Our final day in Berlin was a “free-day”, leaving the door open for everyone to explore the massive city. I had made plans the day before with the aid of our guide, Asaf, to head forty minutes outside of the city and spend the morning at the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation, Wittenberg. I met with fellow enthusiasts in the lobby of our hotel at 7am and crossed the street to Hauptbahnhof, catching a regional train heading for Lutherstadt-Wittenberg. The city slowly vanished, replaced with rolling hills and clusters of red-roofed buildings. Within an hour we were standing at Wittenberg station, the peacefulness of the city was immediately apparent. We followed along the roads, with no real direction, just heading into the city where the pavement suddenly turned to cobblestone and the cars were replaced with bicycles.
Lutherhaus stood right on the outside of the main town and housed, besides Martin Luther five hundred years ago, the world’s largest museum dedicated to Luther and the ideas which began the Protestant Reformation. The entire monastic cloister was filled with artifacts, furniture, art and writings some of the highlights being a bible annotated by Luther, his printing press, and the corner where he had his divine experience. Due to limited time we only explored a portion of the museum, and instead headed into the city toward the Castle Church, or Schlosskirche, where Luther famously nailed his 95 theses to the door. Along the way we explored Wittenberg’s main streets and found shops filled with Lutheran and Reformation souvenirs; I found a vinyl record, city coin, and patch. In the middle of the city is a courtyard and City Church where Luther first preached his new ideas about Christianity. Inside the City Church a beautiful pipe organ stood opposite the apse where Luther once stood, the pews between them were painted green. Finally reaching the Castle Church I was devastated to find the entire building under construction, the only portions uncovered yet blocked by a fence being the iconic door and the adjacent high tower.
With little time remaining in the city we headed back toward the station, stopping briefly at a café for baguette sandwiches and water. After checking the map, we realized the station was still much farther than we thought and we nearly missed our departure.
We returned to Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 12.40pm with the rest of the day to spare. After wrapping up some homework, we met up with some more people and headed toward Leipziger Platz for the Dalí Museum; some of the group (myself included) decided instead to visit the Musical Instrument Museum a couple blocks away. Each floor was filled with both recognizable and bizarre constructions dating centuries back and with a headset I was able to listen to samples and performances on these instruments. The centerpiece to the museum, the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ required three large banks pipes and percussion built upward into the museum. Surprisingly, this particular organ was built in Tonawanda, New York just outside of my home town and every Saturday the museum still hosts a demonstration and performance.
Following the museum, we headed back toward the hotel for juice and a break from walking. We decided to head back out within an hour, catching dinner at what many consider Berlin’s best pizza place, Papa Pané di Sorrento… I have to agree. On the way from the station toward the restaurant we found a record shop and just had to stop having been looking for one all week. Many of us found original records going for relatively low prices; I found John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Rock ‘n’ Roll by John Lennon, and Something Else By The Kinks.
Overall I felt the day was used well, experiencing a variety of history, shopping, food, and general city life. I think we’re all looking forward to traveling to Erfurt and visiting Fraunhofer IDMT.
Lutherhaus stood right on the outside of the main town and housed, besides Martin Luther five hundred years ago, the world’s largest museum dedicated to Luther and the ideas which began the Protestant Reformation. The entire monastic cloister was filled with artifacts, furniture, art and writings some of the highlights being a bible annotated by Luther, his printing press, and the corner where he had his divine experience. Due to limited time we only explored a portion of the museum, and instead headed into the city toward the Castle Church, or Schlosskirche, where Luther famously nailed his 95 theses to the door. Along the way we explored Wittenberg’s main streets and found shops filled with Lutheran and Reformation souvenirs; I found a vinyl record, city coin, and patch. In the middle of the city is a courtyard and City Church where Luther first preached his new ideas about Christianity. Inside the City Church a beautiful pipe organ stood opposite the apse where Luther once stood, the pews between them were painted green. Finally reaching the Castle Church I was devastated to find the entire building under construction, the only portions uncovered yet blocked by a fence being the iconic door and the adjacent high tower.
With little time remaining in the city we headed back toward the station, stopping briefly at a café for baguette sandwiches and water. After checking the map, we realized the station was still much farther than we thought and we nearly missed our departure.
We returned to Berlin Hauptbahnhof at 12.40pm with the rest of the day to spare. After wrapping up some homework, we met up with some more people and headed toward Leipziger Platz for the Dalí Museum; some of the group (myself included) decided instead to visit the Musical Instrument Museum a couple blocks away. Each floor was filled with both recognizable and bizarre constructions dating centuries back and with a headset I was able to listen to samples and performances on these instruments. The centerpiece to the museum, the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ required three large banks pipes and percussion built upward into the museum. Surprisingly, this particular organ was built in Tonawanda, New York just outside of my home town and every Saturday the museum still hosts a demonstration and performance.
Following the museum, we headed back toward the hotel for juice and a break from walking. We decided to head back out within an hour, catching dinner at what many consider Berlin’s best pizza place, Papa Pané di Sorrento… I have to agree. On the way from the station toward the restaurant we found a record shop and just had to stop having been looking for one all week. Many of us found original records going for relatively low prices; I found John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, Rock ‘n’ Roll by John Lennon, and Something Else By The Kinks.
Overall I felt the day was used well, experiencing a variety of history, shopping, food, and general city life. I think we’re all looking forward to traveling to Erfurt and visiting Fraunhofer IDMT.