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Walkers on the Outer Alster in Hamburg on February 21: "We hear the birds, feel the sun and see other people"
Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt / dpa
What to do in times of lockdown Going to your favorite café, the cinema, the gym, none of that is possible anymore. The walk itself has remained: the walk. First the snow, now the bright spring sun, drove people onto the streets, into the parks and forests. Going for a walk - you don't have to turn it into a science. But you can.
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Weisshaar, when the weather is nice, people apparently just want to get some fresh air.
Bertram Weisshaar:
When we are outdoors, we come back into resonance with nature.
Colloquially, one could say that outdoors we feel connected to nature, we are addressed by it.
That doesn't really work through the mind, for that we need the sensual.
We have to feel the sun on our skin or hear the birds sing.
We as humans are dependent on these impressions.
SPIEGEL:
A few days ago everyone was trudging through the last snowflakes in a happy mood.
Is it a basic need of the city dweller to get in touch with the weather and nature at such moments?
Weisshaar:
We only have snow on a few days a year, which allows us to experience the environment in a very unusual way.
For example, the sounds change a lot.
You hear fewer birds, but children cheer and voices on the toboggan hill.
That triggers a certain cheerfulness in us.
Another nice aspect is how the snow covers borders.
Individual parcels of a field or property boundaries are blurred.
Perhaps that makes up a bit of the magic of a winter landscape.
SPIEGEL:
You are a promenadologist.
What's this?
Weisshaar:
I prefer to call myself a walk researcher, it's easier.
The science of walking comes from architecture, urban and landscape planning.
It's about three-dimensional space.
It can only be understood if you are on the move in it.
We use the walk as a scientific method to encounter this space and the people who live there.
"It is often not possible for pedestrians to keep a distance of one and a half meters in their areas."
SPIEGEL:
Sounds nice.
So you are a professional pedestrian?
Weisshaar:
I bring the pedestrian perspective into urban planning.
Precisely because motorized traffic has dominated traffic planning over the past few decades.
Many people only became aware of this during the pandemic.
It is often not possible for pedestrians to keep a distance of one and a half meters on their surfaces.
SPIEGEL:
It seems as if the whole of Germany is suddenly going for a walk in the pandemic.
What's behind it?
Weisshaar:
As soon as we step outside, we see other people.
So we are part of public life.
This is very beneficial at the moment.
It is also remarkable how quickly the head can switch off on long walks.
Everything is much more immediate on foot.
Walking is the last backup of our mobility.
If nothing works, you can just walk.
SPIEGEL:
And yet there will certainly be critical voices this weekend too, warning that there will be too many walkers with children and dogs again.
What would you like to reply to these people?
Weisshaar: It
is important to
keep
the distances outside, too.
If we stick to it, the risk of infection is quite low.
At home alone I can't get infected with anyone, but it's important for my psyche to get out.
It is not for nothing that prison is a punishment.
"If we are traveling very quickly, the image around us becomes superficial and poor."
SPIEGEL:
In the age of home office work, a "Walk and Talk" appointment has long since become the new business lunch.
Weisshaar:
That could definitely have interesting effects.
In contrast to the static conference table, everyone is in motion when walking.
That loosens the hierarchies.
And saves some PowerPoint presentations, which can have a liberating effect.
SPIEGEL:
The author Ferdinand von Schirach recommends walking very slowly.
So you perceive the world very differently.
Can you confirm that?
Weisshaar:
Of course, the way we move determines our perception.
If we are traveling very quickly, the image around us becomes superficial and poor.
Our head can keep up with the pace of walking.
If we go particularly slowly, we also have more time to discover the world around us.
Personally, I prefer to go quickly.
I like it when the scenes change quickly, the different city zones alternate quickly.
SPIEGEL:
Idleness has long been considered a privilege of the nobility.
Are walkers still more affluent today?
Weisshaar:
When I say that I try to cover as many distances as possible on foot, I am often told: I cannot afford that.
I don't have that much time.
So time is the decisive measure, not money.
SPIEGEL:
Many people don't “just” go for a walk, they listen to music or podcasts.
How is it with you?
Weisshaar:
I think it's important to be out and about regularly without anything on your ears.
But podcasts in particular can be a nice enrichment that also turns the walk into a train of thought.
I produce audio guides myself.
You may know them as digital guides from museums.
But they are also available for walks.
For example, I made an audio guide for the Höchst district of Frankfurt, in which this district is presented by 20 people.
So you gain 20 perspectives and see things that you might otherwise have walked past.
SPIEGEL:
How else can I add variety to my pandemic walks?
Weisshaar:
Maybe you look for an unknown point in the city, take a bus or train there and try to find your way back without a map.
You can also look on the Internet to see which part of a city looks strange from above, and then go right there.
This is sure to be a hit.
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