Der Mäuserich

Many authors have tried to write a biography of Benno Bong. But many questions remained unanswered and there were plenty of inconsistencies and contradictions. That is why I, Asasiel, his guardian angel, who was his constant companion for seventy years, decided to write down his story as it really happened. In the Boy Scouts, Benno was given the totem Wackerer Mäuserich because he was cheeky, go-getting and as reliable as a mouse. The son of a carpenter, Benno came from the Vennland, a region between the Eifel and the Ardennes, which in recent years has become a small model state. Even at a young age, he had the vision of reviving the old pilgrimage route that led from Trier through the Eifel to Aachen and its shrines. He wanted to settle down as a hermit in the High Fens to show lost pilgrims the way through the moor. After attracting attention thanks to some spectacular actions, he was entrusted with delicate diplomatic missions by the Pope in Rome and the patriarchs in Constantinople and Moscow, which took him as far as Africa. In recognition of his services to the Church and ecumenism, he was given the honorary title of "Guardian of the Cathedral" by the Aachen Cathedral Chapter. His efforts to revive the Aachen pilgrimage failed due to the circumstances of the time and ended tragically.