Rediscovering the Ancient Amber Road

Markus Zohner, for nine months has walked on foot from Venice / Italy to St. Petersburg / Russia – a 12-country 4,000 Km Walk along the Ancient Amber Way, about which he has written a book, edited by FIZZO Photo Book Film in German („Die Wiederentdeckung der Bernsteinstrasse“) and in Italian (“La riscoperta dell’antica Via dell’Ambra”).

A huge Photographic Exhibition with over 120 pictures has been devised, which has been presented in Austria, Italy, Hungary and lately in Bellinzona / Ticino, at Sasso Corbaro Castle.

His walk along the amber way lead him through Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovacchia, Poland, Kaliningrad, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia.

His illustrated Lecture is an amusing and interesting talk about his 9-month walk along the amber way from Venice to St. Petersburg.

As often with such ventures, the idea for this journey was born from a dream: to set off on a long hike, completely on my own, in my own right, and accountable only to myself. People often ask me: “Why did you do this?” Or: “What was the real reason for your journey?” To be honest, I don’t know. Except for the fact that there was this dream, which became more and more clear and pressing, and which took on more concrete form, the more I thought about the different countries, the Amber Road and its history. One and a half years before I actually set off on my journey, I started taking these dreams more seriously and giving them a more clearly defined outline.

In my nocturnal dream expeditions through the maps of the world, I focused more and more on Europe and that part of the continent, which fascinated me most, so that one day I inevitably encountered the Amber Road. It runs right through those countries and regions, which interested me most.

Often, people I met said: “I would also love to do such a thing!” And when I asked them why they didn’t do it – hiking, after all, is something that most people can do – they found a wealth of excuses: family, work, their homes, their employers, age, etc. And more than once, when I heard these answers, I pondered whether, in fact, we work, buy houses, and pay insurance policies only so we don’t have to realize our dreams.

Markus Zohner has documented his journey on medium-format film photographs (120, 6×7). 120 of these photographs, with detailed captions in three languages: Italian, German and English, constitute a large photographic exhibition that takes the viewer on the long walk from Italy all the way to Russia.

The exhibition has been presented in Austria, Italy, Hungary and in Switzerland (Sasso Corbaro Castle, Bellinzona, March–June 2013). It is a travelling exhibition that can be set up in sufficiently large and well-lit spaces.

Comments, annotations, explanations and maps of the Amber Road and the countries traversed complete the exhibition, along with a film in which Markus Zohner narrates his journey with original photographs and sounds.

Rediscovering the Ancient Amber Road: the travel account by Markus Zohner. Nine months on foot from Venice to St. Petersburg, 4,000 km through Europe along the route of the ancient Amber Road. Available in Italian, German and English.

To host The Ancient Amber Road at your theatre, festival or cultural venue, contact the production.