Wittenberg

Imagine a concrete prefab structure in the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany).  Many of the buildings in previously Soviet-ruled East Germany were indistinguishable and plain.  But in the early 1990's the art students at the Luther-Melanchton Gymnasium ( also known as the Hundertwasser Secondary School) in Wittenberg, contacted avant-garde Austrian artist Freidensreich Hundertwasser to bring new life to their school.  The artist was so impressed with the students' initiative that he designed the renovations to the school free of charge.  The exterior now emanates with color, unique architectural features, and even trees growing from balconies, all conceived by Hundertwasser, himself.  The interior hallways continue the color palette with permanent pieces of student art embedded into the walls, as well as, changing exhibits of student artwork.  The wildly colorful school is in sharp contrast to the medieval architecture of this historical city.

The school is an Europaschule, meaning that it teaches a wide range of languages.  Students at this school can learn English, Business English, French, Russian, Latin, Spanish, Greek and Swedish.  Students also engage in economic research and participate in a stock market simulation sponsored by the Sparkasse Bank.

The morning of our visit, we were divided into four groups.  The group that I was a part of visited a sixth grade classroom on the third floor.  The students had just returned to school from a field trip.  After the class settled down, the students sang a song in English about making choices.  Then we were invited to travel three flights down to the outdoor stage area where the students performed a short skit about the end of the school year in German.  Due to the unrelenting strong winds, we were ushered back to the third floor to an indoor stage area where the other two student groups performed their skits for us.  Their teacher critiqued each group's performance and then we returned to the classroom where the students asked us questions about our respective states, our hobbies, and pop culture.  The class was then broken up into groups of four students.  Each U.S. teacher had an opportunity to interact with a small group of students and learn more about their educational system and their way of life.

After our school visit we had a walking tour of Wittenberg.  This city's historical significance goes back to the 16th century during Martin Luther's lifetime.  It is the cradle of the Protestant Reformation.  The Wittenberg citizens' fervor for Lutheranism is evident wherever you look.  Mini two-foot sculptures of Luther in different colors can be found all around town.  In addition, a life-size statue of Martin Luther is prominently displayed in the Market Square.  Luther's statue survived destruction during WWII because it was safely stored nearby. 

All Saints Church, also known as Schlosskirche, is an important landmark in this city.  It is the church where Martin Luther's  95 theses were nailed to the church door in 1517.  The wooden doors were destroyed in a fire in 1760  during the "Seven Years War" with France, but were replaced with bronze doors in 1850 bearing the Latin inscription of Luther's entire 95 theses (photo to the left).  Inside the church are the tombs of both Luther and Melanchton, a collaborator and friend of Luther.  Another church nearby, St. Mary Church, is also known as the Town Church.  This 14th century church is where Luther was married and all of his children were baptized.  Luther often preached from the pulpit here as well.  A triptych by Lucas Cranach the Elder, located near the altar, has a center panel that depicts the Last Supper with the faces of Luther and other reformers (photo, below on right).  Cranach was not only a Renaissance artist, but he sold medicines and paper, as well.  He was a member of city council and was elected mayor of Wittenberg three times.  In addition, Cranach printed the first edition of Luther's New Testament in 1522.  The area around Cranach the Elder's residence is currently under restoration. 

The final Wittenberg landmark our group visited was Luther's home.  It was originally an Augustinian monastery where Luther studied and lived as a monk.  The monastery was quickly dissolved once the Reformation took hold.  An aristocrat who supported Luther's movement dedicated part of the monastery to students as a residence hall and gave the rest to Luther to use as his family residence.  The Lutherhaus is the most comprehensive museum of the Protestant Reformation and has been designated as a UNESCO Heritage Site.  It contains several artifacts from Luther's life, including a pen and ink drawing of Luther when he was a young monk, small individual oil portraits of Luther and his wife, a chest and metal bowl used for buying indulgences (photo below), a wool clerical robe thought to have been worn by Luther, his writings, including a copy of his hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God", family furniture, and several other artifacts attributed to Martin Luther and his family.