There were three changes today. The first change started immediately after stepping out the front door of pension in Hornburg.
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| Leaving Hornburg. |
For the first time ever we had a steady climb which lasted for almost 3 kilometres. After so long walking on the flat it felt strange to find ourselves walking uphill - and for so long.
Over the last few days we've seen gorgeous peony flowers but I hadn't been able to get a good photo but I the light was right this morning to capture this one in one of the gardens we walked past on the way out of town.
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| I loved the colour of this one. |
Once again, we walked through cropping country all day.
It was after our almost 3 kilometres climb that the other two changes happened. The second one was that we walked out of Lower Saxony, Niedersachen, and crossed into the second Federal State of our walk in Germany - Saxony-Anhalt, Sachen-Anhalt.
It was immediately when we crossed the border into Saxony-Anhalt that the third change happened as it was also the former border between the Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany, and the German Democratic Republic, East Germany.
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| Immediately after the farewell from Hornburg sign is a border post. |
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| The Deutsche Demokratische Republik - the DDR, East Germany, GDR in English. |
Shortly after that we came to part of the wall which had separated the East and the West. It has been left as a memorial.
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| The wall as it is now. |
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| The wall as it had been. |
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| I used the camera option in Google Translate to translate this on the information board. |
Shortly after walking through the remaining section of the wall there was a Observation Tower. It was in a commanding position high on the ridge that we had climbed up to from Hornburg.
It was very sobering to see these relics of such a shocking time. It's impossible to imagine how it was for those who lived under these conditions through all those years.
We continued on our way along concrete tracks which we realised would have been for the military vehicles.
The first half of today's walk was through trees and we stopped at a park bench for morning tea. While we were sitting there we saw a chap with a sizable backpack walking towards us. He said something in German and I had to do my usual, 'Es tut mir leid, wir sprechen kein Deutsch' (I'm sorry, we don't speak German) and he immediately switched to English.
His name was Alvis and he is also walking the Via Romea Germanica. He's the first pilgrim we have met while out on the route. He said that he is walking to Mittenwald, the last German town before crossing into Austria, and he will walk from there to Rome next year.
Alvis explained that he has only 33 days to walk so he's walking long days, walking for 13 or 14 hours each day and covering around 40 kilometres a day. He's got a tent but said every second or third day he stays in a hotel or B&B. We walked with him for a while but he said that we walk too fast so he let us go on. He said he would get too tired if he walked at our pace and he wouldn't be able to complete enough kilometres each day.
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| Alvis and Jeff. |
While we were talking with Alvis a very large group of children accompanied by several adults passed in the opposite direction. So many of them greeting us with Morgen - we are out of Moin country now.
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| A wee section of the large group. |
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| Alvis on his way again. |
And on we went.
We came across another tower, this one was built in 1904.
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| The Bismarckturm - the Bismark Tower. |
Then we were in Osterwieck, a fairly large town. We were needing a break by then so we stopped in a playground area and it was while we were sitting there, eating lunch, that Alvis walked by. He called out a greeting and carried on. We didn't see him again.
A few photos in Osterwieck:
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| As usual, the church was locked. |
After Osterwieck the route was on sealed roads or concrete paths which are very hard on our feet. So much of the path is on hard surfaces, very little on soft tracks such as we had through the trees this morning.
Nearing the end of our walk for today we were supposed to skirt around the village of Berßel but somehow we didn't take a turn when we should have and we found ourselves walking through the outer streets.
The road sign says it all:
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| The moment when you realise that you have gone off route! |
Then it was on to Wasserleben where we're staying tonight.
We're staying at Minneken Hus, a retreat centre, but what sort of retreat centre I don't really know but there Christian prints on the walls. Pilgrims are welcome to stay here at a special rate.
It certainly is peaceful. Tina, the owner greeted us explaining in German that she only knew a few words of English, and I also explained in German that I know only a few words of German. We managed just fine.
Tina showed us the kitchen and all the food options we have for our breakfast so we can help ourselves and start walking when we want to tomorrow.
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| Arriving at Minneken Hus. |
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| Minneken Hus. |
We walked to the supermarket and bought some things for a simple dinner. Some photos on the way to the supermarket:
Wasserleben has waterways running through the streets with fords for the vehicles and small footbridge for pedestrians.
Dinner in the courtyard at Minneken Hus. I sat outside writing this blog post while Jeff organised dinner.
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| A simple but tasty meal. |
We have noticed that both Osterwieck and Wasserleben don't look as prosperous as the towns and villages that we had been walking through in Lower Saxony. They have more of a depressed feeling. We will have to see as we continue walking through what was East Germany if our first impressions are correct or not.
Wasserleben is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.
Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the municipality Nordharz.
Source: Wikipedia
