Verbringe die Zeit nicht mit der Suche nach einem Hindernis. Vielleicht ist je Keines da
(Don't spend time looking for an obstacle. Perhaps there never will be one)
- Franz Kafka (diary entry, 1920, quoted on a sign outside a farm shop I passed today)
Here I am in another mountain range I didn't even know existed: the Rhön! Not to be confused with the Rhone, a major river, the Rhön mountains are a minor mountain range created by volcanic activity a long, long time ago, now well worn down by time: the highest peak, the Wasserkuppe, is less than a thousand metres high.
Luckily, the abbot Albert of Stade, on whose route this pilgrimage path is based, wasn't interested in mountain-climbing, so he only passed through the foothills of the Rhön. From Rannungen I followed a cycling track parallel to the main road, through the next village, Pfändhausen, and over one hill after another.
I stopped in Hambach to look at the church, an odd combination of old and new architecture, and to eat my day-old sandwiches on a bench. When it started to rain, I moved to another bench in a sheltered spot in front of the parish office. The rainshower passed over, the sun came out and I moved on... or intended to... until I was waylaid by an open café/Konditorei just around the corner!
My policy when walking in Germany, as in France, is to eat and drink whenever I get a chance - especially on a Sunday - so I went in and ordered a slice of cheesecake and a cup of herbal tea. My telephone also had some refuelling - I'm getting good at quickly spotting the table in the café closest to an electrical outlet!
When I eventually decided to get going again, I realised it was raining a little; but I'd had enough of sitting around, so I put on my rainjacket and went on my way. The rest of the day's walk was along an unexciting cycling path beside the main road into Schweinfurt. Coming into Dittelbrunn, just outside Schweinfurt, I thought I might stop for an ice cream, but the Eiscafé was an uninspiring takeout place, so I continued on. The cycling path passed between the back gardens of two rows of houses, like a back alleyway, though without the garbage cans and garages. Then it passed through a park and beside a supermarket (closed on Sunday, of course) and rejoined the road into Schweinfurt.
My hosts for the evening live in the northern part of the city, so I will not see the city centre until tomorrow; but here's some background information!
Schweinfurt
First documented in 791, Schweinfurt (meaning "swine ford") is one of the oldest cities in Bavaria. From the 12th century until 1802 Schweinfurt was a free imperial city within the Holy Roman Empire. It became a a humanistic centre around 1700 and began its 250-year industrial history in 1770.
During World War II, the Americans suffered their biggest air defeat over Schweinfurt in the Second Raid on Schweinfurt (also referred to as Black Thursday). The city was targeted in particular because its industries produced the majority of Germany's ball bearings.
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| 1943 US bombing raid on Schweinfurt |
On 11 April 1945, the US Army invaded the city; during the Cold War years, USAG Schweinfurt had the highest concentration of US combat units in the Federal Republic of Germany. A complete American town emerged to the northwest of Schweinfurt, with civil infrastructure including all kinds of shops for 12,000 Americans, soldiers and civilians. The base closed in 2014, but, my hosts told me, some of the Americans stayed on, finding other work in town.
My hosts Karin and Klaus have walked from here to Rome, partly on the Via Romea Germanica and partly on the Via Francigena. They have also walked from Porto to Santiago. They make the whole top floor of their house available to pilgrims. As I have mentioned, this is not too big of a commitment on this route; they hosted a total of eight walkers last year. I am the second this year, so far! The first was Jürgen, the pilgrim a few days ahead of me, who highly recommended it to me. And he was right! We had a great evening together, talking about walking and pilgrimages over tea, then beer, then dinner and wine. Karin made pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce - I had forgotten how good pasta can be! Especially after a day out walking.
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| Klaus is a classical guitarist |
A lovely description of your dinner with Karin and Klaus. I'm struck by the number of people who've undertaken pilgrimages themselves and open their houses to other pilgrims!
ReplyDeleteNot only that, they volunteer in pilgrim hostels, too. Which you can also do, you just have to take a two-day preparation course with Ospitaleros Voluntarios!
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