Pilgern unter einem Hut
Unterwegs mit Sandra
Pilgrimage under one hat - on the way with Sandra
Bavarian Swabian Way of St. James
Stage 6: From Biberbach to Augsburg 22.8 km
Saturday, 07/11/2020
Augsburg I'm coming!
Weather forecast: 18 degrees, overcast with longer periods of rain
At seven o'clock my infernal alarm goes off as always. Feels like shortly after falling asleep. Pack up one last time for my little personal pilgrimage, shoulder my rucksack and go. The longest stage with 22.8 km is waiting for me. At least it's still dry now, even if the sky is cloudy and gray. Let's see if the hat is also good against rain.
I leave the accommodation around 8:30 a.m. I'm still lingering on my thoughts about the night before. It was noisy there under my room in the dining room. Probably the only place on a Friday evening in Biberbach where you can socialize. The local In any case, they had had fun, roared and made noises. The majority had certainly looked too deep into the wheat glass, while the landlord had heated the mood with unspeakable music. Restful sleep was definitely not an option for me until the noise level settled down sometime after midnight.
Maybe I should have just gone downstairs, disregarded the AHA rules and joined in the celebration. Apart from that. Somehow I define the word “pilgrim-friendly” in connection with rest and sleep a little differently. But what the heck, I'm not in the mood to go into last night when the landlord brings me the breakfast rolls. He still has very small eyes. Certainly even smaller than mine. I spontaneously decide not to say a word about mini-eyes or other tricky topics.
Who Was St. Laurence?
At the end of the village I pass the church with the not very memorable name "St. Jakobus, St. Laurentius und Hl. Kreuz", of which I luckily took a nice weather photo the day before.
A Romanesque crucifix has been venerated here for several centuries, which explains the third part of the name.
The first part, St. James, is clear, but who actually was St. Laurentius?
I decide to clear this up later, but then forget about it again.
Fight with the poncho
As I walk through the neighboring Achsheim, it starts to rain and I use my rain poncho for the first time and immediately understand why it is easier for two to put it on. It is almost impossible as an average motorist Pulling the poncho over the backpack alone. That would be easier for a doll with arms hung the wrong way round. But you always have to see the positive aspects - Today I wear my thin jacket under the poncho, because my left arm, which is anchored around the right way, doesn't get any more “stupid”.
My combo of "gray fishing hat crumpled up combined with" looks stupid red rain poncho hood tied ". Not to mention the fact that it is extremely uncomfortable to press over my thick hair. But hadn't I mentioned the stupid pack size of the hat somewhere?
Now I had the salad - a half-wet hat that neither fits on my head nor in a backpack under a rain poncho.
In contrast to the first days, which took me through a lot of nature and agriculture, I now notice very clearly that a big city is approaching. The path runs for a long stretch next to a busy road. The noise increases.
Puzzles about the steel arena
In the vicinity of Gablingen, this small steel arena on my left is a visual highlight under a dramatic sky. I think about what that could be, but I can't think of anything useful. For the next break, I take it upon myself to google the steel frame. The shape somehow reminds me of a football arena, but that thing has nothing more in common with sport. It then turns out to be something completely absurd for me,
namely as a listening system of the BND.
But you shouldn't always believe everything that you do without being filtered finds so on the Internet. Sometimes you just get a big bear tied up.
On closer inspection, there was much to suggest that invisible forest fairies, elves and gnomes were held captive in this complex, who tried to blow up the Augsburg Puppenkiste at the turn of the millennium because the puppeteers had the new edition of "A Midsummer Night's Dream Reloaded - Puck's Fight Against the forest beasts ”did not want to perform.
Otherwise there isn't much to discover out of the ordinary on the way, so your thoughts may wander a little ...
Final sprint
Speaking of digressing, today I am eating kilometers like a horse without a tail pulling into the stable at home and making good progress. The weather is neither inviting for breaks, nor are the opportunities to rest. Strictly speaking, these are completely absent. Actually, you should send town planners, landscape engineers and local councils on a couple of long-distance hiking trails so that they get a feel for the distance at which they could possibly set up a bench for one or the other only moderately fit pilgrim figure.
Soon the Gersthofen businesses line up in front of me on the street and I keep looking for buildings as fixed points that divide my remaining route into smaller units.
At some point I packed the poncho again. Got a little wet, but the expected flash flood did not materialize.
The last 5 kilometers are then pretty idyllic along the Lech in the countryside. Trees line the bank. The area has and is becoming a park character Also well received by the local dog owners, pushchair pushers, cyclists and minis on balance bikes. Shortly afterwards, I am already crossing the river on a wide bridge for people and motorized metal.
I'm already in Augsburg city center, keep to the right, pass the Jakobertor, and ...
.... I'm finally standing at the Protestant Church of St. Jacob.
Huge joy! Done! My husband embraces me at the agreed meeting point next to Jacob's fountain and brought me tea and bread. I'm so exhausted and full of impressions that unfortunately I don't take a single photo of Augsburg.
What I, however do not forget: wanting to get the last stamp for my passport for the time being. Apparently there is a pilgrims' office here. But this is probably not manned during Corona times.
Maybe I will find something again in church? The heavy doorknob of the church cannot be pushed down, however. The church remains, contrary to my information, closed to us today. we go around the building. No other entrance, no indication. Nothing. We both stand around a little perplexed. I read again in my outdoor hiking guide. There is a rectory nearby, but that is closed on Saturdays. It's a shame, it would have been a grand finale.
Together at the goal
We take a few steps back towards Jakobsbrunnen and sit there, probably arriving shortly after me….
... my two fellow pilgrims who have remained unknown to me!
I recognize the man with the reflex camera who had appeared to me the day before when I was resting.
Ansgar and his daughter also end their pilgrimage in Augsburg. They started in Nördlingen, but from Oettingen they walked the same route as me.
Originally, the two of them come from Münster and want to take a train from Augsburg train station back to their starting point, where their car is parked, in a few hours. From there, after an overnight stay, you still have 500 km to drive home.
We talk a little about the route, accommodations and the fact that we only just missed each other on the way. Then I mention casually that only the Augsburg stamp would be missing for my personal end of the week. I hadn't believed that the two of them had fared differently than me.
But Ansgar can actually give the decisive tip. The equipment shop Mc Tramp Outdoor & Trecking across the street is a rather, shall we say, unexpected pilgrim stamping point. It would never have occurred to me to ask there myself.
Insanity! I hadn't read that anywhere. I go straight there and the pilgrim service is actually advertised on the door.
So I get my last stamp there for the time being and am instantly completely reconciled to the day.
Then it goes home.