Germany Heritage Tour - Lutherstadt Wittenberg

The second city stay on my Germany Heritage Tour took me to the university town of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther lived a majority of his life. It was here that he raised his family with his wife Katharina, and it is here that he was finally laid to rest in the Castlechurch of Wittenberg. The church is also the church of the 95 Theses fame which helped to spark the Protestant Reformation (which in turn spawned Lutherans and as a result, sauerkraut suppers in church basements across America, as well as sitting in the back row of church). While in Wittenberg, I toured the Castlechurch and the amazing museum which once housed Luther and his brood (as well as his pupils, employees, and whomever else was hanging out...the place was huge). The Luther residence had previously been a monastery and thus had tons of space. Some of the highlights of the museum included the pulpit Martin Luther used to preach, as well as many paintings and sculptures of Luther. There was also a library on the top floor dedicated to preserving many original manuscripts and documents penned by Luther himself, as well as his contemporaries.

I also amused myself by realizing the more German beer I drank, the better my German became. I am sure the waitress was less amused, although she seemed to laugh anytime I said anything so apparently my German isn't as good as I think. Another favorite spot in Wittenberg is a tree, the Luther Oak, where Luther supposedly burned his Papal Bull of Excommunication (sort of like a predecessor to a non-binding UN resolution). The town itself is in the Saxony region of Germany so the food is more reflective of its East German past (lots of potatoes and simple dishes featuring cheap sausages...but all very tasty).

A nice side trip was in order as I needed some country scenery so I drove about 25-30 minutes out of town to a place called Wörlitz which is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz. This place is a 50 square mile park created in the late 18th century by Duke Leopold III of Anhalt-Dessau (falling asleep...must not turn into History Channel...go to Wikipedia for more details...). Anyway, I walked around the garden grounds for a few hours enjoying the magnificent weather with a delicious Coca-Cola Classic (have I ever mentioned how thankful I am that Coke dominates the international soft-drink market? Seriously, I love Coke, as do many Americans (or Pepsi if that's your preference)...but this experience would have been so much harder without Coke). The garden grounds had various buildings that evoked images of other landmarks from across Europe (which is evidently part of the story of how the buildings came to be in the first place), as well as a nice sized lake with many little islands and inlets. If I ever were to live inside a cheeseball romance novel, this would probably be what I would picture when the author begins to describe a summer romance which blossomed in a palatial European garden.

I would have to encourage anyone looking for a day trip from Berlin to stop in both of these places to capture both the essence of Martin Luther's life, as well as to appreciate a hidden gem in the German countryside. And if anyone from the Coca-Cola corporation wants to send me a welcome back to America gift basket, I'll be happy to forward you my home address.