The German Way

In the Middle Ages the roads that pilgrims traveled towards Rome were called via romee (or Roman, or romipete), the city that was one of the main destinations, with Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela, of Western Christianity. For obvious reasons, especially the Italian peninsula was affected by a dense network of road layouts directed to Rome. The most important roads were called Romee or Roman: hence the frequency of the two names.

Those who came from the north or east, on the other hand, traveled along other Romean roads, among which the Via Romea par excellence was the one that followed the Adriatic coast, even if from afar, to avoid unhealthy or marshy places. among these the so-called Via Germanica also known as di Stade or Via Romea dell'Alpe di Serra or Via Teutonica, or Via di Alemagna or Via Romea di Stade or Via Ungaresca.

Transits for all these routes to Rome increased especially from the 12th century, when the flow of Romean pilgrims was increasingly fed by the Christianized regions of central Europe and the Scandinavian countries.

In Saxony, in the Herzog August library of Wolfenbuttel, a researcher from the mid-1800s traces a document written around 1236, which describes the roads that connect the Hanseatic city of Stade to Rome. The document, part of the Annals of Stade (Annales Stadenses) had been compiled by Abbot Alberto, a Franciscan friar of the convent of Santa Maria di Stade, in the form of a story – as was often done in the Middle Ages – which described a conversation between two romean pilgrim friars: Tirri and Firri, but which in reality it provided several itineraries with precise data on places at distances to be traversed and also on road conditions, for the journey to and from Rome.

The Hungarians and the Germans, as pilgrims from central-northern European countries were generically called, followed two routes: one along the Adige valley to Verona; the other along the Val Pusteria up to Treviso. The latter street could also be called Via Ungaresca (or Via Ongaresca). Both routes either then reach the Via Emilia, following it up to Forlì or arrive in Forlì anyway after having touched Padua, Ferrara and Ravenna.

In any case, the road begins in Forlì which, going up the Bidente valley, crosses the Apennines at the Alpe di Serra pass, near the current Mandrioli pass. The route, descending through the Casentino towards Arezzo and continuing through the Val di Chiana, arrives in Orvieto, to then reach Montefiascone, a locality in common with the Via Francigena and from there, along the Via Francigena to Rome.

The intense relationships that have existed since the 10th century between Arezzo, Forlì and Ravenna are at the beginning of the fortune of this itinerary. With the increase in pilgrimages from central Europe, the road between Forlì and Arezzo is increasingly frequented, becoming the preferential route for all those who come from the central or eastern Alps.

THE STAGES:

1. 73B – (ITA 25B) – Forlì – Castrocaro
2. 1 – (GER 1) – Stade – Harsefeld
3. 2 – (GER 2) – Harsefeld – Zeven
4. 3 – (GER 3) – Zeven – Schessel
5. 4 – (GER 4) – Schessel – Soltau
6. 5 – (GER 5) – Soltau – Bergen
7. 6 – (GER 6) – Bergen – Celle
8. 7 – (GER 7) – Celle – Rietze
9. 8 – (GER 8) – Rietze – Braunschweig
10. 9 – (GER 9) – Braunschweig – Hornburg
11. 10 – (GER 10) – Hornburg – Wernigerode
12. 11 – (GER 11) – Wernigerode – Hasselfelde
13. 12 – (GER 12) – Hasselfelde – Nordhausen
14. 13 – (GER 13) – Nordhausen – Ebeleben
15. 14 – (GER 14) – Ebeleben – Bad Langensalza
16. 15 – (GER 15) – Bad Langensalza – Gota
17. 16 – (GER 16) – Gota – Friedrichroda
18. 17 – (GER 17) – Friedrichroda – Smalcalda
19. 18 – (GER 18) – Smalcalda – Meiningen
20. 19 – (GER 19) – Meiningen – Mellrichstadt