Visits to Eisenach & Erfurt

Despite our early bedtime, the troops woke up on Day 7 unusually tired. Fortunately, an early morning, two hour bus ride, providing a perfect opportunity for some serious nappage. Before we knew it, we had arrived at Wartburg castle in Eisenach. It took only a glance out the window to realize that we were in for another steep walk. Is every castle in Germany located at the top of a mountain?

The walk wasn’t nearly as bad as anticipated and we were all eternally grateful. The castle was different than I had expected. Because it took so long to build, its several "owners" combined contrasting architectural styles. The overall effect was confusing to my critical “art historian” eye, but it was still beautiful. We stopped for a lengthy “photo shoot” before heading into the castle for the tour.

I had no idea what other surprises the castle had in store for me. As we toured the castle, our guide told us about the King who lived here and his wife, St. Elisabeth of Thuringia.

We learned about her devotion to the poor despite the disapproval of her husband and his family. Slowly the story began to sound more and more like St. Elisabeth of Hungary, my confirmation Saint. Just as I had concluded that there was no way these “two” women could be one in the same, we entered the fresco room and I knew that I was wrong. On the wall in front of me was a painting depicting St. Elisabeth’s miracle of the roses, the inspiration for choosing her as my patron.

In the painting, St. Elisabeth is confronted by her husband as to why she is on the road alone. When she told him that her basket was full of roses and not food for the poor, he forced her to reveal the baskets contents. The bread had changed to roses and St. Elisabeth’s husband saw the miracle as a sign from God that his wife was destined to work for the poor. It was truly astonishing to realize that I was in the castle where Saint Elisabeth had lived, a truly one of a kind experience.

The Wartburg is where Martin Luther hid out as "Knight George" in 1521, where he completed his translation of the Bible, and is said to have "fought the Devil with ink."

After touring the cell where Luther translated the Bible, it was off to Erfurt.
On arrival, we had lunch, which allowed time for us to experience another of Germany’s specialties: the bratwurst- DELICIOUS!

Erfurt Cathedral, also known as Dom Mariensdom, or The Cathedral of St Martin. Most of the structure is Gothic and dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, but the lower parts of its huge towers are Romanesque and belonged to a church built on this site for Bishop Boniface in 742.

After walking around ourselves a bit it was time for our city tour. We began at the Erfurt Cathedral, where they were gearing up for an outdoor production of Martin Luther das Musical- Summer Stage 09 anyone?

Luther entered Erfurt's Augustinian monastery in 1505. Today, visitors to the monastery can view a permanent Luther exhibition and a reconstruction of Brother Martin's monastic cell. In 1507, Luther was ordained a priest in Erfurt's cathedral Mariendom. Sometime in 1511, he was transferred to the new Augustinian monastery in Wittenburg, where six years later he would spark the Protestant Reformation with his 95 Theses.

On November 10, you can join the city of Erfurt for a festive celebration of St. Martin's Festival. In Erfurt, it honors not one but two great Martins: St. Martin of Tours (the city's patron saint) and Martin Luther.

Right next door is the church of St. Severus, a site to which I was obviously looking forward. Even though it wasn’t exactly named for my favorite Severus - Severus Snape should be considered a saint, you know - it was a beautiful church. It's on the right with the three spires.

We strolled through the picturesque city, ending at the Erfurt bridge. The bridge in unique because houses are built right on top of it, similar to the Ponte Vecchio in Italy. From the inside it looks like a normal street, you can’t tell that it’s a bridge until you’re on one of the sides of it. Fortunately, for the residents, the bridge seemed pretty sturdy!

That evening we performed a concert in a very small church, St. Marien's in Bad Berka, but as our tour contact there said, "it’s not about the size of the building, it’s about the faith of the people in it." The concert went very well, as always.

Our departure was delayed by members of the audience who wanted to take our picture! Satisfied with a job well done, we headed back to Weimar for dinner and some shut-eye.