It is summer: holiday, travel and excursion time. Reason enough for the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek to take you on a virtual excursion, which can be enjoyed regardless of holiday days or weather conditions.
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Mountains, Guesthouses, Sea: The summer months with the German Digital Library
06.10.2021 Theresa Rodewald (Online Editor)
Before embarking on our excursion, it should be mentioned briefly that walking, strolling around and hiking not earlier became a popular leisure activity than in the course of the 19th century. Previously, members of the nobility in particular had enjoyed the privilege of strolling around their baroque pleasure gardens. The walk as a status symbol, with the purpose of seeing and being seen, was also practiced by the wealthy bourgeoisie – as is well known in 19th century London. Equipped with the knowledge, that walking for the sake of walking from the historical perspective is a relatively young pleasure, we are setting about preparing for our excursion.
Basics for the excursion Part 1: Good company
Whether a traditional Sunday stroll with the family, a hiking tour with friends, a climbing tour with our rock-climbing club, or a staff outing – in good company, high mountains are easier to conquer and the route feels to be much shorter. Of course, it has also some merit to stroll through a city alone or to walk lonely along the beach. Depending on the mood and route, we choose our excursion companions and thus have already completed the first part of the preparations.
Basics for the excursion Part 2: Routes and paths
Together or alone, we are now looking for an exciting excursion destination – what about a beautiful castle – or a nice walking route? Here walking and hiking guides can help: Whether a “lovely and comfortable day excursion from Hamburg” (particularly suitable for clubs, tourists and summer visitors), “short excursions” in the Saxon Ore Mountains around Chemnitz (including recommendations for resting and recreation areas) or an excursion to the ‘Schauinsland’ in the Black Forest with impressive illustrations – there are options to suit all tastes.
Just reading the directions invites us mentally to go hiking and takes us on a time journey into the last or even the penultimate century. In “Ein Ausflug auf den Schauinsland” (“A View on the Schauinsland”) there wrote an Otto Eisengrein in 1882: „It was an exhausting hike, because: at that time there was hardly a trace of the well trodden paths as they exist today, of the inviting benches, of a guest house that is supposed to accommodate the weary hiker and give him refreshment with food and drink.“ („Es war eine beschwerliche Wanderung, denn: von den gutangelegten Wegen, wie sie heutzutage vorhanden, von den einladenden Ruhebänken, von einem Rasthause, das den müden Wanderer aufnehmen und ihm Labung mit Speise und Trank bieten sollte, war damals noch kaum eine Spur zu finden.“)
Additionally, the old hiking guides also contain a lot of interesting and entertaining information. From the introduction to “Wanderungen durch die Lüneburger Heide zum Wilseder Berg” (“Hikes through the Lunenburg Heath to the Wilseder Berg") from 1899 we learn, for example, the following about the Lunenburg Heath: “Only a few decades ago being decried as a 'wasteland', now it is highly praised as such one. It is generally recognised that in its serious peculiarity, even monotony, it can stand up to the much-vaunted alpine mountains.” (“Noch vor wenigen Jahrzehnten als ‚Einöde‘ verschrieen, wird sie als solche nun hoch gepriesen. Allgemein wird anerkannt, dass sie in ihrer ernsten Eigenart, ja Eintönigkeit, sich selbst dem viel gepriesenen Hochgebirge an die Seite stellen kann.”) In fact, the Lunenburg Heath has only been a popular subject of landscape painting and poetry since the Romantic period.
The progressing industrialisation not only creates a contrast between the cities and the wild nature of the heath, but is also a threat to the landscape. In the hiking guide, concerns about the future of the Lunenburg Heath can be heard: “unfortunately, the development of culture [...] means that in a few generations, heather and moor will be replaced by fields, forests and meadows. Later generations will perhaps only be able to see in the form of a 'nature park' what the Lunenburg Heath once meant to their fathers." (“leider bedingt die Entwicklung der Kultur […], dass in wenigen Menschenaltern, Feld, Wald und Wiese an Stelle von Heide und Moor getreten sein werden. Späteren Geschlechtern wird vielleicht nur noch ein ‚Naturpark‘ zur Anschauung bringen, was die Lüneburger Heide einst ihren Vätern bedeutete.”) In fact, nowadays the Lunenburg Heath is a nature preserve – the hiking guide here takes a look into the past as well as into the future.
Basics for the excursion Part 3: Transport
As soon as we have chosen a destination and a route, it is time to take care of the journey. There are several options here. We can simply start walking from our accommodation, go on a bike tour or a carriage ride, go by car or get on the train.
If we were in Hamburg in 1932, we could buy a “Ausflugsrückfahrkarte” (“return trip ticket") – for example for the train 786 taking us to Lunenburg, where we can open ourselves to the "serious peculiarity" of the heath. Alternatively, we make use of a so-called “Sonntagsrückfahrkarte” (“Sunday return ticket”), which enables us to go on a whole weekend excursion at a particularly affordable price. Of course, an excursion does not necessarily have to be undertaken on foot or by bike, an excursion on a steam boat can be recommended as well as a bus tour.
Basics for the excursion Part 4: Taking a rest
Part of a successful excursion is, of course, a stop at a restaurant destination. Whether a café including a gondola pond, the inn of a brewery or a terrace with a stunning view – the main thing is that we can pause for a short time and take some refreshment.
In times of pandemics, keeping distance is of course particularly important. An interesting hygiene concept from the times of the Great Plague (between 1346 and 1353) can still be admired in Florence today. In order to limit contact and minimise the risk of infection, during the plague wine was served through so-called buchette del vino, "wine windows" or "wine holes". These were small openings in the wall of a guest house through which a wine glass could be handed out and coins could be handed in with relatively little contact.
If we are in Franconia or Upper Bavaria, we can stop in a beer garden and eat the provisions we have brought with us. This is virtually a remnant of an attempt at arbitration by King Maximilian I, because at the end of the 19th century, Munich brewery owners began to sell beer directly in front of the beer cellars in the summer months. In doing so, they competed with the guest houses, which is why the Bavarian King decreed in 1812 that no food other than bread could be sold in beer gardens.
Those who do not want to stop at a guest house can bring provisions by way of precaution and have a picnic at a picturesque vantage point. If we are in the Lunenburg Heath, we may be lucky enough to hear the twittering of a Eurasian tree pipit or an icterine warbler. Instead of a picnic basket, drivers are advised to have a "car snack": Launched in 1961 by Alfi, the set contains two thermos flasks, a cooling compartment, four snack boards, knives, spoons and a bottle opener. That means everything the picnic heart desires. Thanks to its practical straps, the “car snack” can be easily attached to the car seat.
Basics for the excursion Part 5: Reporting
Part of a successful excursion is of course proof that it took place. The fact that we have climbed a mountain, hiked through a forest, or simply spent a few nice hours in nature, we can first immortalize photographically. Even so the landscape can be captured wonderfully without photo models – acquaintances, relatives and posterity are often particularly happy when the excursion guests are shown in the souvenir photos.
In order to report directly on our adventures or relaxing walks, of course, we can send pictures and excursion greetings directly to friends and family via mobile phone. As an analogous alternative, the postcard is still highly recommended. From 1871, the ‘Reichspost’ (Imperial Mail) officially sold postcards in Germany, and just a year later private manufacturers were also allowed to distribute their own motifs. At the end of the 1880s there was a real boom in postcards. More and more people were travelling or going on excursions, and at the end of the 19th century an integral part of an excursion was postcard writing. At some vantage points or excursion restaurants there were vending machines that released a postcard after inserting a coin.
With the postcard, for example, we inform our “Dear Darling” (see above) about our activities. Depending on the type of excursion, it might also be appropriate to report more formally about our experiences, like the boarding school children who, after a day in Heidelberg, sent a postcard to the Grand Duchess of Baden and sent her their "most humble greetings".
After starting the return journey and returning home, once more we might want to record our experiences in the form of a hiking or travel report. By the way, travel reports can also be fictional – so how about going on an excursion through the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek and recording your adventures by yourself?