Explorations in Eisenach

July 17, 2016

We took a day-trip to Eisenach in order to experience two monuments of importance regarding Lutheran history:

1. The Wartburg Castle
2. The Bach House Museum

I'll begin with the former, which was first on our agenda.

The Wartburg was built in the 1100s by Frederik "the Jumper." Thuringian forest surrounds the castle on all sides. Legend has it that this massive stronghold received its name due to Frederik's statement upon seeing the site for the first time. He supposedly proclaimed, "Mountain, I will make a castle out of you one day." 

Mountain = warte

Burg = castle.

There you have it.

The Wartburg was not only the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German, but it was also the residence of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At the age of 14, she married Louis IV. She developed such a great sympathy and love for the poor that she would go so far as to smuggle food out of the castle for them. Her mother-in-law thought ill of this and tried to catch her in the act. When Elizabeth removed her cloak, it is said that the bread underneath immediately turned into roses. Thus, artwork often depicts her with roses to this day. After becoming a widow (her husband died in a crusade), Elizabeth left the castle to serve the poor. Tragically, she worked herself to death at the premature age of 24. Within the Wartburg, a room of mosaics is dedicated to her life with over 7 million pieces of glass. 

Around 300 years later, Martin Luther inhabited this fortress. We also viewed a reconstruction of the room in which Martin Luther stayed as he wrote his German translation of the New Testament. One of the artifacts in this room is a whale vertebrae, which Luther may have used as a footstool.

Following the Wartburg tour, we wandered the streets of little Eisenach and ventured into St. George's Church, where we heard someone preparing for an organ recital. It was at this church that J.S. Bach was baptized and Luther sang as a choirboy.

Notice the "Ein Feste Burg Is Unser Gott" inscription... :)

The next part of our day-trip was the Bach House. Bach, next to Martin & Katie Luther, is one of my heroes. I greatly admired the composer's determination in spite of various obstacles throughout his life. At one point, he was even thrown in jail for "Obstinacy." Nevertheless, he continued to compose music in his own style. He was never considered a great composer in his lifetime or even directly after his death. It was not until Felix Mendelssohn resurrected and assisted in performing Bach's music over 100 years later that people began to recognize him for who he truly was: a genius composer of over 1,000 musical compositions.

Though the photo is blurry, Bach's orgiinal signature can be found somewhere on these pages.

Soli Deo gloria--To God Alone be glory!