Athos – Das Heilige berühren

The book is a luxurious large-format photo album and spiritual travelogue that, in a deeply sensitive and poetic way, brings the reader closer to the Athos peninsula – an autonomous monastic republic in Greece, known as Mount Athos.

Derwahl, already known for his earlier book Die Nacht der Jungfrau, does not write a classic guide or historical study. Instead, he creates an intimate, hymnic story about a specific journey he took part in with Kaufmann and his son. The text is rich in descriptions of encounters with monks, conversations, descriptions of silence, landscapes and spiritual atmosphere. The author does not try to impress with encyclopedic knowledge, but rather conveys an experience – moments of silence, prayer, light and the presence of the Holy One. His style is lyrical, meditative and full of respect for the Orthodox monastic tradition.

The special value of the book lies in the perfect synergy of text and images. Hans-Günther Kaufmann, a renowned German photographer, does not illustrate the text with his photographs, but complements and deepens it. The images convey the unique light of Athos, the architecture of the monasteries, the landscapes, the monks and the daily rhythm of the Holy Mountain in a way that many consider one of the most successful in the genre of Athos photography. The book acts as a complete work of art – the text and the photographs together create a dense, almost sacral atmosphere.