Journey to Southern Poland

About the job

Responsible for this page: Editorial team Parish Stäfa

Provided: 27.05.2026

A journey through Southern Poland with many discoveries: a group of parish members travelling together

Editorial team Parish Stäfa, redaktion.website@pfarreistaefa.ch

On Saturday morning, 25.04.2026, it began. 19 people from Stäfa/Ürikon and one person from Rüti/Tann took on the over 2600 km journey to travel to Southern Poland.

Very different people with different life stories and travel expectations came together and set off together. The first daily destination was Maria-Taferl. This small village in the Nibelungengau in Lower Austria is located on a hill above the Danube. Central is the parish and pilgrimage church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In a beautiful hotel with a view of the lovely blue Danube, we enjoyed dinner and breakfast. At 7:00 am we celebrated an early mass with the parish community in joyful fellowship. Then we continued towards Poland.

Near Brno and Ostrava we crossed the Czech Republic and reached Wadowice, where Karol Józef Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920 as the third child of Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Wojtyłowa and later became world-famous as Pope John Paul II (1978-2005). There, the eating of the Kremówka papieska, this legendary Polish cream slice, was not to be missed. It was made famous far and wide by the aforementioned Pope.

In the evening, after a total journey of 1212 km, we reached Kraków (Polish Kraków). In the evening, some participants enjoyed a Polish vodka on a walk through the old town after dinner.

On Monday, we set off to the salt mine in Wieliczka (German: Gross Salze). A highly impressive collection of kilometres-long tunnels and large chapels underground were made tourist-friendly. All participants were very impressed by what they saw. After the tour through this labyrinth, we reached after a short drive the "Sisters of Merciful Jesus", a religious community founded on the work of Sr. Maria Faustyna. There we celebrated a Eucharist among ourselves in one of the numerous modern chapels of this pilgrimage site. The story of Sister Faustyna is very impressive and entirely focused on Jesus and his mercy.

Back at the Hotel Wyspianski, Monika, a cheerful, competent city guide, awaited us for a tour through the old town. The city of Kraków was largely spared from bombings and major destruction. Thus, many buildings have been renovated over time, and when money was available again. Monika brought us closer to the love the residents have for their city. We all immediately noticed how clean Kraków and the other visited Polish places are. There is no litter lying around and almost no cigarette butts. This is due to the love and care of the locals for their homeland, Monika explained to us.

Christoph Rahn brought us highly exciting historical contexts of the visited regions during the coach rides, including the position of the Catholic Church in Poland over the last centuries. It never made pacts with the state/government and so the Catholic Church was present as a constant and strong pillar throughout all the difficult times.

On Tuesday, the mood in the group was quite unsettled. The travel group had decided not to travel to Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains but to face the terrible reality of antisemitism. However, the very short-term organisation of entries for the memorial site of the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz was denied to us. Visitor flows have been severely restricted for several weeks, and tickets for entry would only have been available in a week. Drusberg-Reisen and we as the leadership team apologised for this omission.

Roman Fuchs, our driver, saved the day in that he had found a typical Polish restaurant for lunch via the internet. A true find. Everyone greatly enjoyed this lunch stop.

On Wednesday morning, we drove about 150 km to Częstochowa (German Tschenstochau) to the Marian pilgrimage site Jasna Gora. Here too, amidst countless pilgrims, we were allowed to celebrate another Eucharist in a separate chapel in peace among ourselves. The many devout visitors impressed us greatly.

After lunch in a beautiful cellar restaurant near the pilgrimage site, we again enjoyed fine dishes.

After another 250 km, we reached Wrocław (Polish Wrocław) and checked into the hotel.

On Thursday, we were surprised by a fantastic and rich breakfast buffet. Soon after, Weronika awaited us for a city tour on the Cathedral Island and at the market square. Her competence was refreshing and we heard many exciting pieces of information.

The whole week we enjoyed dry, mostly sunny weather. So also on this free Thursday afternoon. After dinner, we enjoyed a little of the "nightlife" of Wrocław and some tasted various local beer varieties. An impressive experience.

On Friday, we began the first part of the journey home and drove under competent guidance the almost 500 km to Bayreuth (Northern Franconia). There too, an experienced city guide awaited us for a tour of the old town. We enjoyed dinner in a family-run restaurant.

On Saturday, we celebrated a thanksgiving service in the Catholic castle church and soon after took the last 520 km under the wheels to arrive safely and blessed in Stäfa at 17:10.

I sincerely thank all participants for travelling with us and their engagement in various ways. Special thanks go to Don Cesare for his spiritual accompaniment, his presence, and his commitment in leading the group. I also warmly thank Christoph Rahn Hofstetter for his valuable historical impulses and his commitment in the leadership. I am very grateful to Roman Fuchs, who drove us for Drusberg-Reisen, for his calm driving style and his efforts in planning matters and daily cleaning of the windscreen covered with insects.

Thanks and praise to God for the whole journey – until next time somewhere!

Warm regards

Bruno Gut-Fuchs

Very different people with different life stories and travel expectations came together and set off together. The first daily destination was Maria-Taferl. This small village in the Nibelungengau in Lower Austria is located on a hill above the Danube. Central is the parish and pilgrimage church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In a beautiful hotel with a view of the lovely blue Danube, we enjoyed dinner and breakfast. At 7:00 am we celebrated an early mass with the parish community in joyful fellowship. Then we continued towards Poland.

Near Brno and Ostrava we crossed the Czech Republic and reached Wadowice, where Karol Józef Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920 as the third child of Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Wojtyłowa and later became world-famous as Pope John Paul II (1978-2005). There, the eating of the Kremówka papieska, this legendary Polish cream slice, was not to be missed. It was made famous far and wide by the aforementioned Pope.

In the evening, after a total journey of 1212 km, we reached Kraków (Polish Kraków). In the evening, some participants enjoyed a Polish vodka on a walk through the old town after dinner.

On Monday, we set off to the salt mine in Wieliczka (German: Gross Salze). A highly impressive collection of kilometres-long tunnels and large chapels underground were made tourist-friendly. All participants were very impressed by what they saw. After the tour through this labyrinth, we reached after a short drive the "Sisters of Merciful Jesus", a religious community founded on the work of Sr. Maria Faustyna. There we celebrated a Eucharist among ourselves in one of the numerous modern chapels of this pilgrimage site. The story of Sister Faustyna is very impressive and entirely focused on Jesus and his mercy.

Back at the Hotel Wyspianski, Monika, a cheerful, competent city guide, awaited us for a tour through the old town. The city of Kraków was largely spared from bombings and major destruction. Thus, many buildings have been renovated over time, and when money was available again. Monika brought us closer to the love the residents have for their city. We all immediately noticed how clean Kraków and the other visited Polish places are. There is no litter lying around and almost no cigarette butts. This is due to the love and care of the locals for their homeland, Monika explained to us.

Christoph Rahn brought us highly exciting historical contexts of the visited regions during the coach rides, including the position of the Catholic Church in Poland over the last centuries. It never made pacts with the state/government and so the Catholic Church was present as a constant and strong pillar throughout all the difficult times.

On Tuesday, the mood in the group was quite unsettled. The travel group had decided not to travel to Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains but to face the terrible reality of antisemitism. However, the very short-term organisation of entries for the memorial site of the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz was denied to us. Visitor flows have been severely restricted for several weeks, and tickets for entry would only have been available in a week. Drusberg-Reisen and we as the leadership team apologised for this omission.

Roman Fuchs, our driver, saved the day in that he had found a typical Polish restaurant for lunch via the internet. A true find. Everyone greatly enjoyed this lunch stop.

On Wednesday morning, we drove about 150 km to Częstochowa (German Tschenstochau) to the Marian pilgrimage site Jasna Gora. Here too, amidst countless pilgrims, we were allowed to celebrate another Eucharist in a separate chapel in peace among ourselves. The many devout visitors impressed us greatly.

After lunch in a beautiful cellar restaurant near the pilgrimage site, we again enjoyed fine dishes.

After another 250 km, we reached Wrocław (Polish Wrocław) and checked into the hotel.

On Thursday, we were surprised by a fantastic and rich breakfast buffet. Soon after, Weronika awaited us for a city tour on the Cathedral Island and at the market square. Her competence was refreshing and we heard many exciting pieces of information.

The whole week we enjoyed dry, mostly sunny weather. So also on this free Thursday afternoon. After dinner, we enjoyed a little of the "nightlife" of Wrocław and some tasted various local beer varieties. An impressive experience.

On Friday, we began the first part of the journey home and drove under competent guidance the almost 500 km to Bayreuth (Northern Franconia). There too, an experienced city guide awaited us for a tour of the old town. We enjoyed dinner in a family-run restaurant.

On Saturday, we celebrated a thanksgiving service in the Catholic castle church and soon after took the last 520 km under the wheels to arrive safely and blessed in Stäfa at 17:10.

I sincerely thank all participants for travelling with us and their engagement in various ways. Special thanks go to Don Cesare for his spiritual accompaniment, his presence, and his commitment in leading the group. I also warmly thank Christoph Rahn Hofstetter for his valuable historical impulses and his commitment in the leadership. I am very grateful to Roman Fuchs, who drove us for Drusberg-Reisen, for his calm driving style and his efforts in planning matters and daily cleaning of the windscreen covered with insects.

Thanks and praise to God for the whole journey – until next time somewhere!

Warm regards

Bruno Gut-Fuchs