Camino Imperii 2024

Camino Dessert Stories Just a Little Background Info My first exposure to Berlin is the city’s main train station where the subway system, the street-level rapid transit and the inter-city and regional trains all converge to discharge countless swarms every hour. My journey along the Vía Imperii starts here. Berlin is a world-renowned, cosmopolitan city of over 3.5 million people. There are many interesting and varied things to see here like the Berlin Wall, the Holocaust Memorial, Museums Island, Checkpoint Charlie and so on.  Berlin is a hectic, crowded, urban, highly frenetic city, and perfect for those not seeking solitude. That is not me. Outside of Berlin Days later I am far, far away from Berlin. I am amidst the rustic and  rural, walking along or through serene, green pastures, white snow-covered fields and forests of brown and grey tree trunks. Some days I don’t see another soul until I straggle into the place that has my bed for the night, be it a church community center, a h

Looking Deep into the Soul (This set of three blog posts was posted chronologically. I suggest, if this is your first viewing that you read Parts I / II first.) An Hour of Peace and Harmony Sankt Marien Catholic Church, Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt Due to the extreme polar front hanging over Germany, rather than hiking, I am on the train to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg. The temperature is in the upper-teens, not including the wind chill. As far as hiking goes, today is a cheat day. St Mary’s Catholic church was completed in 1872, and is a typical example of Gothic Revival architecture in Saxony-Anhalt. Post-Reformation, Wittenberg had no separate Catholic community. The increased influx of Catholics in the 19th century, mostly members of the Prussian military, resulted in the establishment of the parish. The priest at St Mary’s Catholic Church answers his doorbell. I get more German practice, as I very politely explain that I am a pilgrim, and desire a pilgrim stamp for my credenti

Churches on the Trail (This set of three blog posts was posted chronologically. I suggest, if this is your first viewing that you read Part I first.) One of my goals during this hike was to pay more attention to the buildings around me, in particular the churches, some of which date back to the 1200's. Güterfelde Dorfkirche Evangelical Church, Güterfelde I’m walking through the village, maybe it is a hamlet, of Güterfelde, which translates roughly as “Good Fields”. I am looking for a coffee shop or bar, but there is none to be found. The first documented mention of the village dates back to 1263. The church was probably built at this time as a hall church with a rectangular floor plan. In the 14th century, the community built the tower to the present height. In 1867 the parish community, in what must have been quite the project for the time, expanded the choir to the width of the nave. The tower was damaged during the Second World War. Renovations completed on the building and towe

Part I : A Little Background on Architecture (This set of three blog posts was posted chronologically. I suggest, if this is your first viewing that you start here with Part I .) One of my goals for my hiking trip through the former East Germany is appreciation of the church architecture along the German variant of the Way of St James. It should be more than a curiosity as I walk past these historical structures. I want, at a minimum, a hand-hold on the history of these buildings, which date back centuries. I can not appreciate the time-scale when my daily experience in America is of buildings that are only decades-old. With that in mind, I need a basic study of church buildings. The following are words that I have often heard, but do not know to what they refer, having never used them myself So I introduce ever so slightly the major parts of a church so that the memoir is a bit more relatable. Parts of a Basilica A basilica is a building with a rectangular form that has a central, o

It's Not Real 'Til It's Real   Covid forced me in the fall of 2020 to find something new to add to my life. So I started my study of the German language. At the time, I could not imagine that several years later, I would be walking along the shore of the Bergwitzsee in Kemberg, Brandenburg, Germany.   It is January 2024, and it is my second time in Deutschland. I am hiking through small cities and towns. Today I am in Treuenbrietzen. I need a stamp from the town hall for my pilgrim’s pass. They don’t speak English. Grammar lets me properly express my desire, need, want or emergency. Without grammar my request would be “I would stamp need passport of the pilgrim, here receive can I?” Understandable, but offensive to the ears of a native speaker.  I need to order food in restaurants. I need vocabulary to order Hähnchenschnitzel (chicken schnitzel) for protein or Brezel mit Salz (a salted pretzel)  for carbs or eine Bier to sate my thirst.   ********** In 2022 when I hiked alo

A Memoir : When Technology Goes Wrong GPS and GPX and Berlin When experimenting with a new technology, it helps to practice, practice and practice beforehand … like before you use it for real. It is January 3rd, and I am in Berlin on the first day of my 10-day 110-mile hike from Germany’s capital to the city of Leipzig. Only 24-hours ago, I found the Rapid Transit Number 9 line from Tempelhof Airport to the Evangelical (read Lutheran here for that) Pilgrim Hostel to walk the Vía Imperii Pilgrim route, which dates back over a thousand years or more as a trade and travel route between the Baltic Sea and Rome, the seat of the Holy Roman Empire. But I have planned a more modest historical tour of the downfall of the German Democratic Republic (aka Deutsches Demokratisches Republik). Today the goal is 13 miles from the symbol of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate to the Altstadt (historic part) of Teltow. However today’s memoir is less about the journey and more about the technologies that help t