Books To prepare for or as an alternative to hiking.
There are books about hiking through Germany like hiking trails in this hiking-friendly country: one at each corner, and yet new ones are opened every month. But I have looked at three of these recently published books for you.
The ZEIT journalist Henning Sußebach has made it in Germany from the way to the task of hiking away from the cities and even off the roads from north to south. What begins as an ecologically motivated trip in search of unsealed, untoned land becomes a voyage of discovery of the flat land, province, and people of these villages.
Here, Sussebach encounters the people who otherwise never appear as individuals, but as protest voters, relatives or Jammerossis. Impressive, enlightening and also motivating, I find how open Sussebach is for the views of people with whom he does not have much in common, politically or ideologically. He is never pejorative, not even judgmental.
From north to south, Germany becomes a little unfriendly and in Bavaria then downright commercial. Where one is used to hikers as tourists, it does not seem to be usual anymore to invite strangers in for dinner or even offer them a bed.
A quiet, thoughtful, beautiful book that made me want to get to know our German province. And again I realized that I know less about East Germany than many other countries.
Incidentally, the author replied promptly - but unfortunately negatively - to the most important question I had after reading Germany.
Nevertheless, I remain an eager walker, partly out of necessity, because I do not have a car, but also because I realized that observing the environment is the most intense way to observe it. Uli Hauser, journalist at Stern, also sees it as a "resistance to a form of impatience and speed that I increasingly go to the mind."
He also went from north to south: from Hamburg to Rome. His book goes! It is less about the country that has wandered through than about the positive effect of walking itself, as the subtitle How a few steps more makes our lives better betrays.
The initial advice of the author could be taken from my guide: "Walking is not magic: You do not need a safety vest and no colored shoes, no extra light with light strips." Unfortunately, Hauser becomes increasingly obsessed with his gait and walking tools, and spends more and more time with shoemakers, shoe shops, orthopedists and walkers, writes about clubfoot, shock absorption, fascia and insoles. This takes too much space in the book. (If you are surprised that walking takes your feet and that a hike of more than 1000 km is exhausting, then perhaps this surprise should be better kept to itself. "With Sussebach, I can not remember that he once moaned." Other writers went to write all over Europe, without deigning even to a bubble or a blistered heel.)
Nevertheless, I also give for Go! a recommendation. Alone because of the language. Just as pedantic as Hauser would like to design the perfect shoe, he has honed this book until every sentence sits and every word works. In addition, some of the thematic excursions are quite interesting, for example, on the street map of Professor Dietrich Denecke, which still marked locations of gallows or the places to change horses, or the "Raißbüchlin", the first German guide from 1563.
The third book is definitely not on the hike. Not because it would be bad, but because it is a 1.6 kg heavy, splendidly designed volume, which is read chapter by chapter during the winter break in front of the fireplace: The Book of Germany Travel.
With this anthology you travel not only geographically, but also historically through Germany, from Caesar and Tacitus through Montesquieu, Hume, Stendhal, Twain and Fermor to Frisch, Forsyth, Noteboom and Stasiuk. Also unknown authors are there, or people who are more known for other than for their German observations, such as the Shah of Persia (it is about the visit of 1873, not that of 1967) or John F. Kennedy (it is about his Germany trip as a student, not as president). But all of them are foreigners who look on our land as visitors.
The book is lavishly styled, high quality finish, with maps, drawings, engravings and photos on almost every page. A treat for bibliophiles and perfect for browsing. It is by no means only about the romantic castle, Black Forest and hiking Germany, but also about wars, politics and the Berlin Wall.
Based on the price of 48 euros Book of Travel Germany is probably more for birthdays or Christmas. But if you want to give it away, be sure to order a few months before the festival to have enough time for your own reading.