Via Romea Germanica Day 6: Bellen - Soltau

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.”

― Søren Kierkegaard 

I slept well and long in my attic room at Widu Mühlenbau. Reimund made me a cup of coffee and then disappeared downstairs to the workshop: he and his two brothers seem truly dedicated to their work. I thanked the three brothers and said goodbye; they were already at work in the courtyard.

After a short distance on the road I followed a combination of small roads and dirt tracks through the forest for the rest of the morning. I saw several deer, crossing the forest path in front of me or grazing in the fields. 

By 11:00 I was already in Neuenkirchen, which is nominally the end of the stage and, I had been told, has an excellent pilgrim hostel. But it was early and I had only walked thirteen and a half kilometres; I was determined to press on to Soltau. I stopped at the tourist information office, located in an old farm building right where the trail comes into the town, to ask for a stamp on my pilgrim credential. 

Then I stopped by the "new church" that gives Neuenkirchen its name, built in 1879-1880.

Near the church I found a bakery that advertised some breakfast deals in the window, went in and ordered scrambled eggs and a bread bun, followed by a huge apple turnover topped with strawberry sauce and vanilla pudding! 😋 

Between Neuenkirchen and Soltau the Via Romea Germanica follows a straight, wide cycling, hiking and horse-riding track with a nice soft surface under the feet. For this reason my feet felt better than yesterday, even though I walked more kilometres!

Potato harvest under way

The path passed through no settlements other than one large farmstead. The only people I met were cyclists and hikers. None of them struck up a conversation - Germans normally mind their own business and simply smile and say "Morgen" as they pass. Or "Moin", as they say around these parts! And they say it all day, too, so you don't have to worry about whether to say good morning or good afternoon. 

I had however decided that I needed to start trying out my very basic German,  and so, with only a little help from Google Translate, I had been messaging Pastor Eisbein in German about the Lutheran community centre in Soltau. Back when I started in Stade, Sigrid had put me in touch with Jürgen, a pilgrim who is two or three days ahead of me, and he has been forwarding me the information on where he is staying. He writes to me in German and I do my best to reply! Jürgen had given me the pastor's number.

I had a 5:30 appointment with Pastor Eisbein at the community centre, and when he arrived on his bicycle and started speaking to me in German, after a few sentences I chickened out and asked him if he spoke English! Like all the Germans I have spoken to so far, he began with a disclaimer, saying he only spoke very little English, and then went on to conduct a long and complicated conversation in near-perfect English 😅

I asked the pastor (in German, yay!) if there was a problem with the hundred-year-old church, because it was locked and surrounded by barriers and security tape. He replied that there were several problems, the chief of which was that roof tiles were falling off the belltower, and the heating didn't work. He said it was a small parish and didn't have the funds required to fix the building and install a new heating system. And so services are being held in the other church in town, St. Johannis, in winter. Or in the chapel in the community centre where I am staying! It has a kitchen, washrooms, and even a shower, but no bedrooms, of course, so I am once again using my inflatable mattress!

The church

The adjacent community centre

This will do for tonight!

Bellen - Soltau 27 km