Today we saw a LOT of historic places in Wittenburg. It was absolutely amazing!! We started off at the Luther Haus, where Martin Luther was a monk and also where he and Katie lived with their children. There is a museum inside now, containing one of the coolest things I have seen yet on this trip (so far)...part of the pulpit where Luther preached from in the Town Church!!!! I got my picture taken by it, a suggestion made by Dr. Kleinhans and I quickly took her advice....it was a must for me, being that I plan on being a Lutheran preacher someday! The museum had a lot of other cool things, including a molding of Luther's death mask. The monastery has been through some changes through the years since the Reformation, but Luther and Katie's living room was original, which was very moving to be in!! After the musuem, we went to Philip Melancthon's house. Philip was a very close colleague of Luther's and was a very small man in size..standing a little taller than 4 ft. Luther nicknamed him 'my little Greek man' because he taught Greek at the University of Wittenburg.
After viewing Melancthon's house, later this afternoon we visited the Town Church as well as the Castle Church. The Town Church was very impressive and is called the Mother Church. On Christmas Day, 1521 the first Protestant service took place...Martin Luther was not there though, he was in hiding at the Wartburg Castle. This service was the first time wine was served to congregants for communion, as well as the first sermon preached in German, as it had otherwise been all Latin services, which no one understood. The Baptismal Font in the church is where Luther and Melanchton's children were baptized and it was also the church where Martin and Katie got married. The Baptismal font had the disciples of Jesus around the top part (it's huge, I had to stand on my tiptoes to look into it) and demons coming out from the bottom, and it is believed that when a new infant is baptized in the font, the original sin is washed away, and the demons are believed to want to climb up the font, but the disciples protect the infant and prevent the demons from getting the child. It was a very impressive font. Again, when I figure out how to do pictures, I will definately put a picture of this church and the font!
Next we visited the famous Castle Church. This church is the church where Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door. Unfortunately, the original doors were destroyed in a fire, but a bronze door with the 95 Theses insribed on the door exist as memorials to Luther. Since the church was destroyed, the inside of the church is not what Luther knew in his day, but it was replaced as a memorial church to Luther. This church is also the place Martin Luther was buried!! However, there was a legend that the grave was believed to be empty..someone commanded Charles V to dig up and burn the remains of Luther, but he refused. Some people did not believe that Charles V refused though, and doubted that the body of Luther still remained in the grave. Years later, when the church was burned down, people decided to see if the body of Luther was in fact still there. It turns out that it is still buried there in the Castle Church! That is all I have for now! Later!
After viewing Melancthon's house, later this afternoon we visited the Town Church as well as the Castle Church. The Town Church was very impressive and is called the Mother Church. On Christmas Day, 1521 the first Protestant service took place...Martin Luther was not there though, he was in hiding at the Wartburg Castle. This service was the first time wine was served to congregants for communion, as well as the first sermon preached in German, as it had otherwise been all Latin services, which no one understood. The Baptismal Font in the church is where Luther and Melanchton's children were baptized and it was also the church where Martin and Katie got married. The Baptismal font had the disciples of Jesus around the top part (it's huge, I had to stand on my tiptoes to look into it) and demons coming out from the bottom, and it is believed that when a new infant is baptized in the font, the original sin is washed away, and the demons are believed to want to climb up the font, but the disciples protect the infant and prevent the demons from getting the child. It was a very impressive font. Again, when I figure out how to do pictures, I will definately put a picture of this church and the font!
Next we visited the famous Castle Church. This church is the church where Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door. Unfortunately, the original doors were destroyed in a fire, but a bronze door with the 95 Theses insribed on the door exist as memorials to Luther. Since the church was destroyed, the inside of the church is not what Luther knew in his day, but it was replaced as a memorial church to Luther. This church is also the place Martin Luther was buried!! However, there was a legend that the grave was believed to be empty..someone commanded Charles V to dig up and burn the remains of Luther, but he refused. Some people did not believe that Charles V refused though, and doubted that the body of Luther still remained in the grave. Years later, when the church was burned down, people decided to see if the body of Luther was in fact still there. It turns out that it is still buried there in the Castle Church! That is all I have for now! Later!
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