Trace Martin Luther's Footsteps
When Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, son to a mining foreman, nobody could foresee his impact on theology and history. He himself attributed the dramatic change in his life to a borderline experience during a thunderstorm – his God experience – which influenced him to abandon his law studies and become a monk in the Augustinian friary in Erfurt. Being a brilliant theologist he travelled to Rome where he experienced the splendor of the Church and found himself confronted with the financial practices supporting this splendor: selling a granting of Indulgencies. He strongly challenged the concept of attaining freedom from God's punishment by payment of money and developed the concept that salvation is received as a gift of God's grace through faith. This brought him into conflict with his superior, the Archbishop Elector of Mainz, and the Emperor. Luther, by then a professor at the newly founded University of Wittenberg, showed his intolerance for the Roman Church's corruption and he is said to have nailed his “95 Theses of Contention” to the door of the Wittenberg Church on October 31st, 1517. This day is believed to be the starting point of Protestantism. Luther defended his beliefs at the Diet of Worms Council, a highly risky undertaking at those times, where he could have been condemned to the stake. His protector, Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony saved Martin Luther by staging Luther's abduction as he returned from the Diet and kept him at Wartburg castle in Eisenach, where Luther translated the bible into German and where his famous struggle with the devil is said to have taken place. Luther threw a bottle of ink at the devil and the ink stain on the wall of the castle is still clearly visible today. By then Germany started to separate into two factions – Protestant vs. Catholic and Luther took a theological lead for the Protestants upon returning to Wittenberg, where he stayed for most of the remainder of his life. He died of natural causes in Eisleben, the city of his birth.
Follow us as we trace Martin Luther's footsteps through picturesque Middle Germany – Thuringia and Saxony. With our experienced English speaking guide get an insight into Martin Luther's life and how his work started the religious Reformations. Visit the historical places where he lived, studied and worked.
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Trace Martin Luther's Footsteps along the Rhine
To follow Luther's historical trail in our region, we will have a separate day tour along the Rhine to see the Cathedrals of Mainz, Worms and Speyer and enjoy the cultural heritage of this region.
We do not sell our tours directly through the internet, since we feel that a direct contact with the customer is important for both parties. So please feel free to contact us by phone (+49 6131 986345) or e-mail and we will be more than happy to assist you with the right choice of travel and more details about the featured tours. For each tour we have a more detailed printed programme which we will be happy to share with you.