  - Bus Tour Berlin --> Frankfurt --> Berlin

GERMAN HOPE REFORMATION-TOUR # 5*

Berlin → Erfurt → Berlin

(6 days round trip by touring coach)

		Day 1: Berlin → Moeckern The tour will start in Berlin, unified Germany’s capital city since 1990. Upon arrival/ departure, and start/end our HOPE Reforma- tion tour. We tour by bus the “East Side Gallery”, the longest continu- ous section of the Berlin Wall that is still standing. We continue on to the infamous “Checkpoint Charlie.” This was the sole crossing point between East and West Berlin for all members of the Allied forces, foreigners and officials of the GDR from 1961 to 1990. To- day, this crossing point is marked by a replica of the original guard house and a sign that once marked the border crossing. We come to the “Pariser Platz” with its majestic main gate the “Branden- burger Tor.” After the construction of the Berlin Wall, it became a symbol of the divided Germanys being located directly next to the wall inside the “death zone.” Nearby is the newly erected “Holo- caust Memorial” to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The tour continues on highlighting the Reichstag (Parliament), the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the refurbished city center and Gendar- menmarkt, Alexanderplatz, the famous boulevard “Unter den Lin- den,” the Berlin Cathedral and the Hof- and Domkirche of the Ho- henzollern dynasty. Then on to Moeckern, Friedensau Adventist University, for over- night for the next 4 days. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
		Day 2: Leipzig → Eisleben Leipzig, the city of Johann Sebastian Bach but also the cradle of the German peaceful revolution in 1989 which ended up in the re-unification of Eastern and Western Germany. We visit St. Thomas’ Church where Johann Sebastian Bach worked as choir master and music director and greatly influenced the mu- sic of the day and St. Nicholas Church, one of Leipzig’s oldest churches and starting point of the peaceful revolution. Eisleben is the city where Martin Luther was born in 1483 and died in 1546 . We tour the Luther Houses and continue to St. Peter’s Church where Luther was baptized and St. Andrews Church where Luther preached his last four sermons and where his body was laid in state. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
		Day 3: Wittenberg → Torgau Wittenberg was the main workplace of Martin Luther from 1508. We tour All Saints Church (Schlosskirche), famous site where Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Castle Church door sparking the beginning of the Reformation; tour St. Mary’s Church, where Luther did the majority of his preaching. Next we tour Torgau, the Saxonian residential city and politi- cal center of the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther sanctified the Castle Church as the first Protestant church. The tombstone of Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife, can be found in St. Mary’s Church. The only existing memorial for he is located in her last residence the Katha- rina-Luther-Stube. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
		Day 4: Magdeburg In the morning we go to Magdeburg, the city of Emperor Otto the Great and craddle of the Holy Roman Empire of the Ger- man Nation. Discover on a guided tour the Cathedral of St. Mauritius and St. Katherine, the first German cathedral in a Gothic style and burial place of Otto the Great and his wife Editha and view the impressive statue of the Magdeburg horseman. In the afternoon we explore the campus on a guided tour. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
		Day 5: Wartburg → Eisenach Early this morning will be check out at the campus guesthouse. Then on to Eisenach. We explore the magnificent Wartburg Castle to tour the Luther Room where “Junker Joerg” (the Knight George) translated the New Testament into German. We will stay overnight in a hotel in the Erfurt area. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
		Day 6: Erfurt → Berlin After check out at the hotel we leave to visit Erfurt, the spiritual home of Martin Luther. It was here that Luther obtained a degree in 1502 and a doctorate in the faculty of philosophy in 1505 and where he took the decisive step to turn to theology and the monastic life when he was caught in a violent thunderstorm near- by and took a vow to become a monk. On our walking in the his- torical section of the city we visit St. Mary’s Cathedral, where Luther was ordained as a priest, the Church of St. Severus, where Luther preached his sermons, the Augustinian Mona- stery. After that we continue back to Berlin. Our Hope Reformation journey ends in Berlin.
		* Program changes possible for logistical reasons. Not included in the tour price are: Airport tax, personal expenses such as phone, laundry, mini bar, drinks, excess baggage, additional meals like lunch, optional excursions, travel and medical insurance, hotel accommodation and hotel transfer in Berlin and Frankfurt beyond the tour programm, airport transfer on arrival and departure, visas. Download for Tour description

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Picture credits:
www.churchphoto.de, Matthias Mueller, Michael F.Schroth, Ulrike Mueller, Rolf J. Poehler; www.all-free-download.com, tpsdave; www.free-stock.de, neufal54;
www.my heimat.de, Frank Teihert; www.pixabay.de, thomas wolter; www.pixabay.com, elcholito, Pgeyr, maxmann, erge