A report by Elke and Martin Tischer: Perceiving your environment, paying attention to things, travelling at your own pace. Travelling (holidays) as we do today is not always about slowing down. A tight programme of experiences or lying on the beach cleverly pretend to be a two-week break from everyday life. But are you really relaxed afterwards? Are the outward and return journeys, motorised mobility, insurance constraints, road traffic and associated costs really a change?
How about this? Just set off from home. Let the front door fall into the lock. Take the children and dog with you. No more weight on your shoulders than a rucksack. Filled with things that accompany you from now until the next morning: Good shoes, water, a bar of soap, snacks, rain protection and a change of clothes made from good old cotton. Maybe someone you can have a good chat with or someone you’ve wanted to talk to for a long time (yourself?), a sleeping mat and a tent.
Honestly, who hasn’t talked about the Camino de Santiago … once in a lifetime … at least one section … not enough holiday days … too hot … can’t do it … dangerous … too far away … you have to do it when you’re young …. For all hesitant and experienced hikers, there is now, officially since May 2017, the possibility to walk a little brother of Jacob: the Martin Lutherweg. It starts in Worms and ends in Eisenach at Wartburg Castle. This is roughly the route that Martin Luther took 500 years ago to defend his 95 theses at the Diet of Worms. There is a wonderful starting point for all Butzbach residents right on the doorstep. If your tent and sleeping mat are too heavy for the 10-day walk (20 km a day) and the stream is too cold to wash, you can organise comfortable accommodation in advance in any of the villages you pass through. It is more valuable to take the original experience with you.
The route leads through a beautiful, hospitable Germany (Hesse, Thuringia, former GDR), through a lot of nature, red roofs suddenly appear out of nowhere. You can explore the landscapes of the Wetterau and Vogelsberg, which, due to a lack of time, have so far only evoked longings from the viewpoint of the car window. A sense of time and distance sets in. Encounters with people are open-hearted: water, coffee and a chat are served over the garden fences. Curious?
Volunteer friends of the Luther Trail 1521 have lovingly signposted the route with an “L”. Sections of meadow are regularly made accessible with a lawnmower, so if you walk with your eyes open you can’t get lost. There is just one catch: slowing down is not easy. If you don’t get involved with your own travelling speed, with blisters, with your rucksack, with your companion, you will end up frustrated after just a few days, but you won’t take any experience home with you.
P.S. The journey ends with a washing machine load.
Pictures: © Elke and Martin Tischer / 04.08.2017
