Wartburg 4 - The Museum & Lutherstube

The museum is surprisingly interesting. It is an eclectic collection of items donated during the 19th century by other castles, residences, churches, and monasteries in the region. Many paintings show the Wartburg as interpreted by artists through the ages. Religious art is a major focus and includes several paintings of St Elizabeth as well as Lucas Cranach paintings of the Luther family members.

A large piece of furniture is also the most impressive work of art: the Dürer closet. This beautiful piece, with richly carved doors, was made around 1510 by Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg. The museum also has a large collection of cutlery, timepieces, and porcelain.

After the museum follows a visit to the Lutherstube (Luther Room). In 1521, at the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther refused to recant his beliefs and was declared an outlaw. Although not sharing Luther’s beliefs, Prince Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony had Luther captured and brought to safety. From May 4, 1521 until March 1, 1522, Martin Luther stayed at the Wartburg disguised as the knight Junker Jörg. During his stay, he did an incredible amount of writing, including, in a period of only ten weeks, translating the New Testament from Greek into German. In the process, he created the first German work that could be understood by speakers of all the numerous dialects of German spoken in the empire. He thus gets much of the credit for creating modern German (and also most of the blame for the continued use of umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and the capitalization of all German nouns).

Wherever he went, Martin Luther left legends and tourist destinations behind. The Wartburg is, of course, no exception. The first pilgrims were already coming during the 16th century, with the oldest graffiti dating back to 1580. In the process, these visitors carved his wooden desk away, splinter by splinter. At the end of the 19th century, virtually nothing of it was left and a new desk was placed in his room. Nowadays, the room is roped off, but you can still peek in and take in all of the small, wood-paneled room.

Legends there are aplenty. The most famous involved an ink stain on the wood-paneled wall. Luther said you have to fight the devil with ink, meaning, of course, with the written word. However, legend had it that the devil visited Luther during the night and that Luther threw an inkpot at him, leaving said mark on his hosts’ wall behind. As with his desk, pilgrims scratched the ink mark from the wall, necessitating the authorities to continuously re-stain the woodwork. This practice was halted in 1894.

Emerging from the castle after almost two hours, one is not first struck by the wonderful bright sunlight, but rather by the throngs in the first courtyard. The contrast between the quiet of two hours earlier and the mix of schoolyard and marketplace could not be bigger. Do come early!

After buying our tickets, we proceeded to the second courtyard. Although much older, it was still overshadowed by the beauty of the first one. We queued up for the guided tour - in German only, and the only way to see the inside of the palace. First tour of the day and there were only ten of us, giving us ample time to see things and ask questions. The elderly Dutch couple had many; a German gentleman a few, but good ones. The guide coped well and reduced the number of questions from the second room onwards by constantly pointing out what was original and what had been reconstructed.

The Wartburg ignored the norms of the time: the Ludowinger family considered themselves important and strong enough to built a palace with three floors - something up to then considered a symbol of the imperial palaces. In addition, the staircases are a good 130 centimeters wide, in strong contrast to the traditionally narrow, easily defendable staircases that allowed space for only a single knight.

We move from the cellars via the knights’ hall to the dining room with its oak roof beams dating from 1158. The Elizabeth room, decorated with an early-20th-century mosaic of a million gilded glass pieces, is dedicated to the life of St Elizabeth.

Another popular stop is the Sängersaal (Singer’s Hall). According to legend, a major competition was staged here in 1206 and 1207 between the Minnesänger (troubadours). A 2.5m-by-5m fresco, painted in 1855, retells the saga of the six troubadours who competed for glory and death. To make it really exciting, the loser would lose his life. Five singers praised Thuringian Count Hermann I, but Heinrich von Ofterdingen clearly had a death wish and praised the Viennese Court! Interference by the countess saw his life spared and a new competition scheduled. A year later: same scene, same personalities, same rules, same outcome! However, all ends well when it is realized that the quality of the art and not the political message is the main thing. All sang well and all survived. It is not clear where truth stops and legend starts, but it is a fact that the count at the time was a great supporter of the arts and that the most important troubadours of the period did visit the Wartburg. Richard Wagner told all about it in his opera Tannhäuser und die Sängerkrieg auf dem Wartburg.

From here, it is on to the Landgrafenzimmer (Count’s Room), where wall and roof paintings retell most of the Wartburg legends. The final stop is in the festival hall, a richly decorated 19th-century interpretation of what a medieval knights’ hall should have looked like. It may be historically incorrect, but it is magnificently done. It has excellent acoustics, making it a popular venue for concerts. King Ludwig the Mad from Bavaria was so impressed with it that he had a smaller version copied in his fairy-tale Castle Neuschwanstein (derided above).

Wartburg 2 - Visiting the Wartburg

Visiting the Wartburg is not a leisurely stroll in the park - it is always crowded and the stroll is up steep slopes. During summer months, it is popular with families; during the off-season, it is overrun by school groups. Arriving at opening time to take the first tour is essential.

Walking up the hill to the Wartburg will probably take around half an hour. Driving up takes a few minutes, but if the parking lot is full, you have to park at the bottom of the hill and walk or take the bus up. In summer, donkeys are available for children weighing less than 30 kilograms. From the parking lot and bus stop, it is still a good 15-minute schlep up a steep road, or several minutes of straight stair-climbing, to get to the entrance of the castle. The truly infirm may be driven to the top, but bear in mind that in Germany, infirm is not equated with old or lazy. The castle itself is completely inaccessible to wheelchairs and strollers.

Once past the first gate tower, you enter in a sense the most beautiful part of the Wartburg. Neither the oldest part of the castle nor the most important, the 15th- and 16th-century half-timber constructions here absolutely look the part. The courtyard takes you back to the Middle Ages, Saxony of old, Martin Luther, and, of course, the public WCs and souvenir shop.

For several centuries, Elizabeth, and not Martin Luther, was the most talked-about resident. She was a Hungarian princess who came to the Wartburg aged four and betrothed to the son of the Thuringian count. In 1221, at 14, she had reached marriageable age. By this time, the Hungarian political connection was no longer significant, but as Count Louis IV had actually fallen in love with her, he married her anyway. Elizabeth annoyed her in-laws by doing good deeds for the poor. She continued to feed them despite being forbidden to do so. On one occasion, with a basket of bread and en route to the poor, she ran into her in-laws, who forced her to reveal the contents of her basket. When the basket was opened, the bread had turned into roses. Her husband died during a crusade in 1227, and his brother, Heinrich Raspe IV, worked her out of the Wartburg in less than a year. She moved to Marburg, where she opened a hospital for the poor and continued her good works. In 1231, she died and was declared a saint a mere four years later. Heinrich Raspe lived to experience that. In 1247, he died childless, and with him, the Ludowinger line. His lands were divided, and a minute piece, later expanded into the mighty state of Hesse, was awarded to the son of the daughter of Elizabeth and Louis IV.

„Wart Berg, du sollst mir ein Burg werden!"

"Wait, hill, thou should become my fortress!"

According to legend, Louis the Jumper saw a hill in the thick Thuringian forest, uttered the above-quoted words, and decided to construct a castle at the very spot. An irritation was that he did not actually own the land, but that was a surmountable problem. He carted some soil from his own estate, deposited it on the hill, and thereby allowed his servants to swear with a clear conscience, when the real owner of the land took the case to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of German States, that they had dug into their master’s own ground to build the castle. (Unfortunately, facts interfere with a good story: Louis actually owned the land and the name Wartburg predates the fortress.)

The Wartburg is one of Germany’s most famous and most beautiful castles. The main palace is a three-story Romanesque building, considered by many the most important secular Romanesque structure in Germany. Attached to it is a long white fortified wall with half-timber bastions and constructions. It has been described as the most German of castles. Some claim that while the American and Japanese tourists swarm to the Neuschwanstein follyin Bavaria, Germans generally prefer the "true," historically significant Wartburg. (This is, of course, insincere. Germans also love the castle that inspired Disney.)

The Wartburg is located outside the town of Eisenach on a high hill with marvelous views of the Thuringian Forest. This commanding position is the main reason for its existence. It served as a mighty fortress and power base of the Ludowinger family from the construction of the castle by Louis in 1067 until the end of the family line in 1253, after which it never played a significant military role. The most famous resident was Martin Luther, who stayed here in 1521-22.

Changing military technology reduced the importance of the fortress, and the counts increasingly found living in Eisenach itself more comfortable and convenient. The Wartburg fell into disrepair until the end of the 18th century. On the suggestion of Goethe, who was more impressed by the nature and the marvelous views than by the history or architecture, attempts were made to maintain and restore the castle. A full restoration was carried out in the 19th century, fortunately following original plans rather than the fanciful historicism that was popular during this period. The Nazis adored it, replaced the golden Christian cross with the swastika, and used the castle for all kinds of ceremonial functions. At the end of the war, the management hoisted a white flag, a treasonous act punishable by death, in order to ensure that the castle would sustain no damage from the advancing American army. During the Cold War, the Wartburg was a favored destination for East German tourists, and since 1990, the West Germans and other foreign tourists have been swamping the castle too.

The main attraction in Eisenach is this WARTBERG CASTLE. Richard Wagner based his opera TANNHAUSER on a minstrel's contest taking place in the castle in 1206-07. This castle was also the residence of the much loved Elisabeth of Thuringia, who was canonized after her death in 1235 for rejecting a pompous court lifestyle in favor of helping the poor and disadvantaged.In 1521-22, the reformer, Martin Luther went into hiding in the castle, under the assumed name of Junker Jorg after being excommunicated and put under a papal bull.

Being a Lutheran,I found this place fascinating, especially being in the actual room where Luther lived and translated the New Testament from the original Greek to German.

You can take a tour of the CASTLE..THE GREAT BANQUET HALL IS well worth the visit alone. The castle was very crowded when I was there at the end of July.There is a small admission charge.