The ‘Middle Moselle Creation Trail’ has been opened in Bernkastel-Kues. The 6.4 kilometre circular trail leads across the Kues plateau to twelve way stations.
Numerous stakeholders, including the Bernkastel-Kues pastoral area, opened the ‘Middle Moselle Creation Trail’ on the Kueser Plateau on 12 May. The approximately 6.4-kilometre circular trail around the Kueser Plateau with its spa gardens and rehabilitation clinics leads past twelve selected stations and viewpoints and invites visitors to consciously experience creation with information and inspirational texts.
Almost 80 guests attended the opening ceremony at the spa guest centre. Members of an ecumenical working group, which began planning the trail around two years ago, presented the Creation Trail. Pastoral counsellor Roland Hinzmann, a member of the management team of the pastoral area, explained the genesis of the ‘community project’ and its intention: ‘I hope that the path will help tourists, spa guests, families and locals to find peace and to find themselves,’ said Hinzmann about the creation project, which he sees as a contribution to the redesigned spa park as a local recreation area. He referred to the special features of the respective stele locations, which provide the themes for the individual information andwould have provided impulse texts. For example, an insect hotel symbolises the topic of biodiversity, the tranquil forest stands for dealing with grief, highland cattle for the topic of sustainable nutrition and the Mülheim Bridge for reflecting on the bridges in life.
Ursula Fusenig, preacher of the Protestant parish of Bernkastel-Kues, focussed on the idea of creation and the divine mandate to mankind to preserve creation. ‘One way of doing this is the Middle Moselle Creation Trail,’ said Fusenig. Clinic chaplain Father Dr Ralph Huning, pastoral assistant Tobias Schmitt and tourism expert Monika Marmann presented the principle of the rotating stelae, each of which takes up the specific features of the place, takes a Christian view of it and provides an impulse for everyday life.
The opening, which was accompanied by Gerda Koppelkamm-Martini on the flute and Dr Michael Meyer on the piano, was particularly characterised by the idea of cooperation and networking. In addition to the ecumenical working group from the pastoral area and the Protestant parish, as well as the Bernkastel-Kues wine and holiday region, Roland Hinzmann thanked representatives of the municipal administration, the town of Bernkastel-Kues, the unified municipality of Morbach, the local community of Lieser, the DRK social welfare organisation – on whose grounds three steles are located -, the Kultur- und Kur-GmbH, the Median clinics and the company Western energy. Wolfgang Pastor, who stood in for the mayor of Bernkastel-Kues, Wolfgang Port, who was unable to attend, gave a welcoming address on behalf of the town, while the commercial director Christian Gores spoke on behalf of the Median clinics, for whose guests the trail is part of a holistic programme ‘to recharge their batteries’ as part of their rehabilitation.
The circular trail, which was financially supported by the European Union and others as a project of the Moselle Local Action Group, leads from the Kurpark to the vineyards to the ‘Beautiful Wine View’ near Lieser, via the Cusanus-Hofgut and back to the Kurpark. It is easy to master and also leads past the new viewing platform (‘Skywalk’) in the vineyards, which is the inspiration for the trail’s motto, ‘So close to the sky’. QR codes on the steles lead to further information and offers, including meditative walks along some of the stations with the hospital chaplain Father Huning.
Further information on the Creation Trail, the steles and a map of the trail can be found at www.pr-bernkastel-kues.de/pastoralerraum/schoepfungsweg-mittelmosel
