What travelers will see

I was asked to comment on what the groups will be doing, seeing, and the historical significance of each location. I will be brief.

You arrive in Berlin. The capital of Germany, there are many sights to see and places to visit. There is no "Luther" history associated with Berlin. Berlin is a rather young city. Many of its famous sites are actually previous City/States. You will have time to tour Berlin on your way back through. I recommend highly that you see the Memorial to the Murdered Jews (within walking distance to your Hostel) and that you travel to Checkpoint Charlie for some East/West Germany history.

You will spend most of your time in Eisleben. This is the town where Luther was born. There is a museum here, on the site where he is believed to have lived for his first year. Luther's father was a miner, working the mining regions around Eisleben. Pictured here is Sts. Peter and Paul, where Luther was baptized. There is actually an apartment in the top of that tower where the fire watchman lived. He had chickens and a goat up there. As late as the 1950's the youth group held meetings in those upstairs rooms.

Eisleben is in the region of Germany known as GDR - German Democratic Republic. Luther was back in Eisleben when he died. There was a dispute among the Princes about the schools. One tour guide said the dispute was education for girls. Luther believed this should be offered. A second museum in Eisleben is Luther's Death House.

From Eisleben we move o to Erfurt. This is the city where Luther was attending University. He had gone there to study law, but begin his long spiritual pilgrimage which resulted in his entering the monastery and becoming a monk. We will have a guided tour of the Augustinian Kloster. This Kloster now includes guest facilities. We will spend three nights sleeping in this Kloster.

If you watch the recent Luther movie, you will see many scenes from this monastery. Luther took his vows at the alter in the church. The floors he scrubs are on the Cloister walk.

Luther was still at the monastery when his superior informed him he would be sent to Wittenberg. There he would be allowed complete his Doctorate in Theology. He would also serve as pastor to the "town church." It is when Luther gets to Wittenberg that the Reformation begins.

As the Reformation debate heats up, Luther is called to Worms to defend his teachings. While his Prince had been guaranteed safe passage for Luther to and from Worms, when the meeting was over it was clear that Luther would be declared a heretic. This meant that anyone who found him and killed him would be considered doing a service to the Church. Prince Fredrick arranged for Luther to be "kidnapped" on his way home from Worms. Looking for a safe place to "hide" Luther, Fredrick arranges for him to be taken to a remote castle. This is where The Wartburg Castle figures into the Luther story. He stays here for almost a year. It is during these months that he began his translation of the New Testament into German.


The final stop on our tour will be Wittenberg. There are many sites here to see. The Augustinian Monastery where Luther lived as a monk became his home after the Reformation. This is the museum we will tour. There are also two historic churches.

The Castle Church is at one end of town. This church is connected to the castle where Fredrick lived. It is doubtful that Luther spent much time in this church, during his lifetime. This church was reserved for the Prince and his family. This is the church were priests were celebrating masses for pay (one of the practices which upset Luther.) There may have been as many as 18 altars in this church, with a team of 30+ priests assigned to do nothing other than celebrate private mass. Luther is buried in this church.



The Town Church is where Luther served as parish pastor. Here he preached and administered the sacraments. While the Castle Church has little original furnishings, the Town Church is authentic to the times of Luther.


The other site in Wittenberg worth seeing is the workshops of Lucas Cranach. Cranach painted the Reformation, as Luther was writing it. Many of the art pieces from this era are his. Be on the lookout, as you travel, for Cranach pieces. When you get to Wittenberg, take time to see his home and shop.


Sounds like a wonderful week! And very busy. Look up some websites and do additional discovery of your own.

Spring Break 2009

We are hoping to organize two weeks of visitors to Eisleben in Spring 2009. If you, or your campus ministry group, might be interested let Pastor Chris know.

Devotions - Wednesday, April 2

While there were many things about the trip to Germany which moved me, worship was high on the list. We had the opportunity to worship with the small congregations, meeting in Fellowship Halls in Eisleben. We attended the Easter Vigil in the Church were Luther served as pastor. Easter Sunrise service was at the cemetery in Wittenberg. And later Easter morning we gathered at the Castle Church, where Luther is buried. This was a glorious experience.

We knew some of the hymns, and could sing along. The folks at the ELCA Wittenberg Center provided us an English bulletin, so we could follow the service. The Creed and Lord's Prayer were easy for us to join in. But the sermons were tough. I would watch the face of the preacher and try to guess at what she (or he) was saying. Occasionally, they would speak a work which I could recognize. I would latch onto that word and try to make sense out of what followed.

I thought of this, later. And I wondered how akin my experience was to the experience of those who are visitors in the worship services where I am preacher or celebrant.

They know the language - that wouldn't be the issue. The issue is the in-house jargon we use and the code words of our faith - words which we spend years defining in Sunday Church School and Confirmation Ministry Classes. How much of what is said is understood by these persons.

I also thought of those for whom life and faith is a struggle. I wondered if they might also feel as if they are sitting through a presentation in which most words are spoken for someone else. What words do they recognize? Which words are understood by them?

I have spent so much of my life as an insider to the faith that I assume much. I thank God that the experience in Germany has lead me to consider my status and begin to give consideration to those with a differing experience. It may not be that the Good News of Jesus Christ is unacceptable to those who show up for an occasional encounter - it may be that the language and the talk leave them mystified.

I pray that my travels abroad will enable me to be a better pastor now that I am back home.

Pastor Chris

Well, I had fun. I hope you did, too, and made it home safely. I just wanted to post quickly to say thanks to everyone who came and volunteered here in Eisleben, and spent some time learning about German culture and history!

xoxo,Kat

Also, thanks for the mac&cheese, mayo, and peanut butter. You're awesome.

service projects in Eisleben

The service projects are on all your minds, I'm sure. I'm sorry that it hasn't been pinned down for sure yet what everyone will be doing. What we do know is this:

Workers are needed at the Alterlutherschule, doing general clean-up things over there. The groups worked there last year as well, so Pastor Chris could give you a better idea of what that might look like than I could. The church library needs to be moved and organized a little bit. An apartment that belongs to the church needs painting, and, weather permitting, there is also some gardening work that needs to be done to get ready for spring.

The churches need to be cleaned after being locked up all winter. This responsibility will almost definitely fall on the Clemson/UNM group, at least for Petri-/Pauli-. Each of the other groups will likely send delegates to Alterlutherschule, and tackle the other jobs as possible.

I promise I will update as soon as I know for sure what you'll be doing.

internet cafe

There is an internet cafe in town, just down the street (toward the Marktplatz) from where you will be staying. It looked like they might have 6 computers, but not more than 10. The fee is 2Euro/hour, but you don't have to pay each hour up front. The first 15 minutes must be paid for, even if you only actually use the computer for 5 minutes; this will be 50Euro cents. After that, you pay in segments of five minutes.

more packing, laundry info

So, after a few conversations with Eisleben natives, it seems that there is no laundromat available here. We are still working on checking the availability of the washing facilities in the place we will be staying, but I'm willing to bet they won't let us use them willy-nilly. Please, don't bank on finding a place to do laundry.
However, I will encourage you yet again to pack light! I walked from my apartment (which is in the middle of the city) to the train station the other day, without luggage, and it took me almost 20 minutes. The place you will be staying is a little further on the other end of town. This means, when you get off the train, and you are tired, you will still have a 30-minute walk ahead of you, if you move somewhat quickly, WITH your baggage. Yes, there are certain things you need. But, if you're really honest with yourself, there are many things you will want to pack that you will not need (I know I brought waaaaaay too much stuff with me). Keep that haul in mind as you pack a second suitcase.

On the up side, the weather here is much nicer than I, personally, had anticipated. Most days, I have been fine in jeans, a long sleeved tee, and winter jacket. It does tend to be kinda wet, though--not really rainy, but just soggy pants-legs (but, then again, I wear my jeans far too long) and a damp cold. So, you know, that means you'll fewer jackets and such.