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Posts tagged ‘Thuringia’

Augustinerkloster, Augustinian Monastery, Erfurt, Thüringen, Thuringia, Germany, fotoeins.com

Erfurt: Martin Luther’s start at the Augustine Monastery

You can almost imagine a 16th-century monk walking these halls, contemplating various aspects of spirituality, and reconciling them with the hardships of everyday living.

In the federal state of Thuringia in central Germany, the Augustinerkloster (Augustine monastery) in Erfurt is a notable place for the history of Martin Luther and the Reformation.

Martin Luther arrived in 1501 and began studies in liberal arts, law, and theology at Erfurt University. In 1505, Luther experienced a big personal event (the scare of his life, as legend goes), and decided to leave his studies by entering the Augustine Monastery to become a monk, much to his father’s displeasure and objections. Built originally around 1300, the Augustine Monastery was home for Martin Luther until 1511, and it’s here where he was ordained as a priest. The site underwent extensive post-war reconstruction after suffering heavy bombing damage in the Second World War. The monastery is now a seminary and a modest hotel: guided tours of the monastery provide a glimpse to Luther’s early years as a monk, and visitors can now reserve rooms for overnight stays in a no-frills technology-free setting and a peaceful comfortable environment.

Erfurt’s Augustinian monastery is listed as one of many additional candidate sites for inclusion into a single UNESCO World Heritage Site under the title “Luther memorials in Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria, and Thuringia“.

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Petrikirche, Taufkirche, Eisleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, fotoeins.com

Tracing Martin Luther’s steps in 16 German cities

Above/featured: “Luther war hier. // Luther was here.” Eisleben, Germany – 27 Oct 2016.

In pre-teen years, I attended a Catholic elementary school by weekday, and a missions-oriented Protestant church by weekend. I already had multiple questions running around my pre-scientist brain, like electrons appearing and dissipating in a fuzzy halo. When various disparate elements began to settle with few satisfying answers, I left behind the churches and their respective religions. But one thing that’s remained is my love of history. History has never been boring, because I carry the past (as offspring of immigrants), and I’m determined to bring history’s lessons into the present.

Even in youth, I had to ask: why was one set of churches called “Protestant”? What was under protest? How did one man help spark a movement that would help merge and create a version of a language that continues today, that would bring accessible means to literacy for the public, and that would begin to change rule by religion to rule by law?

Martin Luther (‘Luder’, at birth)

From his birth in Eisleben; to formative years in Mansfeld, Magdeburg, and Erfurt; to the bulk of his working and teaching years in Wittenberg; to his death in Eisleben, Martin Luther set upon a course that helped change language, education, culture, religion, and governance. In many ways, Luther had much to thank Jan Hus for the latter’s efforts to reform the Catholic Church in Bohemia one hundred years earlier.

Every year on the 31st of October, a number of cities, regions, and federal states in Germany mark an important event in this movement. It’s widely understood Martin Luther walked up to the Castle Church in Wittenberg and pinned his 95 Theses to the church doors on 31 October 1517. Even if direct evidence Luther actually posted papers to the doors is debatable, what’s not is that 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Germany.

Martin Luther, Reformation, German Reformation, Wittenberg, Marktplatz, Saxony-Anhalt, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, Deutschland, fotoeins.com

The illuminated Luther memorial stands tall in front of Wittenberg’s town hall at Market Square. As UNESCO World Heritage Site, the town hosts 4 sites: Luther House, Melanchthon House, St. Mary’s Town Church, and the Castle Church. 2017 is the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Reformation in Germany. Various German federal states, regions, and cities will mark the quincentenary throughout the year. Photo at Wittenberg Marktplatz on 30 Oct 2016.

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Wiki/CC3: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Bernd_das_Brot_Erfurt_by_Stepro.jpg

Erfurt: five KiKa character sculptures

Erfurt is the capital city for the state of Thuringia (Landeshauptstadt Thüringen) and is included among many in the Historic Highlights of Germany. As a self-described hub for children’s media, Erfurt is headquarters for the German Children’s Channel, or KInderKAnal, better known in short as KIKA. In commemoration of the channel’s tenth anniversary in 2007, sculptures representing well-loved KIKA characters sprung to “life” around town.

Kids of all ages can now cross the city looking for KIKA characters. My personal favourite is Bernd das Brot (Bernd the bread), a grumpy loaf and reluctant star of late-night tedium … “in the KIKA lounge …” It’s easy to assume I would’ve incorporated a part of the KIKA lineup as part of my early German-language instruction. The truth is there were too many late-nights in my dark one-room apartment with a small television for illumination, and more often than not, crusty Bernd was present (on continuous loop). Like a loaf of bread’s “heel” or end piece that’s undesired and ignored, it’s always there if you need it …

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Morning light on Krämerbrücke, Erfurt, Germany, fotoeins.com

Erfurt: 12 stations through the Old Town

Above/featured: Krämerbrücke in shadow, at first light.

Located along the Gera river near the centre of Germany, Erfurt is an historical hub of east-west trade, a stop on the historical road “Via Regia” dating back to the Middle Ages, and is considered a spiritual home for Martin Luther. He left behind plenty of traces throughout the city which is now the capital city for the German state of Thuringia (Landeshauptstadt Thüringens). For its preserved medieval Old Town, half-timbered houses, and churches, Erfurt has the nickname “Thuringian Rome.”

Each of the following locations in addition to the Erfurt’s Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) is indicated with an icon in the map below. All 12 places below can be reached with tram routes 3, 4, or 6 in a common stretch with stops at Anger, Fischmarkt / Rathaus (Fish Market / City Hall), and Domplatz (Cathedral Square).

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Weimar: City Church at Herderplatz, UNESCO WHS

Weimar is a compact town with a large number of buildings as a part of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. As part of the “Classic Weimar” World Heritage listing, Herderplatz (Herder Plaza) in the northern part of the city’s old town is known most for the church with two spires and a dark grey roof. This is the Stadtkirche (City Church), known also the Church of Saint Peter and Paul.

The church dates to the middle of the 13th-century AD (CE) when town and charter were first established, although a settlement in the area goes further back to the beginning of the 10th-century AD. Built initially as late-Gothic and redesigned as Baroque, and what fires and war bombing couldn’t destroy, several phases of rebuilding and renovations were completed in 1953, 1977, and 2000.

Johannes Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) was German philosopher, writer, and theologian. From 1776 until his death, he lived and worked in Weimar as General Superintendent for the Saxon-Weimar Duchy, Court Chaplain, member of the church advisory council, and President of the Supreme Consistory. For his service to the city’s people and contributions to German philosophy and literature, and as the site of his burial, the church is also known as Herderkirche (Herder Church).

Cranach Altar

The Cranach Altar is an important testament to the history of the Reformation in the state of Thuringia. The triptych was started by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1552, and continued by his son, Lucas Cranach the Younger, in 1554. Completed in 1555, the entire piece was installed over the main church altar by 1557. The paintings include portraits of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Martin Luther, and centre around “Christus am Kreuz” (Christ’s crucifixion). Christ’s blood streams out and touches Cranach the Elder’s forehead, symbolizing a direct relationship between God and people without the need for or the intercession of priests; more here.

Contemporaries

Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1472-1553.
Martin Luther, 1483-1546.
Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1515-1586.

Johannes Gottfried Herder, 1744-1803.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1749-1832.
Friedrich Schiller, 1759-1805.

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Wartburg Castle, Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: Eisenach Wartburg at night

The light spring rain makes gentle syncopated patter on the surrounding forest canopy and against the stone walls and roadwork. Pitty pat, pit pit pat …

In the distance a spotlight fires up, announcing its presence with the soaring beam piercing through the mist. In the fading daylight, it’s become abundantly clear the mystery in this picture has remain unchanged over centuries.

As a part of exile at Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Greek into German (1521-1522), giving accessibility of the book to the general population for the first time. This marked an eventual shift of requiring intercession from priests to a direct relationship betweeen people and God. Wartburg Castle gained UNESCO World Heritage Status in 1999 for the surrounding forested beauty and the site’s historical significance.

I’m grateful to Thüringen Tourismus and the Germany National Tourism Board for supporting and providing access to places and activities in the region. I made the photo above on 25 April 2015 with the Canon EOS6D, 24-105 glass, and the following settings: 1/160-sec, f/4, ISO5000, and 24mm focal length. This post appears on fotoeins DOT com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-77V.

Uni-Hauptgebäude, Bauhaus Universität, Weimar, Thüringen, Germany, UNESCO World Heritage, Weltkulturerbe, fotoeins.com

Weimar Bauhaus Old & New, UNESCO WHS

There’s a clear transition in time where architecture and design took a step from behind closed doors for the sole purview of the rich and royal and out into the open for public and general consumption. It’s no surprise the years from the end of the 19th-century into the 20th-century marked big changes, with Art Nouveau at the time as part of the Secession movement. Throughout Europe, rebellion and revolution were in the air, economically, politically, and culturally.

The Bauhaus movement also helped initiate a conversation, creating and fostering a relationship between industry’s machinery and artistic or cultural creativity. Bauhaus opened in Weimar in 1919, before moving to Dessau and Berlin. The rise of the National Socialists deemed Bauhaus “degenerate” and did all they could to eliminate a movement and her people deemed counter to National Socialist policy. With Bauhaus’ forced closure in 1933 by the Nazis, a number of practitioners escaped Germany to other parts of the world, including the United States and Argentina.

For their deep and wide-ranging influence on 20th-century art, architecture, and design, an incomplete list of names includes Martin Gropius, Lyonel Feininger, Gerhard Marcks, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Schlemmer, Herbert Bayer, Irene Bayer (née Hecht), Karla Grosch, Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, etc. In particular, László Moholy-Nagy would move to Chicago in the United States and established in 1937 the New Bauhaus which became the Institute of Design in 1944.

Tucked away on a university campus a few minutes south of the Weimar city centre, two important building lie across from each other: the Saxony Academy of Art1 building and the Grand Ducal Saxony School of Arts and Crafts (College of Applied Arts)2. The former is now the main building for the present-day Bauhaus University, and the latter now houses Bauhaus University’s Faculty of Design. In 1996, these two buildings formed a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) listing and designation for Bauhaus sites in Weimar and Dessau.

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Anger, Schlösserstrasse, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: Erfurter Anger (Erfurt Commons)

With over 200 thousand residents, Erfurt is the capital city for the state of Thuringia (Landeshauptstadt Thüringens), and is included in the Historic Highlights of Germany. The city’s central square is the Anger with its first mention traced to a document in 1196. Anger develops over centuries as the town’s trading centre for wine, wool, wheat, and woad. Woad (“Waid” in German) is a source for blue dye after the plant is collected, dried, pulverized, and fermented. By the second-half of the 17th-century, Erfurt is a centre of woad trade and production; Anger is also known as the “woad commons” or “Weidt Anger”, “Waidanger”, “Waydanger”. Today, Anger has evolved into the present-day commercial hub of consumer activity, with Germain chain stores Karstadt (department), Saturn (electronics), and REWE (food) in “Anger 1”.

“Anger” is a German noun (m, der) representing an open common space in a small town (i.e., ‘village green or common’). The German word for anger is Zorn (m) or Wut (f). Confusion and similarity of words in English and German is an example of a “false friend”.

Hauptpostamt, Anger, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany, fotoeins.com

Erfurter Anger: Angereck, Hauptpostamt

Kaufmannskirche, Anger 1, Anger, Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany, fotoeins.com

Erfurter Anger: Kaufmannskirche, ‘Anger 1’

My thanks to Germany Tourism, Thüringen Tourismus, and the Erfurt Tourism and Marketing Board for supporting and providing access to places and activities, and to Mercure Hotel Erfurt Altstadt for their warm hospitality. I made these photos on 26 and 29 April 2015. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-6Z4.

GTM15, Weimarer Markt, Markt, Weimar, Thüringen, Germany, fotoeins.com

Weimar: an instant walk through the UNESCO town (IG)

Like Erfurt, Weimar is located near the geographic centre of Germany. It’s a small town with over 60000 people, but what it lacks in size is surely made up in history and the number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city hosts multiple sites in two separate categories:

•   “Classical Weimar”, including the Anna Amalia Library and the Rococo Hall, and
•   “Bauhaus Sites”, including the Bauhaus University.

Erfurt, Weimar, and the state of Thuringia were hosts for Germany Travel Mart 2015 (GTM15), the annual meeting and workshop by the Germany National Tourism Board. Visiting the “heart of Germany” fulfilled my desire to spend time in the former East Germany. Many overlook Thuringia and the middle of Germany on their way elsewhere, but the following shots provide reasons why you should consider stop and embrace one of the “centres of classic and modern Germany.”

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Weimar: Duchess Anna Amalia Library, UNESCO WHS

As one of over ten buildings, residences, and properties making up what is called “Classic Weimar”, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library (Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek) has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.

To consolidate her love of books into a larger holding space, Duchess Anna Amalia commissioned in 1761 the State Architect to rebuild and convert the Renaissance-style French (Green) Castle into a library, which opened in 1766. Becoming one of the most important libraries in the country, the collections included some of the finest written and produced in German literature, art and culture, history, and architecture. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe himself was Library Director between 1797 and 1832.

The library has had its fair share of names: initially called the Ducal Library (Herzogliche Bibliothek); in 1815 renamed as the Grand Ducal Library (Großherzoglichen Bibliothek); in 1918 renamed as the Thuringia State Library (Thüringische Landesbibliothek); in 1969 renamed as the Central Library of German Classics (Zentralbibliothek der deutschen Klassik); and in 1991, renamed as Duchess Anna Amalia Library (Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek) in honour of the library’s founder.

An electrical short from aging damaged wiring sparked a fire on 2 September 2004; the fire held on for over two days before the final hotspot was put out. Over 100 thousand books were damaged or destroyed by fire, water, and smoke. The fire was the largest to strike a German library in post-war history. Subsequent donations and volunteers poured into Weimar from throughout Germany and Europe to help with rescue and preservation efforts. After conclusion of extensive restoration work to the building, the interior Rococo Hall, and to thousands of rescued books, the library was reopened on 24 October 2007, the birthday of the library’s namesake (Anna Amalia born 24 October 1739).

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