Pilgrim walks in Ansbach County

Official route description - Stage 41The approximately 2,200-kilometer-long pilgrimage route "VIA ROMEA GERMANICA" from Stade to Rome on its route section between Feuchtwangen and Dinkelsbühl.

Official route description - Stage 42The approx. 2,200 kilometer long pilgrimage route "VIA ROMEA GERMANICA" from Stade to Rome on its route between Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen.

Official route description - Stage 38The approx. 2,200-kilometer-long pilgrim route "VIA ROMEA GERMANICA" from Stade to Rome on its route between Aub and Rothenburg o.d.T.

Pilgrims can experience a section of the famous Way of St. James from Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Rottenburg am Neckar in a varied landscape.

The 9th stage leads you through the Tauber Valley via Tauberzell to Rothenburg. There is a direct connection to the Franconian-Swabian Way of St. James (21.8 km) there.

In 1236, Abbot Albert of Stade traveled to Pope Gregory IX to enforce a monastery reform in his Benedictine monastery dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary in Stade. In his "Annales Stadenses," he documented the most important ecclesiastical and political events of his time. Embedded within this is a dialogue between two monks about the best route for a pilgrimage to Rome. In this dialogue (itinerary), Albert of Stade describes his own journey to Rome, including all rest stops and the exact distances between locations.In Germany alone, he names 28 cities. A 14th-century copy of this document is kept in the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel. Around 770 years later, the anthropologist Prof. Giovanni Caselli from Italy discovers this itinerary. Giovanni Caselli and a German theologian, Dr. Uwe Schott, invited all German mayors of these 28 cities to a meeting in Ochsenfurt in March 2008. This marked the revival of this old pilgrimage route from Stade to Rome.Meanwhile, the entire historic route has been researched. The goals of the "VIA ROMEA GERMANICA" – the path of encounters – are international understanding, interreligious dialogue, and the promotion of peace.

This pilgrimage route is one of the last missing links in Baden-Württemberg and a section of the main route from Prague-Nürnberg-Rothenburg-Speyer, Strasbourg to Santiago de Compostela.

Pilgrims can experience a section of the famous Way of St. James in varied landscapes from Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Rottenburg am Neckar.

2-3 h walking time, total duration 3-4 h 1 - 1.5 h energy recharge We walk in silence on sections where no car noise is heard, recharging at energy centers and freeing ourselves from negative energies and becoming receptive to new inspirations. Along the way, you learn some things about donkeys.

Official route description - Stage 40The approximately 2,200-kilometer-long pilgrimage route "VIA ROMEA GERMANICA" from Stade to Rome along its route between Schillingsfürst and Feuchtwangen.