A helper class for building a breadcrumb for a given page alias.

autoload.php

<?php

/**
 * Contao Open Source CMS
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2005-2014 Leo Feyer
 *
 * @package Zz_sg_patches
 * @link    https://contao.org
 * @license http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html LGPL
 */


/**
 * Register the namespaces
 */
ClassLoader::addNamespaces(array
(
    'MAW',
));


/**
 * Register the classes
 */
ClassLoader::addClasses(array
(
    'MAW\Search\Helper'    => 'system/modules/maw/MAW/Search/Helper.php',
));

Helper.php

<?php

/**
 * Contao Open Source CMS
 *
 * @copyright  MEN AT WORK 2014
 * @package    Helper
 * @license    GNU/LGPL
 * @filesource
 */

namespace MAW\Search;

class Helper
{

    /**
     * Get a breadcrumb for a page url.
     *
     * @param string $strAlias          The alias from the page.
     *
     * @param string $strTargetLanguage The target language e.g. de, en, etc.
     *
     * @return array List with all page title. First Root last current page.
     */
    public static function getBreadcrumbForPage($strAlias, $strTargetLanguage = '')
    {
        $arrReturn = array();
        $objPages  = \PageModel::findPublishedByIdOrAlias($strAlias);

        // Check if we have a entry.
        if ($objPages == null)
        {
            return $arrReturn;
        }

        // If we have more than one side, check the language.
        if ($objPages->count() > 1 && !empty($strTargetLanguage))
        {
            while ($objPages->next())
            {
                // Get the page with all information.
                $objPage = $objPages->current()->loadDetails();

                // Check the language if hit one with the current.
                if ($objPage->language == $strTargetLanguage)
                {
                    // Get the current page with all details.
                    $objCurrentPage = $objPage;
                    break;
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            // Get the current page with all details.
            $objCurrentPage = $objPages
                ->current()
                ->loadDetails();
        }

        // Check if we have a entry.
        if ($objCurrentPage == null)
        {
            return $arrReturn;
        }

        // Get the title.
        $arrReturn[] = $objCurrentPage->title;

        // Remove the last entry and reverse the array.
        $arrTrail = $objCurrentPage->trail;
        array_pop($arrTrail);
        $arrTrail = array_reverse($arrTrail);

        // Run each tail.
        foreach ($arrTrail as $intPageId)
        {
            // Get the page information
            $objTrailPage = \PageModel::findByPk($intPageId);

            // Check if we have the site.
            if ($objTrailPage == null)
            {
                continue;
            }

            // Add the title to the list.
            $arrReturn[] = $objTrailPage->title;
        }

        // Return all in reveres order. Root first current page last.
        return array_reverse($arrReturn);
    }

    /**
     * Get a breadcrumb for a page url with spans.
     *
     * @param string $strAlias          Alias of the page
     *
     * @param string $strTargetLanguage The target language e.g. de, en, etc.
     *
     * @return string The titles in spans. First Root last current page.
     */
    public static function getFormattedBreadcrumbForPage($strAlias, $strTargetLanguage = '')
    {
        $arrData   = self::getBreadcrumbForPage($strAlias, $strTargetLanguage);
        $strReturn = '';

        foreach ($arrData as $strData)
        {
            $strReturn .= "<span>" . $strData . "</span>";
        }

        return $strReturn;
    }
} 

Template.php

<div class="<?php echo $this->class; ?>">

    <h3><a href="<?php echo $this->href; ?>" title="<?php echo $this->title; ?>"><?php echo $this->link; ?></a></h3>

    <?php if ($this->context): ?>
        <p class="context"><?php echo $this->context; ?></p>
    <?php endif; ?>

    <p class="url">
        <?php echo MAW\Search\Helper::getFormattedBreadcrumbForPage($this->url, $GLOBALS['TL_LANGUAGE']); ?>
        <span class="filesize"><?php echo $this->filesize; ?> kB</span>
    </p>

</div>