedictine abbey of Ettal on the Ettal saddle.
• Mittenwald (km 1,089.2) — official end of the German section beneath the Karwendel, famous for violin making.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Most take the train to Stade or join somewhere along the way, often in sections over several years. But many arrive on foot from a Way of St. James, because the Via Romea shares stretches or crossing points with a dozen of them:

• Via Jutlandica — comes from Denmark and runs alongside for the first 29 kilometers or so, as far as between Hollenbeck and Kakerbeck.
• Via Baltica — some 38 kilometers together from Harsefeld via Zeven to Brümmerhof, then west towards Bremen.
• Via Scandinavica — a short shared stretch near Celle and Wienhausen.
• Braunschweiger Jakobsweg — crossing in Braunschweig.
• Via Regia (Deutschland) — crossing in Gotha.
• Jakobsweg Vacha–Fulda–Würzburg — ends in Würzburg.
• Fränkisch-Schwäbischer Jakobsweg — starts in Würzburg and runs partly parallel as far as Rothenburg.
• Jakobsweg Main-Taubertal — its last 14 kilometers through the Tauber valley to Rothenburg are shared.
• Mittelfränkischer Jakobsweg — ends in Rothenburg, where the Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Speyer and the Jakobsweg Rothenburg–Rottenburg begin.
• Way of St James Nuremberg–Ulm — shared from Wallerstein via Nördlingen to Schmähingen.
• Ostbayerischer Jakobsweg — some 20 kilometers together around Mönchsdeggingen and Harburg.
• Augsburger Jakobsweg — largely shared from Harburg via Donauwörth to Meitingen and on the way into Augsburg.
• Munich Way of St James — some 10 kilometers together near Rottenbuch.
• Jakobsweg Isar-Inn — shared from Klais to Mittenwald.

On these sections many churches are already used to pilgrims.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes, all the way to Rome. In Scharnitz the Via Romea Germanica (Austria) begins: 82.1 kilometers over the Seefeld plateau, through Innsbruck and the Wipptal to the Brenner. From there the Via Romea Germanica (Italy) leads 1,017.9 kilometers via Bolzano, Trento, Padua, Ferrara, Ravenna, the Apennines and Arezzo to Rome – together with the German section, 2,194.8 kilometers.

From Montefiascone the Via Romea runs practically on the Via Francigena (Italy). In Rome the pilgrim office Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi issues the Testimonium if you have walked at least the last 100 kilometers and present your stamped pilgrim passport.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. You don't need a pilgrim credential here just to be allowed to stay overnight, but many parish halls take you in more readily with one, and in Rome it is a condition for the Testimonium. The official Stade–Rome pilgrim stamp passport costs 7 € from Ostfalia-Verlag (as of September 2026) and has room for all stamps as far as Rome; order it in advance. With the Camino Ninja App you have the map and track offline; the easiest way to plan the route is directly in the app, where you put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation right along with them.

Sort out accommodation early. The association keeps an accommodation directory for Germany and Tyrol, explicitly without any claim to completeness. Many entries are parish halls and community rooms with "reception by arrangement" – so call a day or two ahead. In cities such as Braunschweig or Augsburg there are youth hostels, and in Würzburg the Exerzitienhaus Himmelspforten retreat house has pilgrim beds.

Closures and weather. In summer 2026 all hiking trails between Ettal and Oberau were closed until probably the end of August; the association recommended the bus from Ettal to Oberau or a longer detour via Bad Kohlgrub and Eschenlohe (as of September 2026). Before the Alpine stages, check whether the closure has been lifted. The Harz, the Thuringian Forest and the stretch from Oberammergau onward can still have snow in April.

What the journey will cost you

The formalities are cheap: pilgrim passport 7 €, stamps and Testimonium free of charge, as far as the sources say (as of September 2026). For beds there are hardly any published prices. The pilgrim hostel in the parish barn of Neuenkirchen charges 15 €, 25 € with a linen pack; according to its 2025 price list, the Braunschweig youth hostel charges adults 48.60 € with breakfast in a dormitory.

Expect a mix: some cheap nights in parish halls, many in guesthouses and inns at German rural prices. Our estimate, not verified: 50 to 80 € per day with guesthouses and meals out, considerably less if you often sleep in parish halls and cook for yourself. If you walk in sections, add the train fares.

Getting Here

To the start. You can reach Stade from Hamburg by S-Bahn or regional train; the station is on the edge of the old town, and the Johanniskloster is a few minutes' walk away.

From the finish. Scharnitz lies on the Mittenwald railway between Innsbruck and Garmisch-Partenkirchen; from there you can travel directly to Innsbruck or via Garmisch to Munich.

• Operator: viaromeagermanica.de — stages, accommodation directory, stamp points, current closures
• Pilgrim passport: ostfalia-verlag.de — Stade–Rome pilgrim stamp passport, 7 €
• Rail: bahn.de — connections to Stade and from Scharnitz ---