The Wartburg contains also a chapel which was added around 1320. We were told that the original one was located opposite to the castle and burnt down.
This chapel is still used for services by both confessions - Catholic and Lutheran. The Catholic services are mostly dedicated to Saint Elizabeth while the Protestants do it in memory of Martin Luther and all his doing.
During the summer months occassionally organ concerts take place here. If you are interested, please use the contact information which we have provided - but please do not ask us. We are not a travel agency and we do not have the actual information available.
The wall paintings in the chapel date also back to the time when it was added to the castle.
On your way through the castle you will find many more reminders to Saint Elizabeth and Martin Luther.

Entertainment is not a new invention. There was always a need for it. Especially ny the nobles. Story tellers and singers, minstrels, made their tours through the country.
Some of them are still known today, but mostly only by name and not by their art. This may change because medieval music is gaining slowly on popularity.
The legend of the so called "Sängerkrieg" (Contest of Minstrels) inspired Richard Wagner to his opera "Tannhäuser". A large mural, created by Moritz von Schwind is the attraction in the "Hall of Minstrels".

If you are fast, you also may be able to book a ticket for We do not want to tell you the interesting story about the "Contest of the Minstrels". You should visit the Wartburg and listen to it by yourself. Unfortunately, My web site will not be completed early enough to allow you to purchase ticket for the opera "Tannhäuser" from Richard Wagner which will be performed in the "Banquet Halls" of the Wartburg on June 29, 2004. Certainly an unforgettable event.
I did not realize how fast the time went. I could have spent much more time, but obviously Our guide had to stick to a given time schedule and I had to follow the crowd.
I was impressed by many details. The rich people of the past also knew what makes life nice and comfortable.

The so called "Banquet Hall" is very impressive. But it was also very cold, because it can not be heated. We were also not allowed to enter it.
It inspired the famous ferry tale king "Ludwig II" from Bavaria to copy it when he build "Neuschwanstein".
Because of the excellent acoustic this hall is used during the summer months for concerts and other high class events.
On October 18, 1817 this hall was the assembly point of around 500 students to celebrate the 300 th anniversary of the Reformation and the 4 th anniversary of the defeat of Napoleon;s army near Leipzig. During this event they demanded one united German state with democratic rights. Their flag showed the colors black-red-yellow which are still used today.
In December of 1999, the Wartburg was placed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.

I was not the only one who was asking: "Where is the famous "Lutherstube" which means we were asking to see the room where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German and had his encounter with the devil.
The legend says that he fired a glass full of ink against the devil and that the marks can still be seen on the wall. It is a legend. The dark spots found on the wall turned out to be caused by the smoke of the stove. They have been "touched up" several times over the years because collectors took pieces out of the wall.
However, Martin Luther was really fighting the devil with ink. He stated that - but he meant with the written word and not by throwing a glass full of ink.
Luther's translation of the New Testament into simple German together with the new book printing technology created by Gutenberg was obviously also a major step towards one common German language.

I promised Elizabeth, my wife, to take her the next time with me to Thuringia and to the Wartburg. I am still waiting for her committment to plan the required time into her work schedule.