If you look at the thermometer these days, you know that spring is just around the corner. Sunshine galore awaits us these days. Spring makes you want to try something new, fresh, undiscovered - if you feel the same way, then I have a very nice thing for you. If you're in the mood for exercise, you'll get your money's worth!
Have you ever heard of the Via Regia? Visitors to the Lohrberg are probably most familiar with the old trade route that used to connect Frankfurt with Leipzig. Sounds good? I went on a little pilgrimage these days and discovered exciting things for cyclists, hikers, dog owners and families - a route for everyone, so to speak.
Awe is in order!
The Via Regia goes once across Europe, more specifically it goes from Kiev to Frankfurt to Mainz and finally ends in Santiago di Compostella.
Sound familiar? Yes, the popular pilgrimage route that Hape Kerkeling marched along.
But we don't have to travel that far here in the Rhine-Main region: in Bergen-Enkheim, the entrance to the "Hohe Straße" awaits me with an iron plaque, unfortunately graffitied, and four loungers to rest on with a distant view at the viewing axis, the Große Loh.
This is Frankfurt: traffic all around, not far away the office towers, and in just a few moments I am in the middle of nature, surrounded by bee boxes, horses and farms.
Six curious facts about the Via Regia
1. Where does the name Via Regia come from? Regia is Latin and means royal. The name indicates that it was under the protection of the Emperor Barbarossa by decree and assured travellers of safe conduct.
2. How long is the route? It depends on which link is meant. The most important route in the Middle Ages was that between the fair cities of Frankfurt and Leipzig. The complete length from Kiev to Santiago di Compostella is about 4500 kilometres.
3. How long is the German section? The German section winds its way from the Rhine via Frankfurt and Fulda to Leipzig to Görlitz for a total of 600 kilometres.
4. Where in Frankfurt can one find evidence of the former King's Path? Besides the Lohrberg and Bergen-Enkheim (navigation: Hohe Straße), various points led through the city, for example past the Gallus Gate towards the banks of the Main to the mouth of the Nidda in Nied. Another branch, coming from Mainz, meandered along today's Oeserstrasse to Marbachweg and on to Bergen.
5. Was the Via Regia a pure trade route? Not at all. The old royal road used to be what Whats App is for us today: people went on pilgrimage over the road, messages were exchanged. Until today, the route also connects cultural highlights in Germany and Europe in general.
6. Where can you find the narrowest section of the road? In Gelnhausen in the Pfarrgasse/Haitzergasse, the road is only three meters wide. Whoever goes there: look out for a small house and try to decipher its inscription about "Franckfurtt" and the "narrowest place" in the village.
You might also be put in an even more springtime mood by <link https: www.frankfurt-tipp.de insidefrankfurt s shopping ab-in-den-fruehling-fuenf-lieblingsplaetze-am-main.html _blank>my five favorite places on the Main.
Have you ever hiked the Via Regia? Which section would you recommend?