Wittenberg

This is a picture of me standing in a cemetery across the street from the Schlosskirche.

Since my trip to Amsterdam, my soul has been feeling a bit tarnished and heavy. I decided I’d take the German holiday to find a place to purchase some indulgences, see if I could exchange a few Euros for a clean soul. I decided to take the train to Wittenberg, about 100 minutes away and I left early Friday morning with a day bag and a peanut butter sandwich. While listening to a neat song my sister brought to my attention, I missed my change. Luckily, I found the train I wanted at the next stop and all went smoothly from there. Upon disembarking, I employed my usual strategy for entering new cities without preconceived plans: follow the groups. There was a little procession from the train station to the center of the Altstadt area and what do you know….there was a city festival! As it turns out, 491 years ago, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in this very town! There went my chances of buying indulgences...





Front door of the Stadtkirche.

I went into a service at the Stadtkirche (City Church) and listened for about half an hour. They started it with lots of organ and choir music. The sign language interpreter did a sort of interpretive dance with her hands and arms to mimic the melodies and swelling chords of the organ. I thought that was particularly neat. The church does have a bit of history behind it. The first Protestant service in German was given here, Martin Luther also did a bit of work at the church. I think he also appealed for reconsideration to his excommunication at this church. It was relatively plain in the inside expect for the gilded and painted wooden tri-fold and a few other paintings. The pews were painted grey wood, the walls were white, the columns were plain white octagons and there was no ornate stained glass.



Front door of the Schlosskirche.

The more well known of the nearly neighboring churches in Wittenberg is the Schlosskirche. This church is a few minutes’ walk from the Stadtkirche (longer today due to festivities) and this one has the famous doors. The legend states that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the doors of the church on this day in 1517 but as far as I could tell, the doors were very metal and un-nail-able. Maybe he used a magnet. This building had was much more ornate than the other, with intricate vaulted ceilings, stained glass, and neat sculptures. After the service was over, I went in to observe and take some pictures. The also had the tower in the castle part of the church open for ascending (physically, not metaphysically).


The building had a real neat ceiling.



This is a picture of me standing in the pulpit.

I visited the Lutherhaus, currently a museum but once the house and workshop of Mr. Luther. The museum was very good; it was well organized and all of the books, paintings, and artifacts were well presented and explained in German and English.


This guy was pretty impressive. No valves.

The whole city was partying like it was 1517; anyone who had clothing of the 16th century style was sporting it. The period shoes, pants, belts, shirts, vests, hats, and beards were as abundant as the waterproof nylon and fleece in the streets. There were many dozens of booths for food, clothing, drinks, and crafts in presumably the Eastern German style. I also saw several wandering bands of musicians playing folk music and dancing in the streets.

I enjoyed my visit to Wittenberg. It was a nice day trip.



Behind the scenes: This is what completed prayers look like.



This gentleman means business.