Pilgrimage to Wittenberg

Last weekend I made a pilgrimage with my friend Trevor and another Fulbright teaching assistant, Tim, to Wittenberg - the city where the Lutheran religion (and protestantism in general) began. I use the term pilgrimage in a very light sense of the word as we rode for 6.5 hours comfortably on a train and also as I am not a religious fanatic. Wittenberg is a picturesque little city and if it wasn't so far away from where I live it would have likely made a better day trip than a complete weekend. We arrived Friday night at dinner time and immediately set out to find our hostel.
Our hostel was located right next to the Schlosskirche (where Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses) and it ended up being one of the nicest hostels that I had ever stayed in. The building was new, the rooms and furniture were all clean and nice, the mattresses, pillows, and comforters were all plush and comfortable, and the breakfast that was included every morning was a wonderful German breakfast spread.
After depositing our items in our hostel room (which we had to ourselves), we headed out in search of some dinner. We ended up at a restaurant called the Kartoffelhaus (Potato House). Every single item on the menu contained potatoes. I guess that isn't really surprising when you eat at a restaurant that is called the "Potato House". I ended up having the potato lasagna, in which potatoes took the place of noodles. It was delicious but I definitely filled my potato eating quota for the next month.
On Saturday morning we set out to explore the city. Our first stop was of course the Schlosskirche (pictured at left). As noted above, the Schlosskirche was where Luther posted the 95 Theses. The original doors were destroyed during an onslaught by the French in the 7 Years War in 1760. In 1858 the doors were replaced with Bronze Doors that bear the latin inscription of all the 95 Theses as well as a picture of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchton (pictured right Tim and I trying unsuccessfully to act out the picture on the top of the doors - unsuccessful because it was pouring rain). Inside, the church bears little resemblance to its original form (due to the destruction), however, there lie the tombs of both Luther and Melanchton.
After exploring both the interior and exterior of the Schlosskirche we headed to the Stadtkirche, which is the church where Luther actually conducted the first sermons in German instead of in Latin. The Stadtkirche was also altered due to destruction by the 30 Years War. In fact the two towers on the top (the Stadtkirche is pictured on the top left) had been removed in order to provide a platform for canons during the fighting. The towers that were built to replace the originals do not bear any resemblance to the originals and they seem unfitting with the architectural style. Inside the church, many of the original artwork has been preserved. This artwork includes a famous double-sided triptych painted by Lucas Cranach the Younger (a famous medieval artist who also lived in Wittenberg) as well as numerous other religious paintings. It was interesting to note the differences in various paintings representations of religious scenes from both before and after the beginning of the reformation.
After viewing two churches it was time to view something a little more modern and secular, so we headed to the Hundertwasser Schule (a school designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser). The school was built in 1999, one year before Hundertwasser's death (it is pictured at right). Considering that Wittenberg lay in the former East Germany, it would have been unrealistic for something so creative and unusual to have been built before German reunification. It is interesting how Hundertwasser incorporated elements of nature along with his creative designs and use of color. You will note how there is a tree planted above the entrance to the school (and there were many other trees sticking out of other parts of the building).
On our walk back into the downtown area from the Hundertwasser Schule, we realized just how serious Wittenberg takes its tradition of Lutheranism (or perhaps a better explanation would be just how much they cater to tourists). We noted that even the pedestrian signals were little versions of Luther. They are pictured at right and you will note that the green is Luther carrying the Theses and the red is Luther with his arms spread out in a "stopping" fashion. The rest of the day we spent by watching a German kids movie at the cinema, eating dinner, exploring the Christmas Market, and playing some cards.
Sunday morning we decided to attend a church service. At first we had trouble deciding whether or not we should attend church where the Theses were posted or where Luther preached but due to our morning lollygagging we ended up at the Schlosskirche since it was right next door. It was definitely a cool experience to attend church where Luther was buried and I must say that the pastor was one of the best orators I have heard in a church setting. After the church service we headed to the Lutherhaus which is a museum that has been created from Luther's old living quarters. The Lutherhaus was probably one of my favorite parts of Wittenberg as it was very informative and it contained artifacts from Luther's life as well as artifacts from the time period. Wandering through Luther's life and teachings really caused me to think about how the world would be different if Luther had never been born. He not only championed reforms within the religion of Christianity but was fundamental in bringing education to everyone (including women) and in making the church a charitable organization that created social programs to better society. Without Luther our lives today would be much, much different. I encourage you to visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther. Although it is not as comprehensive as the museum was it does provide some insight into the contributions that Luther made to society. Granted, not all of his beliefs were positive - he was anti-Muslim and also anti-Semitic and he also made statements about women's place being in the home - all of which I do not agree with. But I think it is important to remember the time period in which he lived, overall he did make many contributions despite some of his beliefs that we today would find to be flawed.
Finally I wish to leave you with some Luther quotes that I enjoy. Some are funny and others are inspirational (for me anyway).

"Even if I knew tomorrow that the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree today."

"Men should praise women, even if it is undeserved."

"Whoever drinks a lot of beer, sleeps well. Whoever sleeps well, doesn't sin. Whoever doesn't sin, goes to heaven." - and the addition that I also liked but is not from Luther - "But in heaven there is no beer, therefore we must drink it here."

"Justice is a temporary thing that must come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die."

"Peace if possible, truth at all costs."

"Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace."

"War is the greatest plague that can effect humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it."

"Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god."

"When schools flourish, all flourishes."

"You are not only responsible for what you do say, but also for what you do not say."

"A wicked tyrant is better than a wicked war."

"The prosperity of a country depends, not on the abundance of its revenues, nor on the strength of its fortifications, nor on the beauty of its public buildings; but it consists in the number of its cultivated citizens, in its men of education, enlightenment and character."