Via Romea Germanica Day 26: Gotha - Friedrichroda

Wir wissen, dass Gott bei denen, die ihn lieben, alles zum Guten führt.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

- Romans 8:28 (quoted in the Schönstatt brochure in my room)

I took my time leaving Gotha, knowing I had only 18 kilometres to walk. I left my pack in my peaceful room in the Augustinerkloster and breakfasted in a bakery, then mailed home a small packet of things I don't need or want to carry any more. Then I settled my bill and went to see the Augustinerkirche, which had been closed the evening before. (Pictures posted with yesterday's blog entry for chronological and geographical continuity!) 

I walked up the hill and through the castle gardens, heading directly south. On the way out of town the Via Romea Germanica passes through the Alter Schlachthof, the city's old slaughterhouse, a complex of red brick buildings constructed in 1890, which now houses, among other things, an Italian ice cream parlour and café and an Intersport store - potentially of use to pilgrims requiring a change of gear at this point on the walk! 

The Alter Schlachthof

The Way then passes through the colourful "Gartenstadt Am Schmalen Rain" district and out of town along a tree-lined cycling path to Sundhausen.

Sundhausen appeared to be a more prosperous village than many I had seen, perhaps because of its vicinity to the "big city" of Gotha (population 44,000). Some of the Fachwerk half-timbered houses were being renovated, making it possible to see what was inside the walls.

My route then went into the forest, crossing over the Leina aqueduct on a footbridge. The path came out of the trees and joined a road into the village of Leina, exactly halfway through today's stage, where I came upon the Lainatal Grill. It was just a Turkish kebab and pizza place, and I had a cheese and tomato sandwich in my backpack, but it's so rare to come across an open restaurant on this route - right on the Way, and actually open, just when you are beginning to feel hungry and thirsty - that I felt I had to go in! I ordered a "Spezialsalat", large size, and a large beer to go with it!

I continued through Leina, detouring over the river to the church of St. Nikolaus. It turned out to have been a good idea to stop at the restaurant, because when I came out, a breeze had sprung up and fluffy white clouds were providing some relief from the heat. 

There are cows in the trailer

Free library in a former refrigerator cabinet

Nicolauskirche

The Hörsel river

Looking back over the fields at Leina

Highland cattle are popular in this part of Germany 

It was nonetheless hot work walking along a dirt track among more of those giant Thuringian wheatfields, and I was glad when I reached the unpronounceable town of Schnepfenthal , where the trail plunged into the forest - even if this meant going uphill! I knew I had one last steep hill to get over before coming to my accommodation, on the hillside on the way down to Friedrichroda. 

I finally arrived at Haus Rosengart, part of the Schönstattzentrum, run by the Sisters of Mary. Schönstatt is a movement of renewal within the Catholic Church, aiming to revitalise the Church and society, living everyday life in the spirit of the Gospel. Begun in Germany in 1914, Schönstatt has since grown into an international movement, and now has 207 shrines all over the world.

The sister who showed me to my room suggested I go into the centre of Friedrichroda to get something to eat, but I had other plans! I left my backpack in my room, changed my T-shirt and walked the opposite direction, away from the town centre, to the nearest tram stop. Here I climbed aboard a blue and yellow tram and travelled three stops on the Thüringerwaldbahn, to the end of the line at the spa town of Bad Tabarz, where I ate a very large and delicious strawberry ice cream sundae with whipped cream on top, and then caught the tram back! 🚊 

It was really funny riding a streetcar through the forest! I could in effect have taken the streetcar the whole way instead of walking today's stage, as the 21.7 km long tram line starts in Gotha and travels through many of the villages I walked through on my route!

I got off the train at Reinhardsbrunn Bahnhof and made my way back up the hill and through the beech trees to the Schönstattzentrum. On a whim, I turned and followed the sign to the Marienkappelle, and arrived at the little white chapel in the woods at just the same time as a procession of nuns on their way to evening prayers!

The nuns beckoned me to join them, and I did so. Sister Tanita, the one not wearing a habit, who had received me when I arrived, gave me a printed copy of the prayers and made sure I was on the right page so I could follow along (even though I couldn't understand the meaning of the words, most of the time!). After the service, she insisted I come and have some Abendbrot. 

In Germany a light evening meal is called Abendbrot, literally evening bread, served with cheese, ham, salad, fruit and tea: it is in effect the same as the British concept of "tea" as an evening meal. I had mine in the company of a small group of people with mental disabilities who live at the centre, and the two staff members who take care of them, Elisabeth and Julia. 

Elisabeth was very interested in my pilgrimage and impressed that I was planning to walk to Rome. I told her I thought what she was doing was much more difficult, and invited her to write something in my pilgrim credential; she wrote a whole page! In German; Elisabeth is originally Polish but went to school in East Germany, and prefers to write in German, the language of her studies. She also studied Russian at school, but very little English; she kept apologising for her English, though it was perfectly good for the purposes of our conversation over dinner!

After our meal together, each person tidied up their own dishes and sorted the dishes and leftovers by type on a trolley, and then we retired to our rooms for the evening. 

Julia, Elisabeth and the residents of Haus Rosengart 

With Schwester Tanita

Haus Rosengart 

Gotha - Friedrichroda 19 km