Mitterkirchen: Teufelsweg Trail (Devil’s Trail)

Description:

INTERESTING POINTS ALONG THE WAY:

Keltendorf Mitterkirchen Apr. 15-Oct. 31, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily (also on Sun & holidays).

Bathing lake Mitterkirchen in Weisching

 

SPIRITUAL HIKING ON THE DONAUSTEIG:

Here again we encounter the Celts and in a Celtic village you can learn interesting facts about their way of life at that time.On the "Devil's Path" you pass an extraordinary natural monument, a 500-year-old oak tree. An oak can take 500 years to grow, 500 years to live, and then another 500 years or so to die (until it rots completely). Given such time spans, it is clear that trees can outlast and accompany generations of people. Annual rings bear witness to their age, to fruitful and less fruitful times. Trees are integrated into the annual cycle of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

• On this circular path, as I walk forward, I look back on my life and try to focus on the things that have strengthened me, that have encouraged me to go my own way. I remember what people or events have encouraged me, what I have been able to grow and mature from.


• I stand today as I am, saying YES to me.

Steps to letting go - 4,6 km
Everyone has probably dealt with the topic of "letting go" at some point. Letting go and being able to forgive are closely connected. Sometimes it helps to forgive and to let go in order to be able to finish with things. To leave old things behind and thus to look further ahead. Most of the time, through successful letting go, one feels more joy and lightness in life again. On this path, which was opened in 2015, you are accompanied by 12 panels that encourage you to reflect.For more information about the path, visit www.mitterkirchen.at

Questions I ask myself:

• What does letting go mean to me?


• Can I be grateful for what has been?


• Can I forgive someone or even myself in order to let go?

 

Directions:
From the starting point in Mitterkirchen we turn right into a side road after the sportsground and Machlanddam and continue in a south-west direction. We follow the road and keep to the right (to the left the trail leads to Wallsee-Mitterkirchen Danube powerplant). At a sharp right-hand curve, we turn into a field track. After a short while we get past an oak tree, which is also designated a natural landmark. It is said to be 500 years old. At some houses we get back onto the road again and continue in direction of the swimming lake where food and drink are also available. We continue hiking through the cultural landscape and come upon the Danube Trail at Naarn River, which we follow for a while to then turn off in the direction of Mitterkirchen in Wagra.

Tip:
Beware the devil!Who can blame the devil that he takes those souls that are easiest to get. So it is said that women in childbed who were not yet >> blessed<< had to be particularly careful. Woe those who left the ground. Unless they were carrying something blessed. Then the danger was averted. A woman in childbed from the area around Mitterkirchen was invited to a wedding. Somehow, she had forgotten to get blessed. On the way to the wedding, she also did not carry a sacred necklace or even an amulet. In her thoughts she was probably already at the wedding. At a pasture fence she hitched up skirt and climbed up the stepladder to cross the fence. At this very moment the black Soul Hunter grabbed her and drove off and away with her. All the terrified neighbours found were the scraps of her clothes. They were scattered all around the stepladder across the fence. The chapel at Leitner in Hörstorf still reminds us of this horrid event.Legend told by Helmut Wittmann

Equipment:
Hiking backpack (incl. rain cover), sturdy shoes

Additional information:
Mitterkirchen Municipal Office
4343 Mitterkirchen 50
Tel.: 0043(0)7269/8255-0 Fax: DW25
gemeinde@mitterkirchen.ooe.gv.at
www.mitterkirchen.ooe.gv.at