Well yesterday we went with Wolfgang's school friends to Eisenach. Eisenach is about 250 kilometers from our home (or a really long 4 hour bus trip). Eisenach is famous for it's castle, the Wartburg Castle. Eisenach is located in the Thüringen area of Germany and this area is well known for their really excellent Thüringer Bratwurst. Hey, when you live in Germany you can't help but become picky about bratwurst. For Wolfgang and I, we think that the Thüringer are the best.
Eisenach is located in what was the DDR (East Germany) so pretty much anything that was old before the division of Germany is still there and just much older and more worn down. Since the wall was removed and Germany became, once again, one country, many things are being improved but there definitely still a real difference between the East and the West.
Anyway back to the castle. The Wartburg castle is famous for quite a few religious people, both protestant and catholic which for me is quite interesting, a true non-denominational historical site.
The famous Protestant event is that Martin Luther stayed at this castle for 10 months and translated the New Testament into German. Martin Luther can be considered the father of the Protestant religion. The papers that he wrote against the Catholic church made him a wanted man so he used the name of "Knight George" while staying at the Wartburg.
The famous Catholic is Elizabeth, not the queen but the saint. The woman who later was made into a saint by the Catholic church was married, at the ripe age of 14 years old, to the owner of the Wartburg Castle. It is in Eisenach where Elizabeth did all of her good deeds for the poor and sick which is what later made her into a saint. After Elizabeth's husband departed on a crusade, she moved to Marburg and it is there where she died.
The town of Eisenach itself is the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach so this little town is just full of incredible moments of history. It is a definite on the list of interesting places to see in Germany. Here are a few pictures of our "tagestour".
The original section of the castle is the half-timbered (black and white section) that you see in the picture. It was built around the middle of the 12 Century. The rest of the castle was built up to and including the 17th Century. The castle was renovated in the late 1970's and 80's and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This castle is not known for any violent events in History but by peaceful events.Not too many famous castles can actually state this and still be here in the
21st century so intact as the Wartburg.
The weather for this one day was perfect, no rain!
This is the hotel at the Wartburg where you can stay but it is a long hike up to the castle so you had better just want to stay there.
This is Elizabeth's Bower. Orginally it is was the women quarters but in 1902 it was covered in glass mosaic tiles depicting the life of Elizabeth from when she married until she became a saint. It is fantastic!
Elizabeth was married at 14 years of age and died when she was 24 years old. Sometime between she gave birth to 3 children. During this time, she also did all the wonderful things to get her added to that "saint" club.
Here's a picture of Wolfgang walking through the oldest section of
the castle on his way to see the room where Martin Luther stayed.
Thought you would enjoy seeing how small the inside of a castle can actually be!
This is the banquet/festival hall in the castle. It is over 350 square meters. It is such an impressive room that the Bavarian king Ludwig II had it recreated in his castle Neuschwanstein. Most everyone knows about Ludwig's castle.It is the castle on every poster you see for traveling to Germany.
What is also unique about this hall is the shape of the ceiling
which creates an almost perfect acoustic for live music.
This is the famous desk of Martin Luther. Actually it is a recreation of his desk in the actual room where he stayed for 10 months translating the New Testament into German.
A very famous story about Martin Luther and this room deals with him seeing the devil on the wall behind the heating oven (the green thing you see). He then threw his bottle of ink at the wall and the devil. The ink stain stayed as a representation of his work and life in the room. Over the centuries, pilgrims would chip away at the inkspot totake a piece of it home (the orginal souvenir hounds) and that is why there in
no longer any plaster on this section of the wall.
Great story, don't you think?
Town square of Eisenach. In the middle is the standard water fountain but this is topped by a statue of St. George (yes the dragon guy) covered in actual gold.
As you know Wolfgang and I are avid bikers. This sign is for a bike store owned by someone with the last name of Henning. It actually says "two wheel Henning".
This is the old Rathaus on the main square. The Rathaus is the original goverment building of the town where all town business would be conducted andwhere the Mayor would have his office.
Notice the clock at the top. In Germany, you will never find a clock on a
public building that isn't working perfectly.
Of course, what day trip would be complete without stopping for a taste of the brand of beer is served in this area. They all taste different and they are all served in their own special kind of glass. Personally, I am a BITburger drinker but hey, when in Rome.....
Again, thanks for cruising our blog.
Again, thanks for cruising our blog.
