It's an understatement to say this trip was like any other, because it wasn't. This trip was a big deal for me because I got to see the one place where my religion started. I have been a Lutheran all my life, born and raised into the same church that my family has had 3 generations attend. I have learned a lot about my faith through Sunday School and Youth group. This trip itself has also taught me about my religion and the reformation as a whole.
After a long full day of being on the bus we had finally arrived in Wittenberg. We got to our hostel and guess what!? It is right next to the church where Martin Luther nailed his thesis and where he is buried. You could basically connect our hostel and the church with an 8 ft bridge and you'd be golden. The picture to the left is a picture of the church taken from my hostels window that night!!
That night we had gotten dinner and relaxed, it was going to be a full day of things to do tomorrow and I could not wait. I still can't believe I had the opportunity to be in the place where my religion started.
That next morning we visited the church where he was buried. Even though this is the church where he is buried, he actually had preached most of his sermons at a church down the street which we would visit later. The inside of this church was so beautiful and so welcoming I felt like I could just be myself there. I walked around by myself for the most part to take it all in. I lit some candle near the alter which was very special for me. This was the first Lutheran church we had been in and I was so excited to light my candle to leave my mark. The organ reminded me a lot of the one we have back home and so did the whole set up. Just something about the place made me feel like I belonged.
When we got outside to see the 95 theses I just stood there in "ahh". Though I know it is not the original door, because they had to reconstruct it, it holds a strong and impacting symbol in my religion. On October 31, 1517 Luther had nailed these theses to the door which began the Protestant Reformation. In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther was so frustrated with the church that it led him to write these theses and nail them to the door. This caught many peoples attention and it was made known that Luther would not stay silent anymore.
After taking in the door I convinced everyone to climb up to the top of the church. My Youth Director (who has been here before) told me you can see all of Wittenberg from the top and that was a sight I definitely wanted to see. After everyone walked back down I stayed up for a little bit to take everything in with silence. I was so happy to be standing there and the only thing I could think about was how blessed I was to be a Lutheran right there in that very moment.
The next thing we did was walk down the street to Saint Mary's church where Martin Luther had preached the most at. This church is the oldest building in Wittenberg. The church contains a painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder, representing the Last Supper, Baptism and Confession. In addition, there are numerous historic paintings throughout the church. After that we went to the museum which was the former home of Martin Luther but is now the largest Reformation history museum in the world. Throughout the museum you not only learn about the life and work of Martin Luther but you also learn about his family life and his influence on history. I knew a lot about Luther but this museum helped me learn about his family and how they lived. One thing I did not know was that his wife was the one who actually proposed. Katharina managed his huge household for the most part and his household was full of people! Apart from their 6 children they had around 20 students, 8 orphaned children, a large family escaping the plague, and a pretty large amount of house staff. The museum was quite big so I could see how everyone fit but they had different plastered sculptures that showed you how everyone fit, especially at the dinner table. Overall the trip to Wittenberg was amazing and I am so blessed that I had the opportunity to see it.
That next morning we took the bus to Dresden where we had the opportunity to see Frauenkirche Church, which is a Lutheran Church. It was destroyed during the bombings in World War II but recreated. It was originally built as a sign of the will of the citizens of Dresden to remain Protestant after their ruler had converted to Catholicism. It now also serves as a symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies. It is definitely a more fancy church and if often mistaken as a Cathedral even though it belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Saxony. Here, we were able to explore around and see the crypt. On Sunday morning Ashley and I attended their worship service, even though it was in German I still enjoyed being able to attend the service in this magnificent church.
During our time in Dresden we had the opportunity to pick between a couple of museums to see. Kody, Sheyenne, Nick, and I chose to go to the art museum. Here we saw some very famous original paintings including the "Sistine Madonna" painted by Raphael. Raphael conceived an impressive pictorial composition of a curtain opening to reveal a heavenly vision. The virgin strides over the clouds, the Christ child in her arms. She carries him from the glory of heaven into the earthly world, representing the incarnation of the Son of God. The serious expression in the eyes of Jesus and his mother implies their awareness of the future passion. The painting also includes two saints: Pope Sixtus II (who is pointing towards the earthly world) and Saint Barbara who is humbly kneeling. The two cherubs at the bottom are waiting for mass at the alter and their eyes are gazing up at the Virgin and the Child. All of the paintings were unique in their own way and very well painted.
Though the art museum was very unique it was also very small. It only had three rooms and it took us about 30 minutes. We were expecting to be in there for about 2 hours so now we had some time to kill. We walked around the city for a bit to see all of the amazing architecture. I debated on going in a different museum but instead we decided to go sit by the river. The day quickly turned into night and we had some traditional food at the Christmas market along with of course mulled wine! I am beginning to collect the Christmas market mugs that we get from Mulled wine at every place we visit. I am super excited because they are so cute and they will be a nice souvenir.
To be able to go to Wittenberg, I mean honestly I am not even going to lie, I cried. Heck yeah I did, I was standing at the top of the church where Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses and it is also where he was buried. I walked around the museum that he used to call his home. I stood on the alter that Martin Luther preached at numerous times. When we got to Dresden I attended the service of the church that belonged to Martin Luther. I had an amazing experience this weekend, I felt closer to my religion more than I have ever before.