'Luther Country' in Germany marks 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation - Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Friday, October 13, 2017At the center of the celebrations — and in the center of Luther Country, spiritually if not geographically — sits the small university town of Wittenberg. With a population of just under 50,000, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, as the city is officially known, was home to Martin Luther longer than anyplace else.Stretching nearly a mile between the Castle Church and the monastery that became Luther’s family home, Wittenberg’s Collegienstrasse spanned the gulf between the established church and a new religious ideology. The town’s de facto Main Street, cobbled Collegienstrasse charms visitors with overflowing flower boxes, a gurgling canal and sidewalk cafes. In between, mom and pop shops display Reformation-themed souvenirs from the pedagogic to the playful: biographies of Martin Luther and his cohorts; detailed analyses of early Protestantism; Reformation beer, wine and liquor; chocolates and noodles shaped into Luther’s profile; and socks knitted with the words “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise” — Luther’s supposed retort to the powerful officials of the Holy Roman Empire who wanted him to walk back his criticism of the pope and the Catholic Church.Within the honey-colored walls of the Luther House, the world’s largest Reformation museum, it’s easy to visualize the more intense world of the early 1500s, when heated theology discussions would have taken place at Luther’s popular Table Talks. Faded ocher and blue paint cover the walls, and sunlight streams through circular glass panes. At the center of the room stands Luther’s battered-looking wooden table, said to be the original.Major reformation events in Germany>> Reformation Celebration, Oct. 31, Wittenberg. The annual event includes a historical market, church services, lectures and musical performances. This year’s celebration is expected to be larger than usual, and the date has been declared a national holiday for the first time.>> Pop Oratory Luther, through October. The story of Martin Luther and the Reformation told through a 1,500-voice choir and symphony orchestra. Concerts to take place in Wittenberg, Berlin and Braunschweig, among other cities.>> “Luther and the Germans,” through Nov. 5, Wartburg Castle, Eisenach. The exhibit explores the complex ways in which Luther’s writings have been used — and exploited — by generations of Germans.>> “Luther! 95 Treasures, 95 People,” through Nov. 5, Luther House museum, Wittenberg. An overview of Martin Luther’s life and times in 16th century Germany.>> “Heretic, Schismatic, Teacher of the Faith: The Catholic View of Luther,” through Nov. 5, Luther House museum, Eisenach.Luther, an anti-Semite Nearby, the house’s cavernous lecture hall was the scene for frequent religious discourses allowing Luther a platform upon which to rail against church corruption and the habit of selling penitential indulgences that simultaneously fed Rome’s growing budget.Across Luther Country, from t...http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/10/08/travel/luther-country-in-germany-marks-500th-anniversary-of-protestant-reformation/
A German town, pop. 2135, welcomes 2 million visitors for Martin Luther's 500th - The Denver Post
Friday, August 11, 2017April and traveled 80 minutes south from my home in Berlin to spend a few days and find out.I quickly realized that Wittenberg is Luther — literally. The town officially changed its name to Lutherstadt Wittenberg (“Luther’s Town”) in 1938, and today it exists as a sort of open-air shrine to the jowly reformer who lived and preached here for most of his life. After passing by the towering Luther bible at the train station, walking down Luther Street and dropping my bag at the Luther-Hotel, I set out to retrace Luther’s famous march from his Augustinian monastery (now the Lutherhaus museum) to the Castle Church.Religion aside, Wittenberg’s picture-perfect backdrop and upbeat, Renaissance spirit is enough to enchant those without the slightest interest in the Reformer. Cheery guides in 16th-century shawls and medieval hoods lead tours through the town’s pastel-colored mansions and steep-gabled towers. Bikes bounce along the cobblestones of the pedestrian-only Collegianstrasse, past four Luther-related UNESCO World Heritage sites. And flowers bursting out of boxes hang over two trickling canals that were recently uncovered to evoke the atmosphere of Luther’s era. Remarkably, the whole place was largely spared from damage in World War II, allegedly because of ties to Lutheranism by many Allies.Even at 9 a.m., the outside of the Castle Church is buzzing with tourists. As the sea of pilgrims parts, I notice that the wooden door where Luther allegedly hammered home his 95 theses has been replaced by two mammoth bronze doors with his talking points inscribed in Latin. A choir group from South Korea soon breaks into Luther’s famous hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and is quickly drowned out by the drilling noises shaking the foundation of the church itself.“You’ve come right in the heart of the tsunami,” Wittenberg’s head of tourism, Kristin Ruske, tells me across the street in the town’s tourist information center. “No one has ever hosted a 500-year jubilee before, so we’re learning as we go.”In the last few years, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the German federal government and the European Union have poured more than 70 million euros (about $78 million) into Wittenberg to help the town brace for this year’s flood of visitors.As a result, most of Wittenberg’s major Reformation sites have undergone renovations or are scrambling to finish them.Eliot Stein, Special to The Washington PostA basket of Martin Luther-branded liquor. From May to November, millions of visitors are expected to attend more than 2,000 events throughout Germany honoring Luther’s legacy.Officials recently parked on the Elbe river a floating hotel ship that can sleep 300 guests, and new exhibits and attractions are popping up everywhere, including an immensely popular 360-degree Luther panorama, seven open-air Gates of Freedom installations and an exhibition that Wittenbergers enthusiastically call “Luther! 95 People — 95 Treasures.” The town is even transforming its old prison into “Luther a...http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/27/wittenberg-germany-martin-luther-500-anniversary/
Small German town flooded with tourists to mark 500th Anniversary of the Reformation - Independent Tribune
Tuesday, July 11, 2017April and traveled 80 minutes south from my home in Berlin to spend a few days and find out.I quickly realized that Wittenberg is Luther - literally. The town officially changed its name to Lutherstadt Wittenberg ("Luther's Town") in 1938, and today it exists as a sort of open-air shrine to the jowly reformer who lived and preached here for most of his life. After passing by the towering Luther bible at the train station, walking down Luther Street and dropping my bag at the Luther-Hotel, I set out to retrace Luther's famous march from his Augustinian monastery (now the Lutherhaus museum) to the Castle Church.Religion aside, Wittenberg's picture-perfect backdrop and upbeat, Renaissance spirit is enough to enchant those without the slightest interest in the Reformer. Cheery guides in 16th-century shawls and medieval hoods lead tours through the town's pastel-colored mansions and steep-gabled towers. Bikes bounce along the cobblestones of the pedestrian-only Collegianstrasse, past four Luther-related UNESCO World Heritage sites. And flowers bursting out of boxes hang over two trickling canals that were recently uncovered to evoke the atmosphere of Luther's era. Remarkably, the whole place was largely spared from damage in World War II, allegedly because of ties to Lutheranism by many Allies.Even at 9 a.m., the outside of the Castle Church is buzzing with tourists. As the sea of pilgrims parts, I notice that the wooden door where Luther allegedly hammered home his 95 theses has been replaced by two mammoth bronze doors with his talking points inscribed in Latin. A choir group from South Korea soon breaks into Luther's famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," and is quickly drowned out by the drilling noises shaking the foundation of the church itself."You've come right in the heart of the tsunami," Wittenberg's head of tourism, Kristin Ruske, tells me across the street in the town's tourist information center. "No one has ever hosted a 500-year jubilee before, so we're learning as we go."In the last few years, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the German federal government and the European Union have poured more than 70 million euros (about $78 million) into Wittenberg to help the town brace for this year's flood of visitors.As a result, most of Wittenberg's major Reformation sites have undergone renovations or are scrambling to finish them.Officials recently parked on the Elbe river a floating hotel ship that can sleep 300 guests, and new exhibits and attractions are popping up everywhere - including an immensely popular 360-degree Luther panorama; seven open-air Gates of Freedom installations; and an exhibition that Wittenbergers enthusiastically call "Luther! 95 People - 95 Treasures." The town is even transforming its old prison into "Luther and the Avant-garde," a contemporary art exhibition with paintings hanging in the former cells."Our tourism office has also tripled its size and started printing pamphlets in eight languages," Ruske says. "I remember when it was just German."Since 2014, a massive globe has been cemented to the town's Market Square with a clock showing a three-year countdown until the start of this year's Reformation Summer kickoff, which came on May 20.And since last November, 15 volunteers from Wittenberg have been working aboard an 18-wheeled "Luther Storymobile" truck that is rolling through 67 European towns and cities in 19 countries to educate people about the causes and lasting effects of the Reformation.They're far from alone. In fact, during my two-day stay here, it seemed like every Wittenberger I met was doing something endearing to make their tiny town a more welcoming place.There's Uwe Bechmann, a tour guide who recently strapped a camping stove to the back of his rickshaw and now sells sizzling "Lutherwursts." ("If you like Luther and you like bratwurst, you'll like Lutherwursts!")There's And...http://www.independenttribune.com/news/small-german-town-flooded-with-tourists-to-mark-th-anniversary/article_33406e8c-76d6-5b19-9f05-0be2fea28680.html
A German town welcomes visitors for Martin Luther's 500th - Bucks County Courier Times
Tuesday, July 11, 2017April and traveled 80 minutes south from my home in Berlin to spend a few days and find out.I quickly realized that Wittenberg is Luther - literally. The town officially changed its name to Lutherstadt Wittenberg ("Luther's Town") in 1938, and today it exists as a sort of open-air shrine to the jowly reformer who lived and preached here for most of his life. After passing by the towering Luther bible at the train station, walking down Luther Street and dropping my bag at the Luther-Hotel, I set out to retrace Luther's famous march from his Augustinian monastery (now the Lutherhaus museum) to the Castle Church.Religion aside, Wittenberg's picture-perfect backdrop and upbeat, Renaissance spirit is enough to enchant those without the slightest interest in the Reformer. Cheery guides in 16th-century shawls and medieval hoods lead tours through the town's pastel-colored mansions and steep-gabled towers. Bikes bounce along the cobblestones of the pedestrian-only Collegianstrasse, past four Luther-related UNESCO World Heritage sites. And flowers bursting out of boxes hang over two trickling canals that were recently uncovered to evoke the atmosphere of Luther's era. Remarkably, the whole place was largely spared from damage in World War II, allegedly because of ties to Lutheranism by many Allies.Even at 9 a.m., the outside of the Castle Church is buzzing with tourists. As the sea of pilgrims parts, I notice that the wooden door where Luther allegedly hammered home his 95 theses has been replaced by two mammoth bronze doors with his talking points inscribed in Latin. A choir group from South Korea soon breaks into Luther's famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," and is quickly drowned out by the drilling noises shaking the foundation of the church itself."You've come right in the heart of the tsunami," Wittenberg's head of tourism, Kristin Ruske, tells me across the street in the town's tourist information center. "No one has ever hosted a 500-year jubilee before, so we're learning as we go."In the last few years, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the German federal government and the European Union have poured more than 70 million euros (about $78 million) into Wittenberg to help the town brace for this year's flood of visitors.As a result, most of Wittenberg's major Reformation sites have undergone renovations or are scrambling to finish them.Officials recently parked on the Elbe river a floating hotel ship that can sleep 300 guests, and new exhibits and attractions are popping up everywhere - including an immensely popular 360-degree Luther panorama; seven open-air Gates of Freedom installations; and an exhibition that Wittenbergers enthusiastically call "Luther! 95 People - 95 Treasures." The town is even transforming its old prison into "Luther and the Avant-garde," a contemporary art exhibition with paintings hanging in the former cells."Our tourism office has also tripled its size and started printing pamphlets in eight languages," Ruske says. "I remember when it was just German."Since 2014, a massive globe has been cemented to the town's Market Square with a clock showing a three-year countdown until the start of this year's Reformation Summer kickoff, which came on May 20.And since last November, 15 volunteers from Wittenberg have been working aboard an 18-wheeled "Luther Storymobile" truck that is rolling through 67 European towns and cities in 19 countries to educate people about the causes and lasting effects of the Reformation.They're far from alone. In fact, during my two-day stay here, it seemed like every Wittenberger I met was doing something endearing to make their tiny town a more welcoming place.There's Uwe Bechmann, a tour guide who recently strapped a camping stove to the back of his rickshaw and now sells sizzling "Lutherwursts." ("If you like Luther and you like bratwurst, you'll like Lutherwursts!")There's And...http://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/life-style/guides/travel/a-german-town-welcomes-visitors-for-martin-luther-s-th/article_1f250f88-5aa4-11e7-ade6-e39666573176.html
German Man Arrested After Failed Attack on Synagogue - The Wall Street Journal
Sunday, January 26, 2020Halle’s university hospital. A senior security official identified the suspect as Stephan Balliet, 27, a German citizen from the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Halle is located, and said he wasn’t previously known to authorities. German Interior Minister
Horst Seehofer
said prosecutors had enough information to assume a far-right motivation behind the attack, even though it was too early to make a final determination. The 35-minute video of the assault was streamed live on Twitch, a streaming platform owned by
Amazon.com Inc.,
according to Storyful, a social-media intelligence company owned by News Corp, which also owns The Wall Street Journal. Christiane Prinz, 49, who owns a hairdressing salon opposite the synagogue, said she saw the suspect, dressed in a dark-green military outfit, launch a projectile over the synagogue’s gate into its front yard and cemetery, after which there was a loud bang.
.webui-slideshow-inset a:link, .webui-slideshow-inset .webui-slideshow-inset a:visited {
color: initial;
}
div...https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-killed-in-shooting-in-eastern-germany-11570621267
German conservative politician resigns over far-right ties - DW (English)
Sunday, January 26, 2020Now, the local lawmaker has left Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
Robert Möritz, a local politician from the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, surprisingly announced his resignation from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on Friday, saying he wanted "to shield the party from further harm" and calm the political uproar. It recently emerged that Möritz had ties to Germany's right-wing extremist milieu, and has a symbol tattooed on his arm associated with neo-Nazism. Möritz said his resignation was about sending a signal, and that "sometimes, life is about focusing on one's true priorities." He added that he nevertheless fully subscribes to the conservative CDU's values. News of Möritz' links to Germany's far-right milieu had brought Saxony-Anhalt's government — a coalition between the CDU, center-left Social Democrats and environmentalist Greens — to the verge of collapse. On Thursday, the state's CDU issued an ultimatum to Möritz, demanding that he distance himself from the far-right or face repercussions. Read more: Right-wing extremists in Germany to face amped up intelligence The CDU governs Saxony-Anahlt in a coalition with the So...https://www.dw.com/en/german-conservative-politician-resigns-over-far-right-ties/a-51756713
Greens want the right to free Heat and home office - The Crypto Coin Discovery
Tuesday, August 20, 2019DIY drugstore & Beauty electronics & technology, family & children, household & furnishing, Outdoor & sports Gulf of Mexico beach visitors people form a chain, to save float Saxony-Anhalt pensioner planting flowers – Halberstadt allows you to tear out and threatened with a 5000 Euro fine food bald man with trying to steal 35 bottles of Shampoo and all questions: Why? news a Buddhist monk after a pedal boat outing missing diver in use +++ Ticker +++ News today Manfred Uhlig is dead DPA Today, the maximum values expected heat record in Germany: these are the hottest cities DPA +++ Ticker +++ News today tank problems: thousands of beaches to play at Amsterdam airport Schiphol DPA 40 new Levels Mahjong – for free Now! Play attack in Freiburg man attacks a Jew in front of the municipal house – the woman says about the anti-Semitic Pöbelei Kyra Funk great Britain woman fakes cancer, in order to Finance the wedding of your dreams hunting accident Tragic accident victims: Hunter shoots man after he had hit a wild pig DPA Lotto on Wednesday and Saturday current Lotto numbers The training driving up, tied up and kidnapped: Triathlete in the Styria Missing Boy from Duisburg abducted, He sent a Whatsapp and disappeared – aktenzeichen XY is looking for the 15-year-old Marvin By Annette Berger process group rape in Freiburg: The victim says in court DPA Berlin refugee accommodation Died of an Unborn, because the Security did not call the rescue service? By Daniel Wüstenberg auction in New York A Pair of old Nike sneakers to achieve on auction 437.500 Dollar Alton Towers eight falls from train, passengers hanging 20 minutes upright in ten meters of altitude ...https://www.ccdiscovery.com/greens-want-the-right-to-free-heat-and-home-office
German far-right leader forms new party with a Nazi symbol - The Times of Israel
Tuesday, August 20, 2019PsR1YAT
— Arya ?? (@larry3119) January 11, 2019
Poggenburg led Alternative for Germany (AfD) to its strongest state election performance yet when the party won almost a quarter of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt in 2016.
In this Friday, March 11, 2016, file photo, Andre Poggenburg, former regional party leader of Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) in the German state Saxony-Anhalt, arrives prior an election campaign rally of his party in Magdeburg, Germany (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
The 43-year-old resigned as regional party leader last year after labeling Turks as “camel drivers” and immigrants with dual nationality a “homeless mob we no longer want to have.”
In an interview with daily Die Welt, Poggenburg said AfD had made a noticeable “shift to the left” lately for fear of being placed under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.
Awakening of German Patriots is the fourth breakaway movement to emerge from Alternative for Germany since its founding in 2013.
In 2015, AfD founder Bernd Lucke quit after losing an internal power struggle. His Liberal-Conservative Reformers have one seat in the European Parliament — held by Lucke.
AfD co-leader Frauke Petry quit the party just after Germany’s national election in September 2017. She now leads the Blue Party, with two seats in the national parliament.
The same year the leader of AfD in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Bernhard Wildt, quit the party and formed a grouping called Citizens for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
...https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-far-right-leader-forms-new-party-with-a-nazi-symbol/