Here Luther Stood (and Sat)

It’s been a long wait to finally get internet access once again!However, after five days of driving and visiting most of the places that was important to his faith journey literally from west to east. (see Picture of Map)

Leaving the Wartburg, where Luther fought with his demons within himself, (see pic of his room), we stayed in Erfurt where we saw the World Championship of soccer on a large outdoor screen next to the cathedrals. The crowds were well behaved and there was lots and lots of beer.
The next morning we went to the Augustinian monastery where Luther debated with his superior and prayed for release from a troubled conscience and finally was sent to Wittenberg to teach moral theology and scripture. JS Bach also played the organ in Erfurt.

On the way to Leipzig, we stopped in Weimar to see the center of the German enlightenment with Goethe, Schiller and later Nietzsche. Here a humanistic view of human ability to be virtuous and in control of one's own existence paved the way for a secular world without God. Luther would have insisted on our constant bondage to sin that keeps us from truly being free and able to govern ourselves. Later the Weimar Republic would a try to introduce enlightened democracy here and fail, leading to the rise of fascism.