Westminster Trip Day 8

June 20, 2008 – 18:09 Local Time

Ok, so this will probably be a short blog. Today was a pretty low-key day with a lot of driving, so there isn’t too much to write about. As promised, the wake-up call came at 7:15am, so we begrudgingly rolled out of bed and got ready. Since we were changing cities, we had to pack – a task which becomes more difficult each time, haha. I’m fairly certain that this next time I will have to put the clean clothes in the small portion and the dirty clothes in the large portion of my suitcase. It’s just a math problem, really. We boarded the buses at 8:45 and got rolling around 9am for Wittenburg.



The drive was a long one, and went through the country, so it was naptime. Eventually, we came upon the medieval town of Wittenburg. Upon exiting the bus, we were greeted by Dietrich, our all-too-fun tour guide for the next two and a half hours. He is apparently the oldest tour guide in the town, at 73, and he is more full of life than most of the choir! He took us through the Lutherhaus (Martin Luther’s house) which is now the Reformation Museum. In the museum are many relics and artifacts from Luther’s home and work, only one of which is a replica (his wife’s wedding ring). The rest are originals, and a truly incredible sight. Seeing an original of the hymnbook he created for the protestant church was a real blessing. Unfortunately, the original placard of the 95 theses is in another location.







Next, we walked down the street to the Marktplatz (market place) of the town. This is the location of the annual trade fair of Saxony, as well as the rather large statue/monument to Martin Luther. There’s an interesting story behind this monument. Apparently, the city of Wittenburg wished to honor this great man’s work, but they were too poor to finance the statue themselves. However, another city nearby (sadly, I’ve forgotten which) had the money and decided they would build it. However, to do something like this at that time, you had to get the Emperor’s permission. Well, the Emperor decided he wanted it put in Wittenburg, so he took the money from the other city, and built the monument there, haha! Apparently, even to this day if you go to the other city and are from Wittenburg, you make sure not to tell people!





The last part of the tour was to the Stadtkirche und Schloβ (City Church and Castle). This was not the church onto which Luther nailed the theses, but he worked here a great deal and is buried here. The door to the church is solid bronze and contains a full double-door inscription of the 95 theses. This church, like so many others we have been to, is under-going renovations. The DDR period in Germany wreaked havoc on the economy, so no money was available to maintain these buildings until 1989. They are just now able to do what they need to do to restore these ancient buildings, and in some cases, it may be too late. One of the most endearing moments of the trip thus far was listening to Dietrich recount some of the tribulations encountered by he and his family during the time of the DDR. It’s horrifying to me to know that the global population allowed that to go on for so long, but I’m happy to see that the eastern part of Germany is finally starting to make headway in the world.







The remainder of our time in Wittenburg was spent eating lunch. Joe, Nicole, Omen, Nathan, Becky and I had a wonderful meal at a little café on the Marktplatz. We all had the same thing – beer of our choosing, bratwurst, sauerkraut and kartoffelbei (mashed potatoes). MMMMMMMMMMM!!! It was by far the best meal we had eaten since flying here! Yummy! In the restroom was a hilarious, but rather graphic, picture of the proper method of using this restroom. I’m not going to post the picture here for censorship reasons, but just ask me, and I’ll be happy to share!



At 3:15pm we loaded up the buses and headed to Madgeburg. This will be our home for two nights. It’s also the location of my long-anticipated BACH-DAY!!! I’m VERY excited to finally be able to perform my favorite composer’s music in such a wonderful space, and with the people who have lived in this tradition for so long. When we got here, we drove past the tallest wooden structure in Europe. It’s the Hershey’s Kiss-like object seen in the distance below that makes you say, “What in the world is that?!” Kind of odd, but whatever. It has a pendulum inside it that somehow proves that the world is spinning. I’m not really sure how that works without having seen it, haha. Then it was on to the hotel for dinner and rest!



I’m somewhat exhausted, so it’s going to be an early night for me (I’m shooting for 9:30pm, but we’ll see). Gotta be rested for tomorrow! Well, I suppose that’s enough for tonight! Thanks for reading, and I’ll be certain to write volumes about the Bach tomorrow!!! ~AJR