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Walking in the Steps of Martin Luther-
The Protestant Reformation
Revisited
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Martin Luther |
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Click
Map to enlarge |
Map of Reformation Germany |
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Slideshow
Part 1 - Eisenach |
My
friend Holger Strahl from Frankfurt kindly offered to take
me on a Reformation Tour of Germany ... walking in the steps
of Martin Luther. First we visited Eisenach. Eisenach was
the place where Martin Luther lived as a child, although he
was not born there, and later for his receiving protection
by Frederick the Wise after having been pursued for his religious
views. It was while he was staying at nearby Wartburg Castle
that he translated the New Testament into German.
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Erfurt is the city where Luther lived as
a young man when he was a student at the university and a monk.
These years were spent in study, undergoing inner struggles.
Here, within the narrow confines of his monastic cell, he became
convinced of the certainty of the Gospel message proclaiming
the crucified Christ and understanding that "the just shall
live by faith" (Romans 1:17). Luther, through the Book
of Romans, saw that we are justified by faith alone. Erfurt
was by far the most picturesque of the cities we visited.
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Slideshow
Part 3 - Wittenberg |
Martin
Luther made Wittenberg the center of the Protestant Reformation
when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Schlosskirche
(Castle Church) in 1517. He also lived at the Augustinian
Monastery here when he was a monk. The monastery later became
the "Vicarage" after the Reformation, where Luther
and his wife Katharina Von Bora and their children lived.
Nearby is St. Mary's Church, the parish church in which Luther
often preached. Frederick III, or Frederick the Wise, elector
of Saxony, founded (1502) the university at Wittenberg where
Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon taught.
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In 1521, Martin
Luther was brought to the castle for his protection by Frederick
III, the elector of Saxony, and there he completed his translation
of the New Testament. Luther assumed a false identity here
and was simply known as under the name of Junker Jörg
(Squire George) in order to hide from the pope and the emperor
after the Diet of Worms (1521), which put Luther under the
imperial ban. The castle is near Eisenach, central Germany.
Built c.1070, later enlarged, and renovated in the 18th century.
We had dinner at the hotel restaurant in the Castle.
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SlideshowPart
5 - Leipzig |
After Wittenberg
we spent the night in Leipzig. Luther preached in Leipzig
three times. But there is a lot more to this interesting city.
In 1989 the Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig were the largest
demonstration against the East German government since 1953;
these
demonstrations were instrumental in the downfall of the Communist
government and the subsequent reunification of Germany (Wiedervereinigung)
which took place on October 3, 1990. The demonstration took
place at Augustus Square in front of Leipzig's St. Nikolai
Church which became a protestant church in 1539 after the
Reformation. Composer Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Leipzig,
and was cantor at the Church of St. Thomas from 1723 until
his death. Other literary and musical personalities associated
with Leipzig
include Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, and Gothe.
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