The last two days of our tour have been overwhelming.
As I write this, we are taking a brief break before dinner in our hotel in Halle, a Renaissance city we will see this evening and the birthplace of the composer Handel.
Yesterday we spent the day in Berlin, a city still rebuilding after the fall of the Soviet Union and East Germany and trying to find a way out of its Nazi and World War II history. We visited Berlin Wall sites, Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust memorial to the six million Jews murdered during the war. You can’t get away from the 20th century history—it is still very much with us.
Part of that history is the resistance of the church in Germany.
We visited the Bonhoefferhaus, the family home of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and learned about Bonhoeffer’s theology and his participation in the plot to assassinate Hitler. The decisions people faced, the brutality of the time and the Nazi regime, the loss of life and the destruction of the war, and the courage of those like Bonhoeffer, the plotters and those who sheltered and helped Jews escape were difficult to fathom.
Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany
Today we were in Wittenberg, a very different city.
We visited the Lutherhaus, the former monastery turned home and student residence of Martin Luther and his wife, Katie von Bora, and their family. The city has been refurbished over the last several years—it is beautiful right now—for the 500th anniversary. We walked the nearly mile-long stretch through the university center, stopping at the Melanchthon House (Philip Melanchthon—a very different person than Luther though his closest collaborator), then the Cranach Houses, whose artists illustrated Luther’s writings, and finally the Castle Church and the famous Wittenberg Doors.
Doors of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany
St. Mary's Church in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany
Luther was a larger-than-life figure even in his own day, prone to excess in speaking and acting and known for his bold insights as a theologian and political figure. His presence is evident throughout this part of the former East Germany. Wittenberg is now called Luther-Stadt Wittenberg, and many other places are considered “Luther towns.” We saw 16th century books, drawings and paintings. We walked where he and others walked, studied, taught and defied princes and bishops. It will take time to absorb it all.
Stephen Varvis
,
Ph.D.
Faculty Emeritus
Steve Varvis (emeritus professor of history) is an avid traveler, and lover of history, literature, church history, architecture and art. He served as an administrator, and taught history, literature and other assorted subjects at FPU for 40 years. Along with his wife Teri, he plans and leads the FPU Alumni and Friends Tours. So far the tours have gone to The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Central Europe, Scotland, Ireland, southern France and Italy, Greece and Scandinavia. Their favorite city to spend time in is London. Learn more about FPU Alumni and Friends Tours.
