Seelenlandschaften

Surely everyone knows the feeling of standing in a place – whether in the mountains, by lakes, or in the forest – where your heart opens up and you simply feel happiness and gratitude. These are so-called soul landscapes, whose beauty touches us deeply. The special effect is even stronger at the intersections of nature and culture, in places that were also perceived as "sacred" by earlier people. A long trail of spiritual currents runs through Germany, starting from Paleolithic cave finds in the Swabian Jura, through Neolithic burial mounds, Celtic and Germanic cult sites, to Christian places and the "sacred sites" of the Romantics. It is inevitable that exploring the soul landscapes in Germany often requires first clearing away the powerful shadows of the past. Rüdiger Sünner critically addresses the misuse of some cult sites by the Nazis, as well as contemporary notions circulating in esoteric, neo-pagan, and right-wing circles, gradually uncovering the original roots of these sites in order to return to their authentic nature-religious spirituality.