When I decided to name my blog "Castles, Croissants, and Countrysides" I would have never thought it would be so accurate! Since we've been here, I have eaten a croissant almost every day, toured a few castles and seen many from the outside, and spent countless hours in the window seat of trains staring out into vast green countrysides, with rolling hills and breathtaking views.
The past three days, we visited three different German towns (Weimar, Eisenach, and Erfurt) with our study abroad class. The first days should have been named the 5 C's... "Castles, Croissants, Countrysides, and Concentration Camps." When we first arrived in Weimar, we visited Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Though this camp was not considered an extermination camp like Auschwitz, the working conditions and brutality of the guards was enough to kill 57,000 inmates. Honestly I would have rather been gassed than die from exhaustion and starvation, looking like a skeleton like the people from Buchenwald. We went through the large gate and stood on the place where they had roll call every day, where the inmates must stand without moving until it is over. Many times, roll call was used to torture the inmates; one time, it lasted 18 hours. The barracks where they stayed had been torn down many years ago, but we saw the spaces where they used to be. The most depressing experience was walking in the crematorium. The original dissection table was still there, in addition to the ovens, the elevator for corpses, and the basement where they hung people by the masses. It was disturbing. There was an exhibit with artwork from inmates during their time at Buchenwald and after the liberation of the camp. There was also a photography exhibit. Most of the photos are too gruesome or depressing to put on here. Needless to say, it was an experience that impacted all of us in one way or another.
The front gate. On the door reads "work will make you free."
Barbed wire fence surrounding the camp.
Back of the camp where the barracks were.
That night we had dinner at an American Diner.
The next day, we traveled to Eisenach, another town with lots of history. First we got to see the church where Bach was baptized. Then our main stop was at the Wartburg Castle. This construction of the castle began in 1068! Many famous royals and religious leaders had visited or lived in the castle throughout history, including Saint Elizabeth and Martin Luther. We first traveled up a spiral staircase to the top of the tower where we saw a beautiful view. In the top of the tower was also where they locked up one of the first guys who defended baptism by immersion! That seems so normal for us today, but at one point, they locked up someone for 15 years until his death for saying it was okay! In the main part of the castle, we toured the rooms and learned about Saint Elizabeth's life- she was married when she was 4 years old!!! Also, my favorite part of the tour was seeing the room Martin Luther lived in for 10 months while hiding from the Emperor and Pope after nailing his 95 Theses to the church doors. He took refuge in this room and translated the New Testament of the Bible into German. Being in that room was incredible.
Church of St. George where Bach was baptized
Such a cute area of Eisenach!
On the way up to the Castle looking at the view!
The Wartburg Castle Tower
Jack crawled into this window niche
The view from the tower
The size of this armor was about my size! People must have been a lot smaller back then.
In the corridor towards the place where Luther stayed in the Castle. Made for shorter people...
Luther's Room!!
The walk back down was so beautiful! So much moss.
After that, we traveled to Erfurt. We had a nice dinner with our class at a Biergarten, or "beergarden." The next morning we visited the monastery where Luther had been an Augustinian monk. We learned about the typical day in the life of a monk during that time, and it helped me to understand why Luther struggled with Catholicism and the laws and guidelines of being a monk. He hated his sin and went to extreme measures to humble and free himself, even by crawling on his hands and knees up the Holy Stairs in the Vatican in Rome. During his studies and intense prayer times, he became appalled by the practices of selling indulgences and this spurred his ideas that would lead to the reformation. Next, we visited a Jewish synagogue and toured the museum there. Technically, this synagogue was older than the one in the Jewish Quarter, but this one had mostly been destroyed. After that, we went to a Medieval Festival and ate one of our favorite meals yet. I had pasta with a peach mint pesto sauce with cream. That afternoon we rode the train back to Leipzig.
St. Augustine monastery where Luther was a monk for six years starting in 1505.
This was his room! (renovated, of course)
Saw this while walking down the streets of Erfurt. This is famous on Pinterest and we just happened upon it!
The class excursions led us to small German towns that held so much history, especially history that affected our lives as Christians today.
