Wittenberg - Wednesday, June 13

Our stop in Wittenberg (about 70 km from Berlin) provided a great tutorial on the life of Martin Luther.  Being in the ministry, Dean Baer and Tom Nass had the basics down so they were able to do a little deeper dive on the topic.

The town of Wittenberg is a quaint town of around 50,000 people.  There is one main street that leads to the monastery in which Martin Luther studied as a monk and in which he began to be enlightened and directed toward a new way of teaching the people of the Lord's will.  As he learned of the practice of the sale of indulgences to the Catholic priests for people to obtain forgiven of sin (especially for pre-payment for future sins) he was validated that there were changes that needed to occur.  This is one of the examples which led to his formal objection to the practices of the Church at that time and which led him to post his 95 Thesis on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg.   It is a fascinating, rich piece of history and we cannot explain it all here.

But suffice it to say that Martin Luther contributed to his people and eventually to the world by translating the Bible into German.  He was not the first to do so, but he translated into the language in a form that could be more easily understood by the general populous.  This not only gave more people the ability to understand the Bible but also to receive improved literacy.

Another coincidence.  We came to Wittenberg on Martin Luther and his wife Katharina's wedding anniversary.  That was a momentous event considering his earlier vows of celibacy as a monk.

We visited two of the Church's in the close vicinity where Martin Luther preached.

Everyone had some time to shop in the town.  Some of us were able to eat at a restaurant with the "Baer" name in the title.  Another connection with our roots.

Then on to Leipzig  for our next destination and a buffet dinner at the hotel.  We continue to learn from one another of more of the common family relationships we have.  We sure all have good memories of people, places and events from the Freeborn County area.