Hiking, forests, treading waterGudrun Hagemeister

Back in the day, when Gudrun Hagemeister ran her own café with her husband in the centre of the small community of Olsberg, she once vowed: "When I'm retired, all I want to do is hike." Today, "in my second professional life", she has fulfilled this dream. Every day, the 80-year-old is drawn to the Sauerland forests. Whatever the weather and whatever the season. "Because without hiking, I'm only half a person." But she is often not alone on her tours. For twelve years, the qualified health trainer for Kneipp treatments has regularly led groups on the 39-kilometre-long, certified Kneipp trail around the Kneipp spa town of Bad Olsberg. Then she packs her rucksack with a small watering can dangling from it, takes her dog Jule on a lead and off she goes. DeinNRW set off with the grandmother of five and great-grandmother of seven and simply took off her shoes and socks in the middle of the forest.

But as we all know, the journey is the reward. Which is why Gudrun Hagemeister always takes a break from time to time. Then she lets her gaze wander over the green wooded Sauerland, listens to the silence of the forest and draws the attention of her companions to the small peculiarities of nature.

The Kneipp therapist always encourages her guests, many of whom have been hiking with her for years, to walk through nature with their eyes wide open. Because even though she probably knows the forests around the tranquil town of Olsberg better than anyone else: "It's always different in the forest." In autumn, for example, the 77-year-old explains, "the atmosphere here early in the morning is almost a little mystical". Gudrun Hagemeister likes this special atmosphere when the mist is still wafting between the trees. But she also likes it when the moss on the mighty cliffs glistens in the sun in spring or when the scent of fresh forest herbs fills her nose. Then the woman with the alert eyes and the infectious enthusiasm for the little things in her surroundings likes to hike to her favourite spot a little off the signposted Kneipp path. At the Ännchen spring, she forgets the time around her, listens to the babbling of the small rivulet that meanders down the Olsberg and enjoys the few rays of sunshine that shine through the high branches of the trees onto the small wooden bench.

Gudrun Hagemeister has been familiarising herself with the natural healing methods of the priest Kneipp from Bad Wörishofen for many years. After all, her adopted hometown of Olsberg, where she and her husband ran one of the 100 best cafés in Germany for more than 45 years and supplied customers from all over the world with sweet specialities such as cherry brandy mice and marzipan pralines, has been a recognised Kneipp health resort since 1895. Since 2017, the idyllic little town has even been able to call itself Bad Olsberg, as Gudrun Hagemeister is visibly proud to report. So people from all over Germany have always come here to be treated. Today, they also come to Olsberg to hike along the Kneipp path with Gudrun Hagemeister and simply take off their shoes and socks in the middle of the forest.