Wartburg

     My first impression of Wartburg was of the horribly inclement weather which could not have varied by any significant amount over the centuries.  Although the Royals that lived here had the best of things, they still must have been miserable on days like this, days that made their home cold and damp.

     The first room we entered was difficult to people. It was called "Knight's Room." and had nothing in it but crypt tops and stone walls.  There was a variation on this bleakness for a few more rooms, Then we came to St. Elizabeth's kemente.  WOW!

The intricacy of the mosaics, the generous use of  gold and the clarity of th story telling pictures captured my imagination and I wanted to just stay in this majestic room. It made me wonder how much comfort could be found here, before electric heaters and light bulbs. 

We proceeded through lots of rooms, many of which had elegant cabinets, benches or other period pieces of furniture. After St. Elizabeth's history we learned of some of the succession, then of Luther.  We visited the room from which he translated the Bible into German.  It was a small, cell like room that coresponded well with my idea of a learned man's working space.  The furnishings here were of the period, but not the ones Luther himself used.  There is a copy of the original printing of his Bible on display.The museum parts of the Wartburg were very interesting with 15th-18th century artifacts, such as armor, drinking steins, carvings and pieces of furniture.    The tour took a couple hours but left time to shop in a delightful souvineer shop, where I ran into my niece and nephew who were just beginning their tour.

What was surprising?  At the risk of being terse, everything.  It was a truely new experience.  The only other fortress I have visited was Hohensalsburg, and it's greatest asset, to me, was the view of Salzburg.

The reading from the reading described the fortress, the activities of St. Elizabeth and the work of Luther. It was a good preperation and quite informative.  But visiting was like seeing a really great movie adaptation of a good book.