With the "Via Regia im Saarpfalz-Kreis" peace project, the Saarpfalz district has labelled a new hiking trail with a total of four stages. Hiking plaques, which can also be found on the historic market square in Homburg, mark the approximately 42-kilometre route from Homburg via Kirkel and Hassel to Rentrisch. District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo took the completion of the markings as an opportunity to draw attention to this special peace project. To this end, he met with the lead staff unit for sustainable development and mobility, represented by department head Torsten Czech and division manager Maurice Eickhoff, as well as the head of the Europe staff unit, Dr Violetta Frys, and Mark Herzog, the head of the Demography staff unit.
"VIA REGIA" is the name of the oldest and longest land route between the regions of Eastern and Western Europe. The 4500-kilometre route, which has been awarded the title of "Cultural Route of the Council of Europe", has a history stretching back more than 2000 years and crosses eight European countries. The route not only runs through the Saarpfalz district, but also from Santiago de Compostela via Paris to Kiev. "It is perhaps more than a coincidence that seven of our partner districts or partner regions of the Saarpfalz district alone lie on or close to this route: The Moselle department, the districts of Kaiserslautern, Krakow, Łańcut, Jarosław, Przemyśl and Lviv," emphasises District Administrator. Dr Theophil Gallo, outlining the intention behind the project: "We are combining local action and European thinking in a unique way here. As part of its European and cosmopolitan orientation, the Saarpfalz district is thus committed to promoting democracy and peace locally, regionally and trans-European, both of which can no longer be taken for granted."
Information boards along the route, which are to be set up successively as part of a planned LEADER funding project, will present the overall project in greater depth and establish a clear thematic link to current partnership, peace and democracy projects in the Saarpfalz district.
Currently, 700 stickers and hiking plaques mark the route of the "Via Regia in the Saarpfalz district". One of them now adorns the front door of the "Ohlio" restaurant on the historic market square. "As an Italian restaurant, we are European through and through - and not just in terms of our menu. Our employees also come from different countries and we enjoy this European diversity in an international team that works wonderfully together. We are therefore delighted to be part of this peace project," say the owners of "Ohlio", the married couple Donatella and Giuseppe Nardi.
The "Via Regia im Saarpfalz-Kreis" can be hiked from five starting points. In the north, the signposting begins at the village square in Bechhofen, where the tour leads into the Saarpfalz district towards Homburg after a few metres. Here, the historic market square with its rich gastronomy is not only the destination of the stage, but also the starting point for the further route across the forecourt of the district administration towards the Naturfreundehaus Kirkel. From the Naturfreundehaus, the signposts lead to the Fröschenpfuhl in Hassel, which marks another start and end point. From here, the route continues to Rentrisch to the Spellenstein, which is the southernmost end point of the route signposting. The start and end points can also be reached by public transport via short access routes.