Via Romea Germanica Day 2: Harsefeld - Heeslingen

 Alles beginnt mit Einem Traum

(It all begins with a dream)

- on the cover of the guest book at St Michael's Catholic Church pilgrim accomodation in Harsefeld 

I was in no hurry to leave the comfort of my room at the Catholic church in Harsefeld in the morning, as it had rained overnight and the foecast said that the weather was supposed to improve around 9 o'clock. I made porridge and coffee and even spent some time stitching some patches that were at risk of coming off my backpack. Then I ventured outside, but only down the road to Eiscafé Dante, Harsefeld's local bar and ice cream parlour, run by Italians. The volunteers at the Catholic church had said they would be tickled to hear that I was walking to Rome. Café owner Paolo, from Treviso, was happy to talk in his native tongue, and even offered me a free glass of freshly squeezed orange juice!

By this time it was 9 and had in fact stopped raining, so I headed out of town along a cycling path to the village of Hollenback. Cycling paths in flat places can be monotonous, but this one had plenty to look at along the way.

Pile of rocks where a tall tree used to be

Honesty shop

The trail left the cycling path to cut across the fields... where I soon found myself wishing for a return to paved surfaces :)

My route did in fact soon return to a paved cycling path running beside a road, with the promising sign "Heeslingen: 15 km". I decided to stick to this straight paved road and straighten out a kink in the Via Romea Germanica, given the strong wind and changeable weather; even when the cycling lane suddenly ended, it was no problem to walk along the edge of the road, as there was very little traffic. 

Oersdorf

This road brought me to the village of Oersdorf, where I sat down to rest in a bus shelter and watch some threateningblack clouds blow over. Then I continued onto the Jacobsweg/Napoleonsweg: a dead straight road used by pilgrims on the Way of St. James and the Via Romea as a safe route between the monasteries of Stade, Harsefeld and Heeslingen. The path, also used by merchants and traders, was widened to a 24-metre road by Napoleon's troops when they moved towards Stade. 

The area is scattered with boulders weighing several tons that were transported to the area from Scandinavia during the last ice age; the local history association in Ottendorf has positioned a number of them along the path, converting some into picnic tables and engraving others as commemorative stones.

This stone marks the spot where an airplane crashed in 1945, and is surrounded by aircraft parts found on the site

By the time I reached the end of the Napoleonsweg I could see the spire of the church in Heeslingen. When I finally reached the church, it was closed, so I went to look for a café where I could stay warm while I waited for the agreed time of arrival at my hostess Brigitte's home. 

The church in Heeslingen is the oldest in the area

As I sipped my peppermint tea and demolished my cinnamon snail, as they call them here, a message arrived from Brigitte saying it was all right if I arrived earlier, and in fact she could come and pick me up in Heeslingen right away. And so I travelled the final three kilometres to her home in a Smart Car instead of on foot! That was great because I was quite exhausted after being out in the wind all day.

Brigitte and her husband are retired radio hosts! They live in a gigantic farmhouse that belonged to her parents, where they enjoy hosting cultural events and meetings, and receiving guests of all kinds, including pilgrims. She gave me a room on the top floor, where her painting studio is, and left me to rest until dinner time. Then the three of us enjoyed a great dinner of salad and quiche, strawberries and cream.

Harsefeld - Heeslingen 23 km

Via Romea Germanica Day 1: Stade - Harsefeld

Du pilgerst mit Respekt
Du pilgerst aus eigenem Anlass.
Du pilgerst auf eigene Verantwortung.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor den Mitpilgern.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor den Gastegebern.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor der Landschaft.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor den Tier- und Planzenschonzeiten.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor den Bedürfnissen deines Körpersnach Wasser, Speise und Schalf.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor den spirituellen Bedürfnissen anderer und deiner selbst.
Du pilgerst mit Respekt vor der Gemeinschaft im Glauben, in der Liebe und in der Hoffnung.
Du pilgerst auf einem Pilgerweg, einem Erbe der christlichen Kulturlandschaft, auf dem andere noch nach dir pilgern werden; du pilgerst mit Respekt. 

You go on a pilgrimage with respect
You go on a pilgrimage of your own accord.
You go on a pilgrimage under your own responsibility.
You go on a pilgrimage with respect for other pilgrims.
You go on a pilgrimage with respect for your hosts.
You go on a pilgrimage with respect for the seasons of the animals and plants.
You go on a pilgrimage with respect for your body's needs for water, food and sleep.
You go on a pilgrimage with respect for the spiritual needs of others and yourself.
You go on a pilgrimage with respect for the community, in faith, in love and in hope.
You go on a pilgrimage on a pilgrim path, with the heritage of a Christian cultural landscape, in which others will continue to go on pilgrimage; you go on a pilgrimage with respect. 

- First page of the Pilgerpass / Pilgrim's Passport for the Via Romea Germanica

How wonderful that German has a verb for "pilgriming"! 

After "touristing" for a couple of days in Munich and Hamburg, I began "pilgriming" in earnest when I arrived in Stade. Sigrid, the first of a series of "route angels" who take care of the Via Romea Germanica pilgrimage path and the pilgrims who walk it, met me at the train station and took me for a short drive through the Altes Land, reclaimed marshland on the southwestern side of the Elbe. This area is northern Europe's largest fruit-producing region, planted primarily with apple and cherry orchards. The area is a popular tourist destination when the trees are in blossom in Spring: this explains why the youth hostel has no availability until June! But I had no worries as Sigrid had kindly invited me to stay at her home.   

From the Elbe we returned to the historic city centre of Stade (population approximately 50,000) for a brief walking tour and dinner at a small local restaurant. 

Stade: a brief history

Said to have been the oldest town of the Saxons, built in 321, Stade was conquered and looted by the Vikings of Eric the Victorious in the 990s. It then became part of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, and in 1209 Otto IV granted the city important privileges, recognising the freedom of the city's burghers and allowing property within the city to be freely inherited and not subject to feudal claims. In medieval times the city was an important centre of trade due to its vicinity to the Elbe River and to the salt mines, and became a prominent member of the Hanseatic League: After this golden age Stade fell into the hands of the Danish, and then the Swedish; more than half of the city was destroyed in the great fire of 1659. The town was largely rebuilt to the same plan, and is still renowned today for its half-timbered houses, which have survived as the city was not bombed by the Allies during World War II.

Albert of Stade and the monastery of St. Johannis

Our walking tour included, of course, a visit to the former abbey of Sankt Johannis, where Albert of Stade wrote the Annales Stadenses, his chronicle of world history from creation until the year 1256. As I mentioned in my introductory post about the Via Romea Germanica, the part of this chronicle of interest in relation to the Via Romea Germanica is imagined as a dialogue between two monks, Tirri and Firri, discussing the Melior Via: the best route for a pilgrimage to Rome. In this dialogue, Albert describes his own journey to Rome and back, specifying all the resting places and the exact distances of the respective sections, with a precision unusual for his day and age. 

After this preview of the starting point of the Via Romea Germanica, Sigrid and I retired to a restaurant in the town centre, Lila's, where I sampled a local specialty I had seen but not sampled in Hamburg: matjes, or pickled herring. 

Matjes in a cream sauce with apple and red onion, salad and plenty of potatoes

Sigrid had salmon and a giant baked potato!

Sigrid has converted the top floor of her home into a pilgerherberge, a beautiful attic bedroom. In this peaceful and comfortable setting I had my first night's sleep in a proper bed since leaving Italy - having spent two nights in a row on trains!

When I woke up, the world was shrouded in fog and the outdoor temperature was, according to my weather app, just one degree above freezing! 🥶 I didn't go outside to check, but enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Sigrid, chatting about pilgrimages and pilgrim hosting experiences. In addition to being a route angel for the Via Romea Germanica, Sigrid is walking to Jerusalem, over the years, in blocks of around 800 kilometres per year.

Today, however,  she settled for walking the first five kilometres of the Via Romea Germanica with me! We returned to St. Johannis, where Sigrid read a prayer and gave me her special pilgrim blessing. Then we started out together.

We walked through the town centre and across a beautiful park.

We passed a kreuzstein that once marked the boundary of the lands belonging to the monastery of Zeven - and those monks must have had a lot of land, because I won't be in Zeven until the day after tomorrow!

For the first two stages, the Via Romea Germanica coincides with one of the many Jacobsweg routes roward Santiago. So it is very clearly marked with yellow arrows, in addition to the frequent trail markers of the Via Romea.

I walked through a fairy-tale landscape of blossoms, buds and bright green new leaves, fluffy white clouds and farmers' fields, with here and there a thatched-roof barn. 

OK, there were construction sites and industries too, and some of the farmers were spraying unsavoury things on their fields, but - people have to make a living, too! 😄

White lilac

It was a long day, walking 25 kilometres on the very first day when my body isn't used to it yet... but eventually I reached the town of Harsefeld, walking into the town through a park, along a boardwalk with a heron fishing right below it, and past the ruins of the former abbey and the Lutheran church of St. Marien und Bartholomäi, where I stopped and got a stamp. Maria and her friend at the Catholic church of St. Michael, which provides hospitality for pilgrims,  were surprised to see that I had already got a stamp when I arrived! Now I have two stamps from Harsefeld,  a Protestant one and a Catholic one 😁

The Lutheran church and ruins of the old abbey

My accommodation behind the (modern) Catholic church

I have everything I need!

Stade - Harsefeld 25 km