Walking the Hildegard Way in Germany

There is a pilgrimage trail in the Rhineland of Germany that winds 135 kilometers through medieval villages, forest paths, vineyard hills, and ancient monastery ruins — tracing the exact landscape where Saint Hildegard von Bingen lived, prayed, and created her life’s work. This is the Hildegardweg. And walking it changes you.

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What Is the Hildegard Way?

The Hildegardweg was established with support from the European Union in 2013 — a 140 km pilgrimage trail through the Nahe River region of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It begins in Idar-Oberstein at the southwestern end and travels northeast through the Nahe River valley before reaching the Rhine at Bingen, concluding at the Abbey of Saint Hildegard in Eibingen.

Along the trail, 58 meditation and information tableaux — developed by theologian Dr. Annette Esser and the Scivias Institute, with contributions from sisters of St. Hildegard Abbey — draw from Hildegard’s mystical, medical, and musical works. Available in German and English, they turn the walk itself into a sustained meditation on her life and thought.

“The path is not long, but the walk is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap.”

Hildegard von Bingen

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Key Sites Along the Trail

The Hildegardweg is not just a walking trail — it is a biography in landscape. Each major site corresponds to a chapter of Hildegard’s extraordinary life.

Niederhosenbach

The trail begins near Hildegard’s probable birthplace — the small village of Niederhosenbach in the Nahe region. She was born here in 1098, the tenth child of a noble family. At the age of eight she was offered to the Church and placed in the care of Jutta von Sponheim at Disibodenberg — a journey that would define the rest of her life.

Disibodenberg

The ruins of Disibodenberg monastery sit on a hilltop above the confluence of the Nahe and Glan rivers — one of the most evocative sites on the entire trail. Hildegard lived here for nearly 40 years, from 1112 to 1150. It was here that she received her visions, here that she completed Scivias, and here that she first heard the divine command to write. Standing in the ruins today, with the valley spread below and the autumn light moving through the trees, the silence is remarkable.

Bingen am Rhein

Around 1150, Hildegard made a decisive break — she moved her community from Disibodenberg to a new monastery she founded herself on the Rhine at Bingen. The Rupertsberg Abbey no longer stands, but the town of Bingen preserves her memory throughout, and the Hildegard Forum here has been a centre of Hildegard scholarship and culture for decades.

Eibingen — The Abbey and the Shrine

The trail ends above the Rhine at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard in Eibingen — still an active community of Benedictine nuns, founded in 1904 on the site of Hildegard’s second monastery. Nearby, the Pilgrimage Church of St. Hildegard holds her relics — her heart and tongue — and is the site of the annual Feast Day celebration on September 17. To arrive here on foot, after days of walking through the landscape she loved, is an experience that no amount of reading can replicate.

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What to Expect on the Trail

The Hildegardweg is a trail of contrasts — it moves through hilly, sometimes demanding terrain, then opens into gentle river valleys and vineyard slopes. The Nahe River accompanies much of the route, and the Rhine makes a dramatic appearance in the final stages. Medieval villages appear around corners. Roman-era history is everywhere — this landscape has been inhabited and cultivated for over two thousand years.

Autumn is the ideal season. September brings harvest time to the Rhineland vineyards, cooler walking temperatures, and the approach of Hildegard’s Feast Day on September 17 — when the Abbey at Eibingen holds its annual celebration and procession of her reliquary through the streets.

To be in the Land of Hildegard is to slow down and listen to the rhythms of life itself.

Michael M. Conti — Filmmaker-Pilgrim

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Walk With Us — September 2026

Each September, filmmaker-pilgrim Michael M. Conti and Heather Boyle lead a guided 10-day pilgrimage through the Land of Hildegard. The tour is land-based — you stay in one location and take a tour bus out each day to the key trail sites, allowing you to experience the highlights of the Hildegardweg without carrying a pack or navigating independently.

The 2026 journey runs September 12–22, centered on Hildegard’s Feast Day on September 17. The itinerary includes forest walks, vineyard visits, monastery ruins, evening concerts of Hildegard’s music, workshops on her theology and herbal medicine, and the capstone celebration at the Abbey in Eibingen.

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Further Reading

• About Saint Hildegard von Bingen — her life, theology, music, and medicine
• Who Was Saint Hildegard von Bingen? — an introduction
• Interactive Trail Map — the full Hildegardweg route
• Pilgrimage FAQ — what to expect, what is included
• YouTube Channel — more videos from the Land of Hildegard