{"id":116,"date":"2019-01-29T13:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leetraynor.com\/blog.multi\/kiwi7\/?p=116"},"modified":"2026-03-21T03:43:33","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T02:43:33","slug":"e11-gutenberg-kosseln","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leetraynor.com\/blog.multi\/kiwi7\/?p=116","title":{"rendered":"E11: Gutenberg \u2013 K\u00f6sseln"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, April 1: Overcast for nearly all of the day and quite cold<\/p>\n

Hiking: 26.5 km<\/p>\n

Home<\/p>\n

Slept in just a little and was able to have my breakfast of an oversize yoghurt and a ready-made coffee in peace and quiet. Coffee tasted fine, wonder what it would be like if I put it in the microwave. Then a note had to be written to Nico to explain any lack of response on my behalf and everything else packed together. Oh, and lunch of two rye rolls with all of the 100 g packet of sliced sausage (Bierschinken) was made with the help of a little margarine from my hosts. I had cleared out the letterbox (at least, removed the newspaper Neues Deutschland) and so could deposit the key there when I left. Gloves and hat were ready for the cold day and I was ready to go @ 9:30. Tram was soon there for Franckeplatz, from there to the station and a slightly longer wait for the bus. Driver greeted me with, \u201cGoing to Petersberg?\u201d which I negated, but was otherwise very friendly.<\/p>\n

Not a long bus trip today and I knew where I had to go in Gutenberg. At the entrance to R\u00e4thern lost the signs again but picked then up fairly soon; again took a little time in Teicha, but then the track was well signed across town. Back at the railway track there was one last sign and at the entrance to the next town the one sign you needed to find the way back was hidden in the bushes. The remainder to Petersberg was sufficiently signed and I arrived in good spirits.<\/p>\n

This is where the Luther Path and the E11 part company for good. I had seen some very weathered maps along the way but they were pretty useless. Now, however, the Luther Path went to the right and its signs no longer sported the E11 cross; the E11 crosses went to the left and there was a sign saying Krosigk was the next place in 3 km, with Dessau listed @ 40. I followed the signs to the left and had hopes that the track would go over the top of the hill, but fairly soon it branched off again to the west and I reluctantly followed it. I say \u201creluctantly\u201d because I was expecting the path to go to the north-east. I ended up doing a complete circuit of the mountain, but no further track could be found and the only village I passed through was Drehlitz. Back at Petersberg I had my lunch and then decided to head to the next village to the north-west, which was indeed Krosigk, but there were no signs in between, and I had given up the path and taken the road instead. Once there I could ascertain no further signs until I scouted around and there was one, indicating the path had come from the left. In any case it listed the satellite village and K\u00f6sseln in 6 km as the next goals. No signs could be seen until right in the middle of Kaltenmark and they continued for a very short time before disappearing again. I checked and double-checked. Pl\u00f6tz didn\u2019t seem to be on the path, so that left three villages whose church spires I could see as candidates. I took the middle one. Shortly before the villages were close enough to grasp, a cycle path turned up (Halle \u2013 Petersberg \u2013 Fuhnen) and it had to be followed for about 100 m before I took a left turn and then a right. The village was not K\u00f6sseln but Ostrau, and K\u00f6sseln was indeed to the left \u2013 another 3 km on the road.<\/p>\n

OpenStreetMap<\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Finding the way, and getting home. GPS quality: 30\/30, coverage: 100%<\/p>\n

  • Buy E11 – Gutenberg to K\u00f6sseln GPS: \u20ac1<\/a><\/li>\n

    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Finally arriving there the cycle path turned up, but no track signs. By now I was ready to extract myself from the whole procedure, and a bus was due @ 4:15. On the way to K\u00f6sseln a first road sign with K\u00f6then @ 13 km had turned up, which @ 3:50 was doable in the next three hours, but my resolve was beginning to weaken. Anyway the bus was soon there and a very bumpy hour-long trip back to the main station in Halle was had. Once at the station the first train to K\u00f6then was just on leaving; that gave me an hour to spare, and it would mean I would get a through train to Magdeburg.<\/p>\n

    I wandered into town but couldn\u2019t decide on anywhere to eat, came back, bought my extension ticket and then went to the platform to await the train. A train was there alright, but it was unclear whether it was the one going to Magdeburg. Just before 6:00 I got on, and at least the signs on board were that it was going in the desired direction, so I took a seat.<\/p>\n

    Twist and turn on the \u201cHopper\u201d ticket that I had bought was that it was not valid for a through journey with a further ticket (huh?). If I had travelled with the train before it would have been. Go figure.<\/p>\n

    I was looking around the countryside to see if I could identify the very characteristic trio of Telekom tower, Bismarck Tower and church that make up Petersberg and there they were! I was also pretty sure that I could see the church spires I had been walking towards. That would have saved at least two hours of useless travel to and wait in Halle.<\/p>\n

    Debriefing<\/h4>\n

    I did see some internet cafe type shops in the center of town but they didn\u2019t really look like they actually had internet booths in them. In any case, there is an argument for having printed maps for the next time, as well as some alternative extraction routes.<\/p>\n