Day Seventeen: Auf Wiedersehen
So, this is the last of my daily posts from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Leipzig and Wittenberg. Tomorrow morning I leave for Berlin where I will spend the day and then take the night train to Copenhagen. Amazingly, the entire train of about six cars and an engine skates right on to the ferry to cross over the Baltic Sea. The first time I took this train, I slept through the entire passage over water, and when I awoke a Swedish man said “You slept while the train was on the ferry.” I thought he was teasing me! I had no idea we had crossed water, and couldn’t believe a boat could carry a train, along with automobiles, busses and semi-trailer trucks.
Today was a remarkable day! At 5 p.m., with the celebration of Hochzeit raging just outside the walls of the town church, Joel Ortman and Sue Leckie were married inside. I was able to mention in their wedding sermon that they would be standing in the exact same spot where Martin Luther and Katharina vonBora had stood exactly 485 years ago tomorrow, and say their vows. The paintings above us represent Lucas Cranach’s depiction of The Lord’s Supper.(Kranach was the royal artist and one of Luther's best friends.) I presided over the worship jointly with Pastor Volkmann, the parish pastor of the town church. He brought me into the sacristy to dress; a large room adjacent to the nave of the church, holding a stone altar and a carved stone wall hanging. Here, Martin Luther prayed and prepared for worship nearly each Sunday morning for 35 years.It was a special time to be in this space for worship.
After worship we had dinner at the Wittenberg Brau Haus, the oldest working brewery in Wittenberg, and then walked the city. The weather turned cold and wet overnight, so perhaps the revelry will be quieter and shorter this night. After a compulsory photograph in front of the Castle Church, reading The Metro Lutheran, we strolled back to our hotel. Tonight I am tired, but with a full head and heart, not to mention a full stomach, I am ready to leave Wittenberg. Pastor Volkmann asked if I would be returning to Wittenberg soon, so that I might join him for worship on a Sunday morning. I thanked him for his thoughtfulness, and then thought to myself that I probably will not have the opportunity to visit Wittenberg again. Auf Wiedersehen, Lutherstadt Wittenberg! Seeds of your reformation continue to flourish around the world. This is most certainly true!
Luther Lesson
Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany on November 10, 1583. Sixty three years later, he was called to Eisleben to settle an argument between two brothers of the royal family. In all irony, when he had what was thought to be heart failure, he died in the very room where he was born. Three days later, his coffin was transported back to Wittenberg for burial in the Castle Church. Inscribed on his grave marker are these words:
"Here lies the body of Martin Luther, Doctor of Sacred Theology, who died in his hometown Eisleben in the year of our Lord 1546 on the 18th day of February after having lived for 63 years, 2 months and 10 days."
According to the custom of the day, Luther would have left his estate to his oldest son. But again Luther was ahead of his time, and instead listed Katharina vonBora Luther as his sole heir. Katie was forced to leave Wittenberg three different times in the years after Martin died; twice because warring factions had destroyed much of her property, and a third time, fleeing a plague. She died six years after Luther, while fleeing Wittenberg once again, when the wagon in which she was riding tipped over and threw her into a canal.
Pax,
Steve
Other posts: Week Three Week Two Week One