Germany, Here I Come!!! :)

I leave tomorrow morning for Germany, and time can't go fast enough tonight! I'm super excited! I finally got my bus report done on Charles V and Augsburg. I discovered some interesting information in my research!

• In Augsburg, the Fugger family started a house that homed the poor, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's great-grandfather lived there 300 years ago!
• Augsburg is named after its founder, Emperor Agustus.
• Augsburg is the site where the Augsburg Confession, written by Philip Melachthon, Luther, Bugenhagen and Jonas, was presented at the Diet of Augsburg and rejected by Emperor Charles V.
• Augusburg is the home of The Cathedral of St. Mary's Visitation, a cathedral with two bronze double doors depicting 35 scences from the Old Testament, as well as the oldest existing stained glass windows. (Hopefully we'll get to visit this place!)
• Charles V was advised by Emperor Maximilian to buy gifts for the electors of Germany to secure their votes for him as emperor. He did and borrowed money from the Fugger banking house in Augsburg to do so. On June 28 1519 the electors met at Frankfurt and nominated Charles as Emperor.
• 1521 Charles outlawed Lugther and the other reformes for their beliefs.
• 1553 Charles left Germany. He was disgusted by the Reformation and had drawn up a document criticizing both the Catholic and the Protestant princes of Germany. He believed the princes were untrustworthy and the bishops lacked vigor to make the necessary reforms in the Church.
• September 12, 1556 Charles sent Ferdinand a letter of abdication. In February, 1558 the electors formally accepted Charles' abdication and Ferdinand was elected Emperor.
• Charles died September 21, 1558 from malaria.

Hope you all learned something from this as well!! We leave from the Waterloo airport (hopefully with no delays) at 11:00 tomorrow morning, fly into Minneapolis, and then from there we fly to Amsterdam, and from there to Berlin!! After that we check into our hotel, visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, and then meet our tour director for supper. So until I reach Germany...Auf Wiedersehen!! (goodbye)

So Excited!!

When I read that there would be a Reformation trip to Germany offered this May Term, I JUMPED at the chance to go!! I'm a 3rd year religion major, and, to be completely honest, a HUGE Martin Luther fan. I love his theology and think that he was amazing man, so I knew that this trip would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me. This will be my first May Term off campus, and I'm SUPER excited! Not that staying on campus for May Term is bad, because it definately isn't, but I've never been out of the country before, so going to Germany will be awesome!

In preparatioin for the trip, we had four meetings with Dr. Kleinhans, and we were informed that while in Germany, when we travel on the bus to our different cities (such as Eisenach, Wittenburg, Augsburg, etc., ) we would have to give a little 5 minute presentation on a city and an important person from history relating to Luther or the Reformation. I will be doing a presentation on Augsburg and Emperor Charles V. I haven't started working on that yet, but as soon as I do, I will post my findings so everyone else will know what I will be sharing with my peers on the trip. So, until next time...
+Grace and Peace+
~Jenna~