For the seventh time, hiking enthusiasts in the district are exploring a route on the Luther Trail in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district
Saalfeld. The seventh joint Luther hike in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt began on Saturday, 30 August, with a prayer in the town church in Rudolstadt. This year, around 80 hikers joined Superintendent Michael Wegner and District Administrator Marko Wolfram to explore the route from Rudolstadt via Oberpreilipp to the Kulmberghaus, where they took a break in the beer garden. The final stretch then led high up from Kulmberg via Remschütz to Saalfeld, where the hikers were treated to an impressive organ concert with cantor Thomas Kowalski in St John’s Church in Saalfeld.
“It is very pleasing that the Luther hike is becoming increasingly popular,” says District Administrator Marko Wolfram, who makes a note of this date in his diary every year. “The cooperation between the district, the church district and the Thuringian Mountain and Hiking Association has proven itself from the very beginning and it’s great that so many hikers take part in the spiritual hike every year.
The hike connected the two most impressive places of worship in the Rudolstadt-Saalfeld church district, the town church of St Andrew in Rudolstadt and St John’s Church in Saalfeld. Both churches are open to visitors and impress with their rich interiors and architecture. The small church in Oberpreilipp, which has characterised community life in the small village for many years, could also be experienced on the way – there was also a lecture on the history of the church and a short prayer.
On the joint Luther hike, the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt District Office, the Rudolstadt-Saalfeld church district and the Rudolstadt chapter of the Thuringian Mountain and Hiking Association have been exploring a different section of the Luther Trail in the district every year since the Reformation anniversary in 2017. Hiking guide Rita Schnack accompanied the hikers, having previously explored the route again in a trial run.
The organisers were particularly pleased that two guests had travelled all the way from Halle (Saale). They had taken part in the hike for the first time last year while undergoing rehab in Saalfeld and did not want to miss out on the experience this time either. “The Luther hike in our district thus underlines its supra-regional appeal and combines nature, history, music and community in a unique way,” says Doreen Kühnemund, who is responsible for the organisation in the district and, together with Anke Zeuner from the church district, presented each hiker with their stamp card in the morning.
Martin Modes, Press and Culture Office
Photos: Picture archive District Office Martin Modes/Doreen Kühnemund
Background: The Luther walk in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt
Since the anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt has regularly organised a joint Luther hike – with the exception of the coronavirus years 2020 and 2021:
- 2017: The first joint Luther hike was organised in the 500th anniversary year of the Reformation and led from Kochberg Castle to Rudolstadt.
- 2018: The second hike explored the route from the church in Hoheneiche to Saalfeld.
- In 2019, the third hike was the first to cross county and state borders: it started in Gräfenthal, one of the three places in the district where Martin Luther preached, and led via Spechstbrunn in the Sonneberg district to Tettau in Bavaria.
- 2020 & 2021: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the hikes were initially postponed and then completely suspended.
- In 2022, the fourthLuther hikeledfrom St Michael’s Church in Engerda to the town church in Orlamünde in the Saale-Holzland district, a place that is particularly important due to the work of the reformer Andreas Bodenstein, known as Karlstadt, who was a pastor in Orlamünde from 1523 to 1524.
- 2023: The fifth Luther hike led from Lichtentanne via Steinbach an der Haide in the district of Kronach to Lehesten, where Luther stopped off in Lehesten on his journey home from Coburg to Torgau on the night of 5 to 6 October 1530. He had previously spent six months observing the events at the Diet of Augsburg from the Veste Coburg under the protection of the Saxon Elector.
- In 2024, the sixth Luther Hike led from Niederwillingen in the Ilm district to the monastery ruins in Paulinzella. Paulinzella Monastery celebrated the 900th anniversary of its consecration this year.
- In 2025, the seventh hikeled from Rudolstadt to Saalfeld, the place where Martin Luther appointed his friend Caspoar Aquila as the first Protestant superintendent.
