Distance: 26.5km

Duration: 5.5h and 2h break

Weather: pleasant with 20/21C, sunny and light wind

The day started very differently to the previous ones where I was mostly fully emerged in nature right away. The path took me past the industrial area of Arneburg which was in fact very fascinating. My host had explained to me that there was a nuclear plant planned which was constructed beginning of the 80ies. With Tschernobyl in 1986, the construction was put on hold due to local protests and pressure and with the reunification of Germany in 1989, the finalisation was off the table. The building is still there and looks like a ghost factory with its broken windows but equally as a reminder of the past. The area was repurposed and there are two big factories that utilise the land for a big paper and cellulose factory. In total, there are around 900 employees and therefore, the factories are important employers for the area.

Once, I left the industrial area behind me, I stayed primarily on the cycling path. I still could feel the 29km from the previous day and I also suspect that walking on concrete all day wasn’t really appreciated by my feet or legs. So, once I came closer to Werben, I had quite heavy legs and was longing to finally reach my destination.

Werben is a pretty little town and is in fact the smallest Hanseatic German town with just under 1,300 people living there. The original structure within the city walls are quite intact. There are still three watch towers and one is open to public to climb up and enjoy the view onto the town but also the surrounding greens. From there, you can also see all the nests of the 14 stork couples that this town accommodates. It’s a great proof for their balanced eco-system as storks choose quite carefully that the area can provide them with enough food to bring up their young ones. The lady from the local tourist office also shared with me that the storks started gathering on the roofs of the highest buildings to test the thermal lift. Once, it’s strong enough, they’ll disappear over night. She said it in a nice way “then you know that you have to start collecting wood for the winter.”

Distance: 28.9km

Duration: 5h and 2.5h breaks

Weather: rain in the morning and over lunch, otherwise dry, cloudy with up to 21C

After very high temperatures on the previous day, I was longing for the rain. One of the downsides of this path is that there are many areas where you are fully exposed to the sun for hours when it’s hot. Therefore, I left the accommodation after breakfast, fully motivated for the long distance ahead. It was a great coincidence as I need lower temperatures to do a distance close to 30km. My pace was significantly higher with under 12min per km for nearly the entire trip. And I made less breaks as the recovery time was shorter.

At the beginning, it was a light rain and then turned stronger after a while. After about 45min into my walk, I was completely soaked despite rain jacket and rain trousers. Thankfully, it wasn’t cold, so I didn’t really mind. It soon stopped after that and the amazing advantage of functional wear is that it dries so quickly.

One major milestone was to go into Tangermünde for an early lunch and to look at the pretty city. I heard nice things about it and as Hanseatic and imperial city, it also had historical importance. I couldn’t spend too much time there though as I still had another 17km ahead of me. Thankfully, bakeries and restaurants were even open on a Sunday and I could warm up myself with a coffee and sit in the dry during the next rain over lunch.

The remaining part of the trip was through small villages without accommodation. There was a nice hotel in an old castle which I would have loved to stay at as it was the perfect distance but it was closed due to Corona. Therefore, I had to do the long trip to Arneburg. The last 4km were really tough as I got tired, the path went fully straight on concrete and I was eaten by mosquitoes.

The best thing though was that in the guesthouse itself, there was a pizza place that was open on Sunday night and the pizza was heavenly (the hunger surely also helped).

Distance: 21.9km

Duration: 5h and 2h breaks

Weather: extremely hot with up to 34C, no clouds, rain in the evening

This morning, I tried to leave early as the weather forecast projected 34C by 3pm. Hence, I set myself the goal to be done by that time. Also, I chose a route with mainly forest instead of the cycling path. What a poor choice though! Google maps took me through the forest with metre high grass, nettles and thistles. Not only did it take me significantly longer to cross it but I also had to put my long leggings on to avoid scratches, ticks and being stung. After 3 kilometres, I changed the approach and crossed through a field to get onto the cycling path again. This was a positive surprise as it was much more pleasant and shady than it looked on the map.

My highlight of the trip though was when I saw the sign of a cafe selling ice cream. It felt like seeing the oasis when crossing the desert. I must have looked quite worn out as the lady had full mercy with me and brought me the biggest glass of water she could find.

Today’s route took me through a few pretty little villages with beautiful houses of brick stone and with a lot of character. It hurts to see how many of them are boarded up or are falling apart. In my opinion, there’s so much potential, especially with the Elbe cycling path going through those villages but there’s no bakery, shop, cafe or beer garden. There might be reasons for that though which I don’t see from an external perspective. But like this, I see a lot of opportunity without any competition.

My accommodation was in a farm which the owners had built from scratch. They used to have horses but sold them in spring and only have 3 cows and a bull left as they do the farm and the B&B next to their regular full time jobs. They’ve done a great job to create something special that perfectly fits the character of the rest of the village. My hosts were incredibly nice and invited me to their BBQ with friends. I think she felt bad as there was no way for me to get food any other way on a Saturday evening in such a remote area. For me, it was a welcome opportunity to listen and learn from the locals about farming, politics and the region as such. So all in all, it was a great day full of surprises.

Distance: 20.4km

Duration: 4.5h and 2h breaks

Weather: sunny, hardly any clouds, hot with up to 30C

The first part of the trip took me along the channel and I was lucky to see a vessel cross the channel over the Elbe when I left the hotel. Afterwards, I passed by the lock of Hohenwarthe which is an impressive lock for industrial shipping. It just makes you feel so tiny and irrelevant as a human being.

For the majority, the route was quite diverse with some shady parts in the forest, paths through small quirky villages or along the meadow along the river. I even took the liberty of having a nap in the meadow under a tree. That to me is absolutely freedom and what I love about this trip amongst other things. At some point, I walked past a massive mine for potassium salt which is being used for fertiliser. I’ve never seen anything like this before and the picture doesn’t do it justice.

The final part took me through a forest full of pine trees. Due to the high temperature, there was the typical smell of the Mediterranean countries when you cross those trees on your way to the beach. I love that smell and it comes with great memories. The only downside was, that there was no beach at the end of this trip. Nonetheless, a nice finish for a hot and exhausting day.

My accommodation was a little village of wooden bungalows in the forest which had the atmosphere of a camping site. It was nice to have a different character and for once, I had a lazy evening as there was only the forest around and no city or village to explore.

Distance: 18.9km

Duration: 4h and 1.5h breaks

Weather: sunny with hardly any clouds or wind, 17C in the morning and up to 24C in the afternoon

Today’s walk was smooth and uneventful. The majority of the trip was along the cycling path and had some shady parts but also fully exposed areas. As it got very busy on the path, I decided to leave it at times and walk through the fields, closer to the water.

My hotel is located right next to the Elbe-Havel channel which is an impressive construction over the Elbe. I am still hoping to spot a boat or vessel crossing it when I leave in the morning.

Accommodation: https://trogbruecke.de/

With 14 days of walking, it’s time to review the progress. In total, I’ve done 293.6km so far and am slightly behind target. My goal was to cross the 300km mark at today’s mid point. However, the next accommodation would have been another 9km which would have been too much of a stretch. While I’ve planned more on a short term basis so far to react to possible struggles, I’ll roughly map out the remaining part of the trip to ensure I leave myself some air in the final week. I haven’t done that in the beginning as I wasn’t sure if I could manage every day 20+km distances due to weather conditions or challenges from the walking. As neither of them were a major issue so far, I probably can be a bit more bold and plan further ahead. In the same time, I also want to enjoy it, have fun without turning this into a competition against myself.

With Magdeburg being the capital of the county Saxony-Anhalt, it has quite a few historical and cultural sights to easily fill a day of sight seeing. As everything is in close proximity, I covered the most relevant ones within a few hours (the Dome, the monastery Of our Lady, the house designed by Hundertwasser etc). That gave me the chance to also visit the park Elbauenpark which was the area of the federal garden show in 1999 and still holds a lot of attractions. Unfortunately, the majority of attractions was closed due to Corona, like the big wooden tower in the shape of a cone, the zip line from top of the tower and the butterfly house. Thankfully, I had rented a bicycle which made it easy and fun to get around the fairly extended area of the park and still see a lot of different things.

So all in all, it was a very relaxed and enjoyable day with some historical and cultural aspects, some physical activity and the beauty of nature. In my opinion, a day is a good time to spend in Magdeburg unless you want to go much more into depth.

Distance: 18.6km

Duration: 4h and 1.5h break

Weather: in the morning 21 with wind, in the afternoon up to 27C, partially cloudy

Having spent a very nice evening with good food and a good glass of wine, I felt very rested and ready for the next part of the trip. After reviewing my trip with one of the business owners, she advised me to cross the river again and walk on the right side of the Elbe and it was the absolutely right choice! I walked right in the meadow again which is one of my favourite landscapes. It took me along the waterfront with little sandy bays. After a while, there was a wire marking the field for cows, however I stayed close to the waterfront. At some point, I came across two men that had their tents set up for a fishing trip. As they looked local, I asked them if they’d know if I can continue the path or if the wired field would cut me off and force me to go back all the way. They reassured me that I could continue. Worst case, I could just cross the field as there are only cows. When I asked them for the bull, they weren’t sure about it but I happily declined that option. I kept going for a while and of course, the wired fence cut of my path by building an access for the cows to the water. Therefore, I had three options: a. Take off shoes and socks and walk through the water which would be at least knee deep. b. Find out a contact number of the farmer whose house was right there with cars in front of it or c. Crawl underneath the fence and hope that there’s no electricity on it and no cows in sight. I hung around for a bit hoping that the farmer would come out of the house. Since that didn’t happen I chose the last option, took off my backpack and first rolled it under the wire and then myself. My heart was beating fast as I really was worried that the herd of cows would just appear in front of me. Also, I don’t really like crossing someone’s property without permission. But all went well and I later saw the herd on the other side of the field. It would have helped to know that all along.

After this exciting start, I stayed on the dyke and had a great walk through beautiful fields and forests. There, I met the first fellow hikers who are walking the pilgrim path to Naumburg. It was nice to see others with a similar intention amongst all the cyclists. As we went opposite directions, we continued independently after a brief exchange.

Normally, walking into bigger cities comes often with a lot of traffic and not much fun. However, similar to Dessau, I could walk into Magdeburg city centre entirely through parks which was very enjoyable.

The evening was a pleasant summer evening, so I used it to visit the first sights as they were all in close proximity to the hotel. I’ll combine the pictures with tomorrow’s blog as I’ll spend a full day in Magdeburg.

Distance: 24km

Duration: 5.5h and 1.5h break

Weather: sunny with clouds, humidity

The first few kilometres led me primarily through the forest. I chose to take the cycling path instead of the walking path as the grass was still wet from the rain of the night and I was worried that the shoes would get wet inside after a while. This meant a detour of about 2 kilometres but still better than walking with moist socks. At some point, I forgot to take a turning as I haven’t checked the map on my mobile. Afterwards, I was quite grateful for the extra distance as it took me past the old castle of Walternienburg which must be one of the most beautiful registry offices in Germany! I walked into the court yard and the facility manager showed me around. You could tell that he was very proud to work in such a beautiful place.

The other highlight of today’s trip was the crossing of the Elbe via the very old iron bridge in Barby which was finalised in the end of the 19th century. It was primarily used for freight transport but is now only open for pedestrians and cyclists. I loved the combination of the industrial touch and the nature claiming back parts of it.

The final trip of today’s walk took me along a busy road with a lot of trucks due to the local gravel plant. To stay away from the passing trucks, I decided to walk through the fields. However, this was very exhausting as it was an uneven and soft ground. Hence, by the time I got into Schönebeck, I was pretty flat out. The accommodation, however, mad me up for it as it was a beautiful place right next to the Elbe with great food and very nice staff.

Accommodation: https://www.weltrad.de/quartier/

The train bridge from Barby’s side

Distance: 23.5km

Duration: 5h and 1.5h break

Weather: rain in the morning and sunny after 2pm

This was the first time that I started my walk in the rain – and I loved it! As long as it doesn’t rain heavily and with the right rain gear on, I enjoy walking in the rain. Not only is it less exhausting but it also encourages me to do longer distances between breaks. Why? Quite simple – you can’t sit down anywhere unless there’s a cabin etc along the way. Therefore, I pushed myself much harder to keep going. Due to the weather, I met only a few cyclists on the way and most of them looked quite unhappy with the weather.

After lunch, the sun came out again and it felt quite tropical with the humidity and the warmth. The good thing was that my rain clothes dried fairly quickly.

I treated myself with coffee and cake before crossing the Elbe via ferry. The final stretch took me for a few kilometres through a fairly wild growing forest. The path was overgrown with many nettles and thistles, so I really had to look down where I walk. As it was a bit monotonous, I also had my audiobook on and was fully emerged into ‘days that changed the world’. So while I was walking with my gaze down and the concentration on the audiobook, I suddenly heard something snort. I looked up in astonishment and looked right into the faces of two adult wild boars and five freshlings. I am not sure who was more surprised to see the other but I just froze and so did they. The family was about 10m away before they started running deeper in the forest. After a few metres they stopped though which made me feel uneasy. However, when I saw that there was one freshling left behind who they waited for, I found it quite cute how caring they acted.

The remaining stretch of the forest was about 4km long and I wasn’t sure how scared I should be. To be on the safe side, I turned up my audiobook on loudspeaker as sort of early warning system. Later on, three more freshlings were running away but I didn’t see the parents. I don’t think I ever walked so fast with my backpack on my back and nearly 20km under my belt. When I got to the B&B, I asked the owners about the wild boars. Apparently, there are many of them in that forest as it’s closed season where they can’t be hunted. That’s why the roam so freely. And as long as you don’t chase the little ones, they shouldn’t attack a human. It’s only dangerous for dogs, especially when they are hunting dogs and they go after them. Still, I am not too keen to see them up so close in case that there is a misunderstanding that I could want to harm their freshlings. There, I fully support a peaceful coexistence 😃

Despite this adrenaline boost, I could have walked for quite another while. It made me realise how much impact the temperature has and how the heat can really tire you out.

Distance: 19.3km

Duration: 4.5h and 2.5h breaks

Weather: sunny, partially cloudy, 27C peak temperature

Saturday’s walk was a lovely and relaxed walk which took me for most parts through the forest, some shady paths in between trees and through the romantic park of Sieglitz. I saw a fox running for at least a hundred metres along the Elbe, storks standing in the grass or flying in the air and many other animals. As it was a Saturday and I chose to stay close to the cycling path, it was very crowded with people. There are always different reactions when people see me hiking by myself which go from complete surprise, via concerns (“are you not afraid all alone?”), curiosity (“what is your final destination?”) to astonishment (“Hamburg? That is far!”). What I really like is that most people greet you which gives you this sense of community. The closer you get to the city, the less people pay attention to it though.

During the last part, I came through the outskirts of Dessau with a lot of gardens and various parks. Dessau is primarily known for the famous Bauhaus school of design and architecture and is certainly the highlight when visiting the city. Having seen a documentary about the school and its influence made me curious to see it in reality. Unfortunately, the school closed soon after I arrived. Hence, I’ll have to come back as I want to better understand the influence the school had at that time and the challenges it had to face with the Nazis who saw the movement as communist intellectualism. I was lucky enough to see it from the outside with the beautiful light of a summer evening.

The day ended in a nice way with a joined dinner in a beer garden with my local host who was born and grew up in the Eastern part of Germany. It was super interesting to talk to her and learn much more about the way she was brought up in that part, the beauty and challenges that came with it and how the reunification had an influence on the life in cities like Dessau. One thing that really surprised me was that the local university apparently struggles to attract students from Germany. Students prefer cities like Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, etc. despite the fame of the Bauhaus movement. The majority of the students come from China due to a local partnership with a Chinese city.