Stuttgart artist starts unforgettable silent hike!

Stuttgart artist starts unforgettable silent hike!

Where the path leads us, only the person who follows it knows. The Stuttgart performance artist Daniel Beerstecher spoke his last words on Friday evening, June 20, 2025, before embarking on a year-long silent hike through Germany. “The world is becoming increasingly crazy and noisy,” reports Beerstecher and explains that he wants to counteract this development with calm, listening and silence. He presented his motivation for this unusual action in the St. Maria Catholic Church in Stuttgart and recognized the value of real connections and mindfulness. SWR has comprehensively illuminated these backgrounds.

Beerstecher plans to walk around 3,000 kilometers in the coming months. His goal? Listening to people and entering into dialogue without speaking up yourself. The project is not new for him; He has already implemented various transportation projects, many of them on foot. To make communication easier during his hike, he wants to use pieces of paper that could later be incorporated into his art. “This is not an easy undertaking,” he says, while at the same time emphasizing the high value of silence and inner peace, which heals even in modern times and opens up spaces for deeper conversations. Stuttgart News complement these ideas.

Support and challenges

Beerstecher will not be alone on this extraordinary hike. An assistant is at his side and every now and then friends and a documentary filmmaker accompany him. A particular challenge is communicating with his wife, who will remain in Stuttgart. Both of them have been preparing for this time for a year without any direct conversations, but they don't know what everyday life will actually be like. “We manage to write letters and hope that’s enough,” says Beerstecher thoughtfully.

As part of his journey, he will stop in various cities where he will listen to people and give them the opportunity to share their thoughts with a speaking stick. Longer stays are also planned at selected locations, such as the Catholic St. Maria Church in Stuttgart and a tiny house in Ettlingen (Karlsruhe district). If necessary, he will use his outdoor equipment to spend the night and survive the cold months in northern Germany. Hiking mindfulness also points to the importance of nature and silence, which could encourage Beerstecher's team to organize mindfulness events along the route.

With each step, Beerstecher hopes to not only gain new perspectives, but also to satisfy people's deeper need for peace and real contact. A year in silence to push the crazy world into the background for at least a moment - that can be a fruitful path.