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 def
end 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.
