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
Part 2: Elisabethpfad
Part 3: Lahn Camino (you are currently reading this part)
Part 4: Mosel Camino.
Part 3
Lahn Camino – from Marburg to Lahnstein
After Marburg, I continued walking through a very beautiful low mountain range landscape. On the first section to Wetzlar, the Lahnwanderweg trail was my home. Like the Way of St. James, this trail is very well signposted as far as Marburg. After two overnight stays and three days of hiking, I was on the actual Lahn Camino.
From the Lahn Camino onwards, there were fewer guesthouses, so I often stayed in hotels or, on a few occasions, in vacation apartments. Here, too, I kept to my rhythm and always booked my accommodation about a week in advance.
When I was preparing for my Way of St. James, I read in many pilgrim reports that you get used to the rucksack and the weight by the third day and after a while you even miss it when you’re out and about in the evening without it.
For me, my rucksack was a good companion from day one and it didn’t bother me or weigh me down. One thing I can’t confirm for myself, however, is that I never missed it when I took it off at the end of my day’s stage! I always enjoyed being out and about in the evening without my rucksack. The same applied to my hiking boots. I have very, very good hiking boots, so I didn’t have a single blister the whole way. That was a real blessing for me. Even with the shoes, I was happy when I took them off in the evening and could put on my light sneakers to organize something to eat or to look around the city. After my Way of St. James and many other hikes this year, I had my hiking boots resoled. This way, my shoes can accompany me for a long time to come.
For those who are interested, I had bought a rucksack from Osprey for the trail, my hiking boots, which I already had before, are from Hanwag. I had Falke socks for hiking. I had also tried the double-layered Jakobsweg socks, but they were far too tight around my ankles, so they cut in, which was very uncomfortable after a short time, especially in hot temperatures.
Of all four Camino de Santiago routes, the signposting on the Lahn Camino was the least pronounced. In some places, I was glad that I had downloaded the GPS data onto my cell phone. That way I always knew exactly where I was and where I had to continue walking.
The scenery along the Lahn was beautiful again! Midsummer returned on a few days. Here I was able to enjoy the temperatures more intensely as there was plenty of shade. This made hiking a lot easier and lightened the load on my back as I no longer had to carry as much water as at the start.
The path along the Lahn is more beautiful again, with great views along the steep banks and valleys and with beautiful forests and fields. I hadn’t heard of most of the places along the way before. So I was able to rediscover a new and very beautiful part of Germany for myself.
The most impressive thing for me on this stretch was Limburg Cathedral. Until then, I only knew the cathedral from driving past it on the highway, it can be seen from the A3, and of course from the news. My route to Limburg took me under the A3, and my first view of the cathedral was through the pillars of the highway bridge.
From here I continued to Dietz, where I spent the night in the youth hostel at the castle. In retrospect, this night turned out to be the most expensive of my trip. I didn’t have a youth hostel pass and bought a six-month pass because I wanted to spend the night at the castle. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that I was signing up for a subscription, so when I got home I found out that I still had to pay the membership fee for 2021. What a shame! But it’s not worth getting angry about it, because I had a pleasant night within the historic walls.
I came across German history again in Bad Ems. The so-called Ems Dispatch from King Wilhelm of Prussia (later Kaiser Wilhelm I) to Otto von Bismarck, which was one of the triggers of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, was sent from here.
On my Lahn Camino, I noticed how my perception of luxury changed completely. I always washed by hand in between and once a week I was able to use a washing machine. It makes a huge difference to be able to wash clothes in the machine. When I took my laundry out of the washing machine at a hostel at the end of the Lahn Camino, I noticed the smell of freshly washed laundry and thought: What a luxury, freshly washed laundry! I never thought about that at home.
I also found that I could get by with very few things without any problems. My rucksack weighed 7.8 kg without water and I didn’t miss a thing.
The Lahn Camino ends where the Lahn flows into the Rhine, opposite Stolzenfels Castle, where the Moselle Camino begins.
Conclusion of the Lahn Camino:
Luxury is the little things and I don’t need much.
My stops on the Lahn Camino:
- Fronhausen
- Krofdorf-Gleiberg
- Wetzlar
- Weilburg
- Villmar
- Diez
- Obernhof
- Bad Ems
- Lahnstein
Continue to Part 4: Moselle Camino
