Eisenach = Wartburg Castle, Luther and Bach

The previous post ended with our morning visit to Martin Luther's house and museum in Wittenberg the day after Reformation Day.  We said a fond farewell to Arden at Colleg Wittenberg, and then Rachel, Tim and I headed back to the train station.  We were all taking the same train, but Rachel continued to Dresden to visit a friend there, and we went on to Eisenach for a couple of days.  I had booked a room at City Hotel online, and we were very pleased to find that it lived up to the advertising.  It was a very short walk from the train station, so we checked in, dropped off our luggage, and headed into the city center.  

We were SOOOOO excited to have this view of Wartburg Castle
from our hotel window!!  What a nice surprise!

The first view was a close-up .....  this one is the whole view.

St. Nickolas gate - the only remaining medieval gate into Eisenach.

St. Nickolas Church - adjacent to the city gate.

Another view of the gate, from the other side.

St. Nickolas church - we went around to the other side to try to get inside,
but no luck......it was all locked up.    :-(

St. Nickolas church and gate

Statue of Martin Luther in the center of Eisenach

I had been really looking forward to eating a real bratwurst
in Germany, and we finally bought them from a street vendor.
It was DELICIOUS!!!  (And huge too, sticking out of a yummy roll!)

St. Elizabeth Church, on the main square.  

After scoping out some of the sights until it got dark and started to rain lightly, we tried to find a restaurant.  Since we had already eaten the bratwursts, we just ordered soup, veggies, and wine.  It was such a nice place with a friendly waitress and some locals who were having a great time, so we lingered, eventually ordering dessert and hot tea as well.  

Our hotel breakfast was amazing - cereals, yogurt, fresh fruit, eggs, big trays of assorted cold meats and cheeses, wonderful bakery-fresh rolls, and juice, milk, coffee and a variety of tea bags.  We each made a sandwich to pack for lunch as well.  

The next morning, we took a bus to Wartburg Castle in eager anticipation of finally making the trek up there!  The bus took us most of the way, but it was still quite a climb up stairs and steep cobblestone driveways.  A young German family was wrestling with a large stroller (toddler inside), so Tim helped the man carry it most of the way up while I walked with his wife.  We found out that most of Europe was on holiday this week, so that explains why the trains were so crowded for our travels.  (We got seat reservations for all the long legs of the trip, which ended up being a great decision!!  Many people were standing a lot of the time on our trains.)  

Tim, on the drawbridge, ready to enter the gates of
the famed Wartburg Castle!!  

Entrance to Wartburg Castle - Eisenach, Germany!!  

Inside the first gate (there are several!)

The massive doors to the first two castle gates

Inside the first courtyard area

Beautiful well inside the courtyard

The South Tower --- we climbed up to the very top!

A view outside from the oldest part of the castle.
This shows how thick the walls are!

My Wartburg Knight, in the Knight's Hall at Wartburg Castle!!

Period furniture in a dining hall

St. Elizabeth's rooms

The chapel

I'm always fascinated by the beautiful doors.
This door led into the chapel.

Another doorway!  

Mural in one of the castle rooms.

Doorway leading into the concert hall

WOW - this was really impressive!
The Wartburg Castle concert hall!

This one is for all the Siefkes relatives --- Tim had me take a picture of
these two ---- Hermann and Elizabeth!!   :-)

The armrests on all the benches in the concert hall
were carved in animal shapes

View out the king's window

The king's bedroom

My Wartburg Knight again, in the museum.

Like I said - I enjoyed all the castle doors!!   :-)

View of the surrounding countryside from on top of the South Tower

View from the South Tower - the oldest part of the castle is on the right

The sunlight was glinting off the cross on the top of the castle tower.  

The eagle motif was on columns throughout the castle

Yep, another cool door!  

So now Tim can cross one thing off his "bucket list" ----
visiting Wartburg Castle ----- check!!!    :-)

We had a guided tour of the castle which was all in German, but they did provide us with a written English script, which was great.  We saw the room where Martin Luther stayed while he was in hiding, translating the Bible.  It was too dark for photos, but cool to see!  After about 3 hours at Wartburg Castle, we took the bus back down into town and enjoyed our sandwiches for lunch.  Next we headed to Lutherhaus, which is now a museum of course.  Martin Luther stayed there as a boarder when he was a young choirboy going to school in Eisenach.  

Daytime photo of St. Nickolas Gate and St. Nickolas Church

Luther on the square in daylight!

Lutherhaus - where he boarded as a choirboy.

View from Martin Luther's window.  (Steeple of St. Elizabeth's in the background.)

Then, we experienced our "Eisenach Bonus" - let me explain.  When we first planned to visit, we didn't realize that Eisenach is not only home to Wartburg Castle, but it is also the birthplace of J.S. Bach!!  So, needless to say, we also visited Bachhaus, which is now a wonderful museum!!  

Statue of J.S. Bach, in the square outside the museum

Bachhaus!    :-)

Our tour included performances on several period instruments.
This one was like an organ - the guy from the audience is pumping
it, and watching that the bag in the back stays filled properly.  

We also heard this keyboard played

The only item in the museum absolutely known to have belonged
to Bach -- a trophy cup he won in a music contest.  

Hymnbook from Bach's era - containing many
hymns by Martin Luther.

Period furniture representing Bach's birth room.

Bach family tree ---- oodles of famous musicians!  

We also heard a performance on this keyboard.

Bach's study - again period furniture reminiscent of what it might have been like. 

A book from Bach's library - that's Martin Luther!  

View from inside Bachhaus, into the garden in the back - also the well

There were many displays of artifacts, but also many stations where
visitors can listen to Bach's music on top-quality headphones.  We sat in many of these
acoustic "bubbles" and listened to examples of Bach's musical genius.  There were little
pamphlets in each bubble to explain the particular characteristic for each selection.

At our hotel's tourist information center, we found coupons for a free hot tea
with admission to Bachhause, so we enjoyed a relaxing break after touring the museum.
   

On the way back to our hotel, we passed through the city center again, and we couldn't resist having one more bratwurst!  It started to rain, so we decided to just eat some soup for supper at our hotel restaurant.  In the morning, we did a little shopping for some bread, cheese, and wine to take along and enjoy for supper later on the train.  (We packed sandwiches from breakfast again for lunch, but planned on two meals before arriving in Bratislava!)  

 

Arden had told us about these small brass plates in the cement in front of businesses and homes
throughout Germany.  They are engraved with the names of Jews who were removed
from those locations and killed in the Holocaust.  We noticed many of them in Eisenach.
It's a tribute and a remembrance that really sticks in our memory.  

One last view of Wartburg Castle in the morning before we headed to the
train station for our journey back to Bratislava.