Elegant Elbe: Wittenberg b (5/29/2018)

Tuesday, May 29, 2018 (continued)
Our walking tour of Wittenberg continued.

Chapel of the Holy Body/Kapelle zum
Heiligen Leichnam (1456 as the cemetery chapel)

Parish Church of St Mary/Stadtkirche St Marien
(chancel 1280, nave and towers 1412-1439) (KSS)

Jew's Sow/Judensau (1305) relief at the back of St Mary's,
is an example of "Jew-baiting" in medieval Germany

During renovation of the church, the Jewish council in Magdeburg was consulted, and it was agreed that the Judensau should remain as it is part of the history of Wittenberg, as long as a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, "murdered under the sign of the cross," would be established.

The Holocaust Memorial (1988) looks like a plaque with cracks
in the shape of a cross, as if something is bubbling up beneath the
cobbles, perhaps uncomfortable facts seeking the light if day,
or the blood of 6 million Jews

Also a cedar tree was planted by students (from Tel Aviv or Magdeburg) as a symbol of peace.

Interior of the Parish Church of St Mary (KSS)

The Stadtkirche St Marien was the venue for the first celebration of Mass in German, performed by the pastor, Johannes Bugenhagen, who was a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg and supporter of Martin Luther. The church was also had the first distribution of bread and wine to the congregation in Germany. Martin Luther was at the time in hiding, but upon his return to Wittenberg, he preached frequently at this church. It was here that Luther was married, and baptized all his children.

The baptismal font had a center drain
going to the ground so that the sin
in the water would go straight to hell

Altar painting (1547, by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Younger)

On the left is Philip Melanchthon baptizing a baby as one did not need the clergy to do so. In the center is a depiction of the Last Supper but with the reformers standing in for some of the apostles. They are at a round table denoting equality, and Judas wears yellow as do all of Cranach's villains. On the right is Johannes Bugenhagen hearing confession and holding the key to heaven over the repentant man, while the man in red tries to buy his way into heaven but has his hands tied. The painting at the bottom shows Martin Luther in the pulpit preaching to the people including his wife and children.

The back of the altar painting depicts Judgment Day, and the lower panel
has heaven and hell that is marked with initials of students (if they failed
the exams they would leave their mark in hell, and if they passed -
in heaven, including initials of Luther's son, Johannes)

Johannes Bugenhagen is buried at St Mary's

The Vineyard of the Lord (1569, by Lucas Cranach the Younger) with
Martin Luther raking and Philip Melanchthon at the well,
while the Catholic clergy are making a mess of things to the left

Wittenberg Old Town Hall/Altes Rathaus (1540) with
four Renaissance gables

Little canal in the street

Statue (1821, by Gottfried Schadow) of Martin Luther

Statue (1862, by Friedrich Drake) of Philip Melanchthon

Market Fountain/Marktbrunnen (1617)

Market globe (2014) that used to have a clock counting down to the
500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017

Cranach Pharmacy/Apotheke where in 1520 Lucas Cranach the Elder
received permission to run a pharmacy in addition to his painting

Memorial fountain to thank those named
for installation of the new water pipes (KSS)

Tamiko with Lucas Cranach the Elder
(2005, by Frijo Müller-Belecke) (KSS)

Cranach is supposed to be sketching a
portrait of Martin Luther

Cranachhof/courtyard where Cranach and son had their studio (KSS)

Another bag of bread seen in the courtyard

Daily Life of the Germans-Russians 1945-1993 (KSS)

In the Castle Church/Schlosskirche (1490-1511,
by Conrad Pflüger, rebuilt after a fire in 1760)

A grave marker?

Statue of Philip Melanchthon and a confessional

Statue of Johannes Bugenhagen

Choir stalls donated by the princes of Germany with their coats of arms

Statue of Martin Luther

Pulpit (19C, by WilhelmLober) decorated with the
coats of arms of Luther-related towns (Eisleben,
Erfurt, Wittenberg and Worms) and
the Four Evangelists with their symbols

Grave stone of Philip Melanchthon (KSS)

Grave stone of Martin Luther (KSS)

Tamiko with the trompe l'oeil drapes

The Castle Church doors at the site where
Martin Luther may or may not have nailed his
"Ninety-five Theses"

The wooden church doors were where university staff often pinned notices, so it is possible that Luther did post the Theses there. His original Theses were in Latin and a copy sent to the bishop along with a letter, perhaps on October 31, 1517. That is the date used for when Luther nailed the Theses to the church doors, but they would have been in Latin and would have been placed there to spark a theological discussion. Nevertheless, the wooden doors were destroyed in the 1760 fire, and King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia ordered the bronze replacement doors in 1857, inscribed with the "Ninety-five Theses" in Latin.

Theses doors

Castle Church/Schlosskirche and castle/Residenzschloss

The unusual round bell tower with the words
"A Might Fortress is Our God"

Memorial to Count Tauentzien who stormed the fortress
on January 13, 1814 to liberate Wittenberg in the
Napoleonic Wars (actually it was Generalleutnant
Leopold Wilhelm von Dobschütz who led the charge!)

We returned by motor coach to the Viking Astrild for dinner, followed by the evening entertainment called "Renaissance Ball."

Frau Luther and Frau Cranach practice dancing for the ball on the left,
and on the right were a percussionist/singer and maid-of-many-instruments

The high temperature today was 91 degrees F.
Next:  Wörlitz Garden.