| Volume 2, Issue 1 | January 9, 2008 |
| Sites of the Reformations Study Tour, May 14-31, 2008 | |
| Here is what you will experience! |
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| Day 1 On the first day, we will be departing for Frankfurt, Germany, where we will arrive on the morning of May 15th |
 Wartburg Castle |
| Day 2 After arriving at the Frankfurt airport, we will load into vans and begin our journey to Eisenach. On our way there, we will stop at Fulda, where St. Boniface and Leoba, the missionaries to the Germans, are buried. Then we will travel to Eisenach, the home of Bach and where Luther attended the parish school at St. George’s while staying with the Cotta family. We will visit the Luther House museum and the Wartburg Castle where Luther was “kidnapped into exile” for ten months. |
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| Day 3 In the morning, we head to Schmalkalden, a small village which was the home of the Schmalkaldic League, a military and political alliance of “Protestant” rulers. Luther wrote the “Schmalkald Articles” for discussion at the Febraury, 1537 meeting of the League, but he fell ill, and the articles were not adopted until much later. In Schmalkald, we will visit the Town Hall, the League headquarters, as well as St. George City Church and the Luther Hall. In the afternoon, we will make the short trip to Erfurt, where Luther entered the Augustinian monastery in 1505. We will visit the monastery, the Cathedra of Mary, the Severi Church and have time for some shopping on the picturesque Kämerbrucke bridge. |
 Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt |
| Day 4 The morning will be free to shop in Erfurt on the “Anger,” the wide pedestrian promenades, one of the most attractive shopping areas in the eastern part of Germany. In the late morning, we will make the short trip to Eisleben, where Luther was born in 1483, and where he died in 1546. We will have plenty of time to visit his birth and death houses, St. Anne’s Church, St. Andreas Church, and Sts. Peter and Paul Church, where Luther was baptised on November 11, 1483, a day after he was born. In the evening, we will make the short trek to Lutherstadt Wittenberg, the place where the Lutheran reformation began. |
 Baptismal Font in the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul |
| Day 5 After breakfast, we will begin the day by attending St. Mary’s church (the “city church”) where Luther attended and often preached. The service will be in German, so you can get a taste of the reformation beginnings. In the afternoon, we will visit the Luther house and the Melanchthon house. |
 The Luther House |
| Day 6 This will be our second day in Wittenberg. We will visit the house and workshop of Lucas Cranach, the “painter of the Wittenberg Reformation,” and tour the Castle Church where Luther and Melanchthon were buried. It is also purported that Luther “posted” the 95 Theses, protesting the sale of indulgences. The rest of the day will be free for you to wander around, sampling the fares of Wittenberg, perhaps even trying the “Luther bier” that rumours suggest was made from Katharina von Bora’s own recipe! We will spend the night, once again, in Wittenberg. |
 The Famous Wittenberg Door |
| Day 7 Following a leisurely breakfast, we will make our way to Torgau in time for lunch, and then spend the afternoon visiting this historic site. Here we will visit Katharina von Bora’s burial site, and the first Lutheran church built after the reformation started. After visiting the Hartenfels castle, the formal royal capital, we will sample some beer at the local brewery, the Giersings, Baraueerbe. In the late afternoon, we will travel the short distance to Leipzig, where we will check into our accommodations and then enjoy a leisurely dinner. |
 Inside the Castle Church |
| Day 8 Today we will have plenty of time to visit the sites of Leipzig. We will visit the Thomas Church, where Bach played the organ and directed the boys’ choir. We will also visit the Museum of Fine Arts, to see some of the wonderful Renaissance and Reformation era paintings. Also on the agenda will be the St. Nicholas Church, where the peaceful movement, to bring down the ‘wall’ in 1989, began. We will walk by the site where the famous 1519 Leipzig debates took place between Dr. Luther and Dr. Eck took place. In the late afternoon, we will make our way to Nürnberg, the site of themed-20th century Nazi rallies and the Nürnberg Trials. This is also the home of the artist Albrecht Dürer, and the first free Imperial Town to accept the Reformation, in 1524-1525. |
 J.S. Bach Window in the St. Thomas Church, Leipzig |
| Day 9 Today is a day for touring the city of Nürnberg. You can visit the National Museum, where there is a globe from 1491. As well, you can wander the streets of the old city, visit Dürer’s house and learn about printing woodcuts, visit the markets and shop to your heart’s content. |
 Inside the Dürer House |
| Day 10 Today we are off to Augsburg, where the Imperial Diet met in 1530. Here, Melanchthon and others presented the “Augsburg Confession,” the statement of beliefs of the Lutherans. Yet Augsburg was also the home to many Anabaptists such as Mennonites, Amish and Hutterites, as well as early Quakers. Wandering through the town, we will visit the Fuggerei, the world’s oldest social welfare community, and St. Anne’s Church, where the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was signed by Roman Catholic and Lutheran officials. Luther and Cardinal Cajetan met in 1518 at the Fugger’s (an important banking family) town mansion. We will also tour the Basilica Church of St. Ulrich and St. Afra, and the Protestant Church of St. Afra, which are connected together. |
 The Fuggerei |
| Day 11 Augsburg has introduced us to other reformations of the 16th century, including the Anabaptists. Today we leave Augsburg for Switzerland and the city of Zurich. This was where Ulrich Zwingli began his own reformation in 1519. After lunch in the scenic old city of Zurich, we will tour the church where he was the pastor, the Gross Munster, and then go on a walking tour of the various important Anabaptist sites: the homes of Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel, the site of the first Anabaptist martyr, and the spot where the first Anabaptist baptisms took place. |
 Old City of Zurich |
| Day 12 Today we will drive along the Swiss Alps to the historic city of Geneva. It was here that John Calvin began his own reformation. We will visit his church and the auditorium (school) that he started, as well as take a tour of the “Reformation Museum” in the city. This beautiful city located along the shore of Lake Geneva, has a lot of charm. In the evening we will dine in the Old City and enjoy the ambiance. |
 The Fountain in Geneva |
| Day 13 We will spend most of the day in the city of Geneva, exploring its past and present. In the morning we will visit the Ecumenical Centre, home to the Lutheran World Federation, the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and many, many service agencies. In the afternoon, you will be free to walk around the old city, visit the fountains and the parks, or do some shopping, as you explore this city. In the late afternoon, we will head north into France, and arrive at our hotel in Colmar in time to go to the old city for an evening meal. |
 Ecumenical Centre, Geneva |
| Day 14 This morning in Colmar, we will visit the Unterlinden Museum, which has an impressive collection of medieval art and objects. Its most stunning piece of work, in my mind at least, is the triptych altarpiece painted by Matthias Grünewald around 1505. It is suggested that it was designed for a “hospice” for those who were dying from the plague or “St. Anthony’s Fire,” a skin disease. The crucifixion scene, where Christ is portrayed as having the same affliction, is incredible, as is the resurrection scene. It is not a sight you want to miss. After lunch, we will have a change of pace, going to Eguisheim, a nearby little village, for an afternoon of visiting and tasting the Alsatian wines of the region amidst the beautiful scenery. In the late afternoon, we will head up to Strasbourg, where we will be staying for the next few days. |
 The Streets of Eguisheim |
| Days 15
and 16 Today we will tour the old city of Strasbourg. It was here that the early south German reformers such as Martin Bucer, Wilhelm Reublin, Catharina Schutz-Zell, Matthew Zell, Hans Denck, Jorg Zeigler, Pilgram Marpeck, Caspar Schwenckfeld, and Melchior Hoffman all lived. Hoffman had proclaimed it a ‘New Jerusalem’ in the early 1530’s. We will visit the St. Thomas Church, where Bucer is buried, and then go to ‘Petite-France’ for lunch, surrounded by the canals of Strasbourg. After lunch we will visit the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Ecumenical Research Institute, sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation. The next day you will have a free day to explore this city further, do some shopping, or visit more interesting museums about life in Alsace. You might even want to visit the wine cellars of the Hospital, a fund-raising project! |
 Petite-France, Strasbourg  Notre Dame Cathedral, Strasbourg |
| Day 17 It’s off to Heidelberg we go – a picturesque university town, and the site where Luther debated his “Heidelberg Disputations” with his fellow Augustinian monks in 1518. After spending the morning here, and having lunch, we will head to the ancient city of Worms, the site of the famous 1521 Imperial Diet, where Luther is said to have proclaimed, “Here I stand, I can do no other. So help me God!” In Worms we will take a reformation tour of the sites, and spend the evening there. |
 The Heidelberg Castle |
Day 18 |
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