Hildegard von Bingen – Pilgrimage project

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Hildegard von Bingen pilgrimage trail

Since a couple of years, you can do a 137 kilometer long pilogrimage through the Nahe River region in Germany, where there are enough sleeping places and many information boards with invitations for more reflective work. On the internet you can find interesting guiding books and the website that provide more practical information how to prepare this. Many sources recommended to do the trail in 10 etappes or days.

News & Blogs

When I create this page there has been already a year passed since I did the Hildegard von Bingen pilgrimage trail (for the first time). For some reason I had not found the headspace to process many notes, thoughts and observations in one or more blogs yet. Something in me is asking to wait until I found the right medium. Perhaps there will be no blog at all. However, I posted many photographs and experiences on my Instagram:

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instagram journey: the first time, september 2023

An ecofeminist walking journey of 10 days in Germany, with my friend S. who invited me one year earlier to join her on her longtime dream. As the invitation and plan came one year earlier it gave me enough time to read books and articles about who Hildegard von Bingen was. Noteworthy, the more academic books felt too dry, and the book where I felt I finally got to know who Hildegard was, was because of this fiction book:

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen

Sometimes my friend S. and I walked together, other times we walked with ourselves. We did not follow the whole trajectory recommended by guide books and websites (the rebels that we were), but replaced etappe 3 and part of etappe 4 by a resting stop.

08 September, noted during my long train travel from Norway to Germany: Back in the 12th century, Hildegard was quite an inspiring lady. She invented her own language, wrote books and songs, and has been challenging the patriarchy back then. She knows a lot about plants. If she had lived now; she could have been a forest therapy guide.

In these long hours, I have been reading a bit. Apparently, there is a Tree spirit hike “Baumgeister-tour” near Bingen. And apparently the famous Lorelai Rock is also not that far. Frau Holle might also be lurking somewhere.
Add the still-medieval looking towns and vineyards, I can imagine that this journey might become a German fairytale. I would not mind to meet a wolf, too. Zeit zu sprechen Deutsch. I guess I might scare it away with my hairy German.