Pilgrims' Fair Hamburg 2025

We're sitting in the Bonibus on the way to Stralsund. It's 7 p.m. and we're exhausted. 

Today we, that's Marion, Harald, Sabine, Olaf and Ellen, took part in the 17th Pilgrims' Mass in Hamburg.

What a day.

First of all, a big compliment goes to the organizers. The Pilgrims' Fair is getting bigger and more diverse every year. This year with 66 pilgrim stands (last year there were 51) and this despite the fact that this year the Pilgrims' Church of St. Jacobi Hamburg was closed at short notice due to urgent construction and safety work and so everything took place in the neighboring churches of St. Petri and St. Katharinen.

We have actually been taking part in the fair for years and yet we always get new ideas.

This is due to the many good conversations at the stands and in between.

The ecumenical pilgrims' initiative was represented with two stands this time; one was the ÖPI in general and the other was the pilgrims' hostel Alter Heuboden Jager. Nevertheless, we had our hands full.

Our stands were set up in St. Petri, together with other stands representing Northern Germany's pilgrimage work and the “Nordic Corner”, the pilgrimage stands from Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

It was a colorful hustle and bustle in the church. Many people stood at our tables, interested in the Birgitten Way and the Via Baltica. With a large jigsaw puzzle, we were able to keep people at the table for a while and use the motif to get people talking about Birgitta's words of pilgrimage.

For the next few years, we were also able to recruit people for the “Open Church” work of the tourism pastoral care in Stralsund and Sellin.

There was even a pilgrim's passport at the fair. If you collected eight stamps from two churches, you got a free coffee. - A nice thought.

Old friends from past pilgrimages in Sweden and Germany met up and agreed on new ideas for the future. 

For example, a pilgrimage from Bornholm to St. Olov in Sweden with Magnus Malmgren from Lund is being discussed.

New participants included representatives from pilgrimage routes in England and Scotland. But pilgrimages with people with disabilities (e.g. deaf, in wheelchairs) are also on the rise.

Both the church service and the workshops afterwards were interpreted into sign language and the offer was accepted much more than hoped for.

With these international and German perspectives, we return home fulfilled and encouraged. 

Pilgrimages unite people across denominations, nations and personal limitations.

It works because we travel with God and God travels with us. This could be felt even in personal blessings. 

We are looking forward to the next Pilgrims' Fair and Symposium next year in Hamburg.

Save the date: Pilgrim Symposium 20.02.2026; Pilgrim Mass 21.02.2026 in Hamburg 

Ellen Nemitz and Marion von Brechan