Wartburg Castle
In the Footsteps of Luther.
Day 9: In the Footsteps of Luther - Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Today we headed to Erfurt, but before we got there we made a stop at Bamburg. Bamburg preserves structures from the 11th to 19th centuries. The Romanesque Bamburg Cathedral, begun in the 11th century, features 4 towers and numerous stone carvings. Cited as one of Germany's most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and buildings, the old town of Bamburg has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. This was a beautiful stop on our way to Erfurt. |
After our Bamburg stop we continued on our way to Erfurt. Erfurt is in the heart of "Luther Country". We left our bags at the hotel and took a historic walking tour with our excellent Guide Birgit through Erfurt's half-timbered old town. We had a tour of St. Augustine's Monastery where Martin Luther became a monk. We then learned the history behind the Krämerbrücke (Medieval Merchants Bridge) with shops over river.
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St. Augustine's Monastery and Krämerbrücke
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Day 10 - Thursday, August 17, 2023
Eisenach, Germany - Wartburg Castle This morning we adventured outside of Erfurt to visit the captivating Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther hid away in a small room and translated the New Testament into modern German. But before we got there, we had an interesting experience that we never had before on our 27 tours. The bus was pulled over by the police. Our bus driver apparently had everything in order because we were on our way shortly. The Wartburg Castle tour was splendid in all the beautiful frescoes. But it was hard to imagine Luther spending all that time in his sparse room translating the bible. |
Police checking bus. Wartburg exterior and interior views with Luthers room
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Wartburg Castle made the perfect spot to take a group photo. As shown below, we did have a great group.
We returned to Erfurt after our visit to Wartburg Castle and had a great evening dinner in the courtyard of Kromer's Restaurant. Steffen Heilmann, the owner of Kromer's saw our Rick Steves' guidebook and started talking to us. He wanted to know if his restaurant was in the book. We said it was and Steffen asked if he could see it. He was very pleased and proud and took it inside to show his wife.
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We had an interesting experience at Kromer's Restaurant. When we paid the bill with our credit card, Steffen said he was not sure if the charge went through. He asked for our phone number and said he would check with his bank the next day. He did check and he did not get his money so he called us. We had left Erfurt so we couldn't go back to his restaurant. We gave him the credit card information over the phone. The next day he called us again and said that restaurants can not accept cards over the phone. He asked us if we could wire transfer the money to him. We checked, but our bank charged $50 for a wire transfer. We called Steffen and told him we would mail the Euros from home in the USA. We got home and mailed him the Euros. We got a text message later stating he got the money and he thanked us very much. He really was a great person to talk to at the restaurant and it was great dealing with him on the money issue.