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BAVARIA-TOURS Aug-2-2005 (1,000 words) With photo. xxxi
Bavarian tours retrace footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI
By Tess Crebbin
Catholic News Service
MUNICH, Germany (CNS) -- Just months after a German became pope, the Bavarian Tourist Office is offering tours to locations associated with Pope Benedict XVI's early life.
The tours, called "In the Footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI Through Bavaria," last up to five days and nights. The tiny towns and villages on the tour's itinerary offer visitors a glimpse of where the pope grew up, went to school and became a priest and lecturer.
One stop on the Pope Benedict tour is Traunstein, the town considered by many to be the pope's home town. While the family of Joseph Ratzinger -- now Pope Benedict -- moved quite often while Joseph was a small child, the family settled in Traunstein in 1937, when Joseph was about 10. The Ratzinger family's former farmhouse on the outskirts in Hufschlag is surrounded by lush green fields and thick forests. A commemorative plaque hangs on Eichenweg No. 19, reminding tourists of its most famous inhabitant, and visitors can view the building from the outside.
Joseph Ratzinger, his parents, sister and brother lived in the rural home for many years, and today the surviving neighbors still remember the family. One man recounts an amusing episode of Pope Benedict's young life.
Franz-Xaver Zeiser, who is nine years younger than the 78-year-old pope, said he often would visit the family, since they were his closest neighbors.
Joseph, then a teen, "had a giant teddy bear back then, and he often used it to scare me," recalled Zeiser.
"One day I had enough and decided to get my revenge," so he said he left a large hammer outside the Ratzinger house.
"When Joseph came at me with his teddy bear again, I raced outside and grabbed the hammer. Then we stood, grimly facing each other, me gripping the hammer and him his teddy bear. Eventually we both put down our 'weapons,' and that was the end of that," said Zeiser.
The local tourist office also provides maps of the area so people can retrace Pope Benedict's half-hour walk to high school. The school no longer exists at its old location, but the building, which houses the local music school, can still be viewed.
The walk to high school led Pope Benedict past St. Oswald Church, where he often stopped to pray alone. Years later, on July 8, 1951, he celebrated his first Mass as a priest there. Long after he became cardinal and moved to Rome, Pope Benedict visited Traunstein and could sometimes be seen praying alone at St Oswald.
Father Sebastian Heindl, parish priest, said parishioners are still amazed that "one of us has become pope."
Father Heindl, who occasionally celebrated Mass with then-Cardinal Ratzinger, said he always found him "to be deeply pious."
"Just before Mass he becomes very quiet and goes deep inside himself, as though seeking special communion with God," he said.
St. Michael, the minor seminary Pope Benedict attended in Traunstein, is now a boarding school, but students attend classes at the local high school. A framed painting of Pope Benedict greets visitors in the entrance hall.
Another stop along the tour is the town of Altotting. As a boy, Pope Benedict often went with his parents to Altotting to pray at the shrine of the Black Madonna. As an adult, he returned to Altotting frequently, sometimes for private, low-key visits.
When Pope Benedict held his first official audience for German pilgrims April 25, Altotting Mayor Herbert Hofauer presented him with a copy of the Black Madonna.
"He asked about my children," Hofauer recalled. "He said, 'How is your oldest son? What was his name again?'" Hofauer said when he replied "Benedict" the pope laughed.
"Then he asked me about the quality of the white sausages at the Hotel Post and whether they were still as good as ever," said Hofauer.
The Hotel Post is the traditional pilgrims' hotel, situated opposite the shrine. Its owner, Gerold Tandler, is proud of the hotel's connection with Pope Benedict, who often ate there; photographs showing Tandler with the pope are displayed in the hotel entrance.
The tour then goes on to Regensburg with a visit to the traditional Sunday Mass with the Regensburg Boys Choir, which Pope Benedict's brother, Father Georg Ratzinger, directed until his retirement. The Regensburg tour takes pilgrims past the university where Pope Benedict taught, then ends in the local Wurstkueche, a traditional Bavarian restaurant offering sausages and a view of the Danube River.
Finally, the tour stops in Freising, where Pope Benedict went to the seminary, finished his undergraduate studies and was ordained a priest.
The philosophical-theological institute where Pope Benedict studied was located on the second floor of what is now the cathedral library, on Domberg 40. Pope Benedict was ordained in Freising's cathedral and later lectured at the institute.
"Among his tasks were looking after the student library and to be mentor and confidant to the students," said Msgr. Sigmund Benker, director of the cathedral library, who was already at Freising at the time. "He was always very kind with the students, and many of them came to him with their problems, trusting his advice. I remember him as highly intelligent, modest, and always (with) a kind word for everyone. His lectures were crowded, when he was at the seminary and also when he later returned as lecturer."
The combination cathedral and seminary library in Freising has Pope Benedict's two dissertations as well as summaries and copies of many of his lectures.
"Most of these documents have never been published or translated," said Msgr. Benker. "Especially the lectures should be of great interest to foreign scholars. While we cannot grant permission to take them out on loan, it is, however, possible for visitors to come and read them, even take notes. We have a Ratzinger corner in the library now, and this is where all the materials are located. They provide an interesting insight into our pope's earlier academic years."
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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