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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
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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
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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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