Day 16

            It has been an interesting day, but not rushed.  We took our time this morning getting up and going to breakfast.  Then we walked to the WEM office and chatted with LeRoy about other places to visit besides Wittenberg, and just general chit-chat.  We walked to the grocery store again – I know, that’s really stretching the interesting part.  But it was!  We found the cookie outlet store again that we had visited a week ago, and this time they had some of the sandwich cookies with the Luther seal imprinted on the cookie.  We just had to pick up some of those to bring along.

             Then we stopped at Aldi’s, which many of you know is a German grocery chain that has recently come to the Midwest.  In there, we saw some “Trader Joe’s” things – I seem to recall that Trader Joe is a subsidiary of Aldi’s.  Got lots of snacks, etc.  Then the bottle shop again – I found some Freiberg bock (dark) beer that I have been looking for since 2002!  They are now cooling in the refrigerator in our room, waiting for my brother to arrive on Saturday.

            After siesta time and the noon snack, we went back to the Lutherhaus and had our picture taken by the door that Katie Luther had installed in the house.  It has whisper benches by the door, and above one side is a stonecut of Luther, and above the other side there is a stonecut of the Luther rose.  This is the place that Bob had told us where Martin and Katie used to sit and watch their kids play in the plaza.

            We headed back for the 4:30 devotions, but were early, so we went into the Stadtkirche.  Kirchenmeister Bernard Naumann was there this time, so I got to ask him a couple questions.  First, exactly where were Martin and Katie married.  He told me that the records are actually a bit sketchy, but the “real” wedding took place in the Luther haus on a Tuesday, since at that time, Tuesdays were considered a particularly auspicious day on which to get married.  Pastor Bugenhagen, who was the “real” pastor of the Stadtkirche and a good friend of Luther, did the wedding.  A few days later, Martin and Katie had another ceremony outside the front main door of the Stadtkirche, at which they think Justas Jonas, another colleague and friend of Luther, presided.  A few days later they entered the Stadtkirche for the first time as husband and wife, and Pastor Bugenhagen had a special ceremony to welcome them.  Of course, the records aren’t totally clear, but this is the best reconstruction that Herr Naumann could make, and he’s probably the most knowledgeable man about this in Wittenberg.

            I also asked about the printer Hans Lufft, who printed the first complete Bible in German as translated by Luther.  I have a page, as I mentioned in an earlier post, from a Lufft-printed Luther Bible hanging in my office, and was curious to find out where it was printed.  Herr Naumann directed us to the house where Hans Lufft lived (which doesn’t exist any  more, but recent archaeological excavations have found the foundation of his house, and in the basement they found some pieces of moveable type) and to the place where the actual print shop was – that’s only a block from our hotel.  I was very delighted to see both places.

            Finally, Herr Naumann arranged to let us into the balcony, where we could get a bit closer look at the organ.  The console is locked, of course, as is the German custom, but at least we got to look a bit closer and get some pictures.

            Herr Naumann himself was a bit busy and distracted.  At 5:00, they had a special service in the Stadtkirche to mark the end of the school year, at least for the protestant schools.  Dea thought she had it good to have taught in the USA, where school ended in early June, not mid-July.  The kids coming to the service were just as pumped about school being done as kids, for example, at RCLS.  Looked like a big deal – many were quite dressed up to attend.

         And then – 4:30 devotions.  Or not.  Nobody came for the second day in a row – just a bit discouraging, to say the least.

            We had a brat for supper from our favorite stand, and soon will head for the Stammtisch.  Hope someone shows up there!

            Tomorrow we are planning to drive to Eisleben – the town where Luther was born and died – and Halle, the birthplace of George Frederich Handel.    Should be interesting.

             Stammtisch was fun tonight.  There were 15-20 people there, and LeRoy, Dea, and I were the only Americans.  Of the others, some spoke quite fluent English, and others are still working on it.  Dea kind of got monopolized and isolated from the conversation, but LeRoy and I had a delightful time with Rosemarie, who has lived in Wittenberg for over 40 years (not sure where she lived before) and has lived through “the change” from East Germany to a unified Germany.  Extremely interesting opinions on that, believe me!  On the road tomorrow.

Day 15

            A bright, beautiful morning greeted us, but not one with a lot of plans.  After breakfast and a bit of computer checking, we headed out to find the Luther Oak.  After a bit of searching, we found it, a bit farther on the eastern end of the old city than we thought.  The story is that after Luther was condemned as a heretic by a “bull” from the Pope, Luther’s ultimate response was to publicly burn a copy of the condemnation.  He went to the edge of town where there was a hospital, and in a courtyard outside the hospital was a place where the authorities burned the clothes of people who had died in the hospital, in order to prevent the spread of disease.  This is where Luther went to burn the bull (there’s something about that term, bull, that brings a smile to my face.)  The day after, according to the story, someone planted an oak tree to mark the spot.  Apparently it didn’t survive, because according to the sign, a new oak tree was planted on the spot on the anniversary of the Augsburg confession in 1830, and that oak tree is still standing.  There’s a nice little garden around it.

            After that, we just walked the streets, looking for souveniers and watching the people.  Near the Information Center/WEM office, there was a guy with one of those real old bikes with the huge front wheel and tiny back wheel, about 5 ½ feet tall.  I really wanted to see him ride it.  So I sat on a bench in the sun and watched him try to strap all his luggage and gear to a little rack above the back wheel.  After 15-20 minutes, he finally got everything in place, and I sat up ready to take a picture of him riding away.  NOT.  He grabbed the bike and proceeded to walk it down the sidewalk until he was out of sight. 

            We went up to the WEM office and had a nice chat with LeRoy, than watched part of an English-language film about Wittenberg.

            I have been trying to find information about a Wittenberg printer named Hans Lufft, who printed the first complete Luther German bible in one volume.  I’m curious about him, because in 2002 I bought a page from a Lufft-printed Bible, and perhaps some of you have seen it hanging on the wall in my office.  I’d like to know where his printshop was.  After following the suggestion of others, we stopped at a little printshop in the courtyard of Lucas Cranach’s house/workshop.  The man working on the printing press there ignored us for a while, then noticed my name badge and recognized that he had printed the signs advertising the services I’m doing at the two churches.  We got a long lecture in somewhat broken English and a few German words. about how Cranach and Luther were friends, about all the portraits Cranach had painted, and how Cranach had printed the first German New Testament.

            He told/showed us an interesting story of how in Luther’s time, people would come and want to commission a portrait of the famous monk Luther to take back to their castles, churches, etc.  Rather than have Luther sit for thousands of portraits, they made  what I think is called a “cartoon” of a Cranach original, which was a board with pinhole outlines of the portrait.  Then an apprentice would apply the paint, and there you would have a Cranach portrait of Luther to take home!

            We’re going to do our siesta and snack, then head back to the chapel for devotions at 4:30.  An interesting story about the little chapel that I don’t think I mentioned before is that at one point, Luther appealed to the Pope to call a Church Council in order to settle the theological disputes, and that he issued that call publicly from inside the chapel where we have devotions.

            Well, I didn’t have to “work” very hard this afternoon.  Absolutely no one showed up for the devotions, so we sat and talked with LeRoy for 45 minutes or so.  Then we sat on the church grounds near the Stadtkirche and headed for the brat stand for supper.  We were too late – they were closing.  So we looked for a different place, and decided to try the “Asia” restaurant.  By the way, most of the restaurants have tables and chairs outside, as did Asia.  I had beef chop suey, and it was really very good.  Dea had chicken chop suey, and said it was OK.  It sure beat the blutwurst (blood sausage)  she ordered last night and couldn’t eat!

       Reading and relaxing for the rest of the evening.  Donner und blitzen!  Not the reindeer – a rather noisy thunderstorm just hit!

Day 14

            We’ve been in Wittenberg a week now.  By the way, Wittenberg literally means “white mountain.”  There obviously are no mountains around.  When the city was founded in 1150 A.D. in the territory of August the Bear, it was built at the ford of the Elbe River, where there were a number of sand hills visible (white hills).  There’s your Trivial Pursuit information for the day!

            We had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast as usual (yum yum).  I discovered how friendly and helpful the hotel staff is here.  I had forgotten to print out my devotional material for this week.  Those who know how I work know that if it isn’t in the “script” it doesn’t happen.  I was preparing the script for this week, and no devotion.  I had it all done and saved on my flash drive, which I had along.  I asked at the desk if it might be possible to have someone print out a two-page document, and with a smile the gal behind the desk took me to the “guest computer” equipped with a printer and USB port.  1 minute, and all was done.  Nice people here!

We walked past the Stadtkirche to take some pictures of the north side, which we didn’t even look at until last night.  Then we headed for the Schlosskirche (Castle Church).  We walked around and looked at the excavations going on.  There were some interesting things – archaeologists were sketching and measuring on the south side, and we think some were using an underground camera of some kind on the north side.  Watching them work was a good excuse to delay the major plan for the morning.  I wanted to climb the tower of the Castle church.  Dea wanted to do it too, but made it only to the second or third level.  289 steps – circular staircase – to the top.  I was actually proud of myself for making it to the top.  I saw the three bells at the top (all fitted with mechanical ringers, although some of the old hand-ringing mechanism was still visible).  The view of Wittenberg is astounding from the top!  The roof of the Schlosskirche is extraordinarily beautiful, made from colored tiles with patterns.  You really can’t see this from anywhere but the tower.  The view of St. Mary’s Church, the bridge over the Elbe, even of our hotel, all of these things were amazing from way up there.  I was the only one up there.

            After picking Dea up on the way down, we walked through a part of the old city that we hadn’t visited before – along the north edge.  We saw a park, a playground, a zoo, and the Catholic Church.  The Catholic church is quite small, 20^th century, and locked up tight.  Apparently not too many people come to Wittenberg to visit the Catholic church! 

            We stopped at the Stadtkirche (= town church = St. Mary’s Church.  I know, I am not consistent in my references.  Sorry, but I suppose that is to keep you thinking!) and bought a little guide sheet to help me identify some of the pictures I took, then came back to the hotel for a snack and maybe a siesta (In Germany?!?!?  Something isn’t right here!)

I also took time to download the owners manual for the GPS system I bought yesterday, and figured out how to get it to talk to us in English instead of German!  That should help a lot as we travel around.

Later is the organ concert at the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) and “organ crawl.”  That promises to be the highlight of my day.

            It was!  For those who are interested, the organist played the Bach a minor Prelude and Fugue, some Reger, Boellman, and Langlais.  What I don’t quite understand, from an American perspective, is why most of the German organists I’ve heard in the past two weeks play Bach with 16’ foundations on in the manuals.  Sounds quite muddy, to use Dea’s words.  Anyway, after the recital we were invited up for a tour of the organ – inside and out!  It was build in the 1860’s, and rebuilt in the 1980’s, when they added a fourth manual to allow for a wider variety of literature.  Mechanical action throughout.  Beautiful.  Then, after Thomas did the explanation, he invited me to play!  Of course I didn’t have music along and made a fool of myself, but what a thrill!  Thomas knew that I was an organist, so he explained the workings of the organ to a number of others in German, then would look at me and say “I just told them how a reed pipe works” or “I just explained 16’, 8’, etc. stops).  It was really great!

            We’re going to wait a bit, then head to the Brauhaus for supper – think I’m going to have pork hocks and sauerkraut!  I’m salivating already!

Day 13

            We got a leisurely start this morning.  Without even thinking about it, I grabbed a red shirt this morning.  It has a tiny American flag embroidered on the front.  Actually, that’s the closest thing I’ve seen to any observance of the 4^th of July all day. 

After breakfast, I hoofed it over to the travel store where I bought my hat and tried to buy a GPS last week.  I am so directionally impaired and scared that I had to ask them once more, and again at the front desk, how to get to the place they thought might have one.

            So, we got the car out of the garage for the first time since Tuesday and headed for the E-Center, a strip mall a couple miles away.  Indeed there was an electronics store much like Best Buy, and they had a wide variety of GPS models.  What they didn’t have were salespeople to help!  We waited for two salespeople, and each of them took well over half an hour helping other customers before we were finally helped.  When we picked out the unit I wanted, the salesman said “No cards, only cash.”  So I had to go find an ATM to get enough cash to buy it.  But buy it we did, and it works!  I’m much more relaxed now.  It seems like it would be good throughout Europe, and perhaps even in the USA!

            We tried it out by going to Grafenhainchen, a little town about 20 miles south of Wittenberg, the birthplace of hymnwriter Paul Gerhard.  His birthhaus is not really his birthhouse – that no longer exists, and the church where he was baptized was locked up tight.  But we did talk to a man at the birthhouse who was preparing for Christenlehre this afternoon – which I believe is equivalent to confirmation instruction and Christian instruction for younger kids.  He said school lets out for the summer tomorrow, and the kids are excited.  He also showed us – inside the Paul Gerhardt “birthhouse” the “winter church.”  The old church is not heated, so in the winter when it gets cold, they have church in a large room in the house.

            We’re having our noon snack and bit of a rest, and then we’ll try to figure out what to do with the rest of the afternoon.  Whatever it is, we will carry our umbrellas.  It’s been raining off and on all day, with likely more tomorrow. Many things are closed on Mondays, but most of the shops are open. 

            Slow afternoon also.  We walked towards the Marktplatz.  I went on ahead to check in at the WEM office – nothing special this week.  Actually, it looks like a very slow week.  Chatted with LeRoy for a bit, then Dea and I toured the Lucas Cranach haus.  Lucas Cranach was a famous painter.  He painted many portraits of Luther, and was best man at Luther’s wedding.  It was a fairly expensive ticket, and we both decided it wasn’t worth the price. Most of the things were reproductions, and very few explanations in English, which made it not so interesting for us.  We worked our way back along some of the shopping streets, and picked up a few souveniers (bell and angels, what else!).  Came back to the room for some down time, then went to the brat stand for supper.  The rest of the evening is just relaxing, I guess.  Too bad the TV only carries programs in German! 

            Lovely sound outside – they do change ringing of the bells from the Stadtkirche at 6:00 p.m. each day.

            Tomorrow there’s an organ recital and an opportunity to tour the organloft at the Schlosskirche.

Day 12

            Not much adventure today, I’m afraid.   Woke up to a chilly and rainy morning.  We decided to go to worship at the Schlosskirche where I preached last night (not to see if there was still an American sermon echoing around the building!)  I was hoping that we would get to hear more of the organ than we heard last night.  NOT.  The handbell choir was there again, and they played the prelude and postlude.  It’s not that they didn’t play well – they did.  But I can hear good handbell playing at home – I wanted to hear the organ!  End of rant!

            There were two people dressed as pastors involved in the worship.  One lady was the liturgist/celebrant, and the other lady preached.  Yup – two ladies.  Dea and I decided they both looked about 19 years old.  Actually, there was much in the service that we recognized from home – the basic outline, even some of the musical liturgical responses were the same.  I could figure out enough German to know that the Gospel and Sermon were based on Jesus’ parable of the banquet in Matthew 22.  Not quite our lectionary, though.  I think I even caught enough of the sermon to get a few ideas for when that pericope comes up again for us.

            After church, we tried to get into the Lucas Cranach Haus, but it wasn’t open yet.  Went back to the hotel.  Dea took a nap, and I did some Minnesota South District work to get a project wrapped up.  After Dea woke up we went to the Lutherhaus and Dea saw what she had missed yesterday when I went alone.  We both went through the cellar area, which I did not see yesterday – some very interesting things there.  We had been told that the handbell group was going to watch a movie about the Berlin wall, and we were invited to attend, but couldn’t find where they were.  So we came back to the hotel, rested a bit, then had supper in the hotel restaurant.  Very relaxing, nice and quiet, good food, and we didn’t have to walk very far!  Just to do something different, we decided to eat “European style.”  Fork in one hand, knife in the other.  Didn’t drop anything on my shirt, either!  The rest of the evening is for relaxing, perhaps playing some cards, etc.  We’re not quite sure what we are going to do in the next couple days.  Most museums are closed on Mondays, and we have just about finished seeing all that we wanted to see in Wittenberg.  So tomorrow’s edition will be a surprise for me as well as for you!  Hope all is well.

GERMANY ADVENTURE – Day 11         

            There won’t be much to report today until perhaps after church tonight.  After her tumble late yesterday afternoon, Dea woke up about 3:00 a.m. and said she couldn’t move her arm.  She soaked it in cold water in the sink in the bathroom (of course, no ice machines in German hotels!) took three Tylenol, and went back to bed.  We slept in until 8:30, and she said it felt quite a bit better.

            We went down to breakfast and found LeRoy Wilke and Bob Lehmann having coffee.  We had a really nice chat with them while we ate breakfast.  Dea decided she wanted to ice down her elbow again, so we begged for and received some ice cubes from the hotel restaurant.  While she did that, I went to the apothecary (drug store) and got her a sling.  Here, a sling is just a large triangular piece of cloth that we are supposed to tie knots in to make a sling.  At least it was quite cheap:  3.2 euros.  She decided she wants to stay in the room most of the day, so I went out and finished touring the Lutherhaus.  I’ll take a break, work on some computer stuff, perhaps have a nap, and then get ready for church.  More later.

            Part 2 – After a break, we headed over to the Castle Church (Schlosskirche) for worship tonight.  Had to carry vestments, bulletins, etc. underneath umbrellas, because it was cold and raining.

            Ready for another chorus?:  “It’s a small world after all….”  First thing, we were met by June, a lady from England who now lives in Wittenberg and helps with WEM stuff.  She said “You look a lot younger than I expected.”  I think I looked a bit surprised, then she said “My friends Bob and Sally Cordes said you used to be their college choir director.”  After a chuckle, I said “That was my dad – he was their college choir director.  They are friends of mine, but yes, they are a bit older than I am.”  Delightful lady.  First chorus of the song, please:

            Then, after I got vested in the sacristy, a lady motioned for me to come over.  She said “I’m Carolyn Brinkley.”  I think I had a blank look on my face.  She then said “Wally Schindler’s sister.”  Wally was a good singer, a classmate of mine in college and sem, and a very dear friend.  He used to come to worship at St. Matthew in Columbia Heights, but after we left there, I totally lost track of him.  I’ve looked for him, even on Google, a couple of times, but no luck.  She said “You played at Wally’s wedding (I did) and I sang for the wedding (I remember that she did.)”  I was virtually speechless.  Found out where he lives now (Davenport, Iowa, in his childhood home).  All this before church!  Ready now:  second chorus:  “It’s a…”

            There was a guest handbell choir from California that gave a concert after the service, but they had insisted on playing the prelude and postlude for the service.  I’d have rather heard the organ, but what could I say?

            The service – leading worship and preaching in the Schlosskirche…  that was a real big WOW!!!   I didn’t preach from the pulpit (was told not to since people get kinks in their necks looking up at the very high pulpit), but led worship and preached from the lecturn at the front.  When I looked down from the lecturn, I was almost directly on top of Philip Melanchton’s grave, and about 10 feet to my left was Luther’s grave.  Overwhelming.  To think that these men had frequented that church, and here I was trying to bring the gospel there…    WOW!  Dea said I did well, and so did a number of other people.  There was a group of 8 or 9 Korean students and their pastor at the service, and they said my sermon imspired them, and the pastor repeated the comment twice.   And June said it was riveting, and she didn’t even go to sleep. (Dea made me add those two comments.  I pray the Lord thought so too!  That’s the reason we came all this way, and it was worth it!

            After the service came the handbell choir concert.  They played pretty well.  They did bring in a gal who did some solo ringing, and she was awesome!  After the service, June told Dea that I should put on my vestments again and go up into the pulpit to have my picture taken.  She didn’t have to suggest it twice.  Even if it wasn’t Luther’s pulpit (it isn’t – it was put in much after Luther’s death) it was still an awesome experience.  I’ll show you pictures sometime…

            Had a delightful supper at Tanta Emma’s with Bob Lehmann and LeRoy Wilke.  Bob leaves in the morning, and was a good friend by now.  We had a nice chat with LeRoy, and that will be a good relationship for the next week and a half.

            Tomorrow morning we hope to go to German services at the Schlosskirche, mostly to hear the organ!

            Dea says that her elbow is feeling much better this evening, and she is no longer worried that she has had a repeat broken elbow injury.  No bull intended!

GERMAN ADVENTURE – Day 10

            Met Bob for coffee and breakfast again – that has become routine.  We had a leisurely morning of sorts, and really didn’t see much that was historic except by accident!  We decided this was a time to walk to the grocery store – it’s very nice out, sunny, a few clouds, warm in the sun and comfortable in the shade.  The grocery store is outside the historic part of Wittenberg.  First stop:  wikana cookie outlet store.  We found some of the Lutherbrodt cookies that Bob had told us about.  On the way back we found a “drink store” and bought a couple large bottles of Coke mostly for Dea, and some Freiburger Beer for me (I’ve been looking for Freiburger Beer since we arrived in Germany.  Long story – will share the rest in a week and a half.)  Then stopped at Netto’s, the discount grocery store.  We only bought a couple salty snacks, but it was interesting to walk through.  One whole wall was beer.  A whole aisle of wine.  Lots of good-looking produce.  Hardly any canned goods at all, which surprised us.  Then the long walk back to the hotel with our purchases.

       On the way to the grocery store, right next to the Wittenberg Information Center which is also the center for WEM, there is a little park with a cemetery on top.  The cemetery I think has about 100+ graves of Russian soldiers.  These were from the time of the occupation following WW II.  At one time there was also a Russian tank as a memorial in the park below the cemetery.  When the Russians pulled out after the unification, the Germans told them to take their tank along home with them.  The Russians said “What about our dead in the cemetery?”  The German mayor said “You take the tank.  We’ll take care of the graves!”

            Part 2 – turned out to be a relatively slow day.  After we got back from the grocery store, Dea relaxed and I went out for a walk.  I was looking for 2 things – first, a GPS so we don’t have a repeat of Tuesday!  Second, a hat.  I didn’t want a baseball cap, or by the time we are done I would have a farmers or fishermsn’s tan.  I found a nice floppy safari-type hat.  Didn’t find a GPS, but got some information on where to look.

            Got back to the room, rested for a while, then set out again.  We went to the Castle Church and took some pictures.  Found out that the Melanchthon House is closed for renovation – rats!  I wanted to see that.  Had devotions at 4:30 – about 8 people.  While the numbers were not overwhelming, the offering was MUCH  better today – Bob said it was enough to “pay the rent” for the chapel for the whole week.  I guess I earned my keep!  The word is that LeRoy Wilke, who is the next Deputy Director and will be on duty for two months, is in town, but haven’t seen him yet.  Did bump into David Mahsmann, former Lutheran Witness editor and point man for the school building the LCMS and others are trying to renovate.  He said he’ll be around more next week.

            Afterwards, we were headed for the Kartoffelhaus for Dea’s birthday supper, and she stumbled again on the rough cobblestones.  The Lord was watching out for her again – no real damage other than her pride.  Well, she is a bit sore, but says not as bad as when she fell off the fence trying to get at the mechanical bull!

Had a quick supper, then heard a 30-minute organ recital in the Stadtkirche (City church).  The organist was pretty good.  For those who know or care, it is a Sauer organ almost 30 years old, has been rebuilt.  Sounds pretty good.  She played the Bach Prelude and Fugue in C (the 9/8, again for those who care) but used 16’stops as the basis for the registration.  Seemed a little heavy for my taste for that piece, but it was still wonderful.  She also played some 21^st century music by a guy named Petr Eben, based on two “dances” from Biblical sources.  Interesting, but not my favorite.  Going to do some maintenance work and prep for the church service tomorrow night, then off to bed.