Evidence of the growing popularity of the Camino de Santiago is widespread, and comes up in surprising places.  We are in Hinterzarten, a resort in the Black Forest, where the lakes and forest walks have attracted visitors for centuries.  We weren’t expecting to find a map of a pilgrim route on the side of a small meadow in the centre of the village, but there it was. 

Maybe it’s because we in the UK tend to focus on the pilgrim routes through France and then the different options through Spain, but we don’t hear much about routes in Germany or beyond.  But in recent years, more towns have the familiar scallop shell sign, now in blue and yellow, on a walking sign somewhere – that’s true in Switzerland too.  In a sense it doesn’t matter whether they are following traditional medieval routes in detail or not – each generation makes their own pilgrimage.  Some argue that each pilgrim creates their own pilgrimage, and while that’s true by definition, there’s something about being part of a wider collective and following an established route that differentiates pilgrimage from just a long walk.

Having seen the map last night we found ourselves on the route today, heading to and from the Titisee.  The pilgrims, medieval and modern, have some beautiful paths through the Black Forest, and while there is some climbing involved, there are many sterner tests ahead on the way to Santiago.  Here is an example of the path with the Jakobusweg sign on the right.

440,000 pilgrims completed their Camino last year, twice as many as in 2013.  They are coming from a wider range of countries.  And the opportunities to become part of the Santiago community nearer home are also multiplying.

Buen Camino.