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" Guided by stars. Pilgrim routes”
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Telefon: +43/1/811 13
Telefax: +43/1/811 13-334

Brigitte Wachtl: DW 225
E-Mail: wachtl@schoenbrunn.at

Josefa Haselböck: DW 335
E-Mail: haselboeck@schoenbrunn.at

Press photographs for downloading

Camino de Santiago / Spain • Kailash / Tibet • Qoyllur Rit'i / Peru

The old routes of pilgrimage are experiencing a boom. More than 150,000 people walked the pilgrims' path to Santiago de Compostela in 1999, and in 2004 more than 200,000 pilgrims are expected.
In the Peruvian Andes, right below a glacier, thousands of native South American Indians gather once a year from all over South America for a pilgrimage which has its roots in ancient Indian rites.
In Tibet the Chinese authorities have lifted restrictions on pilgrimages to Mt Kailash. Now people from all over Asia and the rest of the world are streaming into North-West Tibet in order to circumambulate the holy mountain. Three routes of pilgrimage which unite people from all nations and cultures, drawing the curious from all over the world and gathering the faithful of several religions. What is it that drives pilgrims on all continents to abandon their everyday lives and set off on a journey, braving difficulties and hardships? Is it only the spiritual energy of holy places? Or is it the thrill of testing one's own physical and psychological limits, of discovering oneself? Photographer Christoph Lingg and author Susanne Schaber have explored three very different routes of pilgrimage: the path to Santiago de Compostela, the path around Mt Kailash, and the Indian pilgrims' festival at Qoyllur Rit'i. In their photographs and texts they capture the history and atmosphere of these three paths and record not only the great variety of religious rituals but also the deep longing of people to encounter their true selves in the act of walking.

Mariazell: an Austrian path of pilgrimage

The exhibition is complemented by a selection of photographs of a pilgrimage to Mariazell, a route of pilgrimage associated with the Habsburgs.
This will be accompanied by a display of kneeling desks from the holdings of the Imperial Furniture Collection. The exhibition documents the mystical fascination of pilgrim routes, which have followed the stars since ancient times.

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