Reformation Tour with Bishop Michael Rinehart - Gulf Coast Synod

Depart from the US for an overnight flight to Berlin, Germany.

• Arrive at Berlin Airport and meet our professional English-speaking tour guide.

• Berlin City Tour, dinner, and overnight.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

• Enjoy a guided tour of Berlin including famous landmarks: Alexanderplatz, Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, the Tiergarten, Column of Victory and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (exterior views).

• Visit the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), an outstanding example of a high-renaissance baroque monument and Berlin’s largest and most important Protestant church.

• Lunch on your own.

• Visit to Bonhoeffer House. Dietrich Bonhoeffer –Berlin Pastor and professor of theology– resisted National Socialism at a time when tyranny and racism ruled Germany, victimizing religious, ethnic, and social minorities. Bonhoeffer applied his Christian faith and his theological reflections to his everyday actions. This brought him into conflict with the Nazi regime, and he paid for his convictions with his life.

• Depart for Leipzig. 

• Check-in at the hotel for dinner and overnight.

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Drive to Wittenberg, birthplace of the Reformation, city of Frederick the Wise who was patron and protector of Luther. Luther lived here from 1508 until his death in 1546.

• Meet the local guide for a guided tour. Visit All Saints Castle Church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door, which contains the graves of Luther and Melanchthon. See the University where Luther taught and see Luther House which is the largest and greatest museum of reformation history in the world. Head towards the Augusteum, where the special exhibition ‘Literally Luther: Facets of a Reformer’ invites you to explore the life and legacy of Martin Luther. Then, visit Melanchthon House as well. We will visit the Church of St. Mary where Luther used to preach and see the Luther monument and renaissance Town Hall. 

• Lunch on your own. 

• Continue to Torgau, the political center of the Reformation.

• Visit Hartenfels Castle and see the “Luther and the Princes” exhibition, the chapel that Luther consecrated in 1544 and Katharina von Bora’s grave.

• Return to Leipzig for dinner and overnight.

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Enjoy a guided tour of Leipzig including Thomas Church  immortalized by Bach, where he served as cantor and choir director. It was here in 1519 that Luther debated Johann Eck, and denied the divine origin of papal supremacy.

• Lunch on your own.

• Remainder of the day at leisure.

• Dinner and overnight at the hotel in Leipzig.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

• Drive to Eisleben which ranks amongst the most significant of all places having a connection with Luther, although he only spent a little time here – he was born here on November 10th, 1483 and died here on February 18th, 1546.

• During the guided city tour visit Luther’s Birthplace and Luther’s Death House. Continue with St. Andrew’s Church, where he preached his last sermon, where his body was laid out, and the Church of St. Peter and Paul where he was baptized.

• Lunch on your own.

• Continue to Erfurt.

• Meet the local guide and walk in  Luther’s footsteps, including a visit to the Cathedral and Church of St. Severi’s with a view of the Kramer Bridge lined on each side with timber framed houses restored to their original condition. Then, visit the important Augustinian Monastery built in 1277 and now beautifully restored. The Monastery contains an exhibition of Martin Luther who was a monk here from 1505 until 1511. Visit also the Old Synagogue.

• Check-in at the hotel in Erfurt for dinner and overnight.

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Drive to Wartburg.

• Visit the Wartburg Castle where Luther found refuge during the Imperial Ban. The castle was built in the 11th century and is where Luther translated the New Testament in the years 1521-1522 – you will see the “Luther Stube”.

• Lunch on your own.

• Continue with a short drive to Eisenach, birthplace of Johan Sebastian Bach.

• Visit the Bach House to listen to some of his marvelous music played on historical instruments.

• Return to Erfurt hotel for dinner and overnight.
   

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

• Drive to Coburg.

• Walk in the footsteps of Martin Luther at the majestic Veste Coburg Castle, where he stayed during the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. Stroll through the picturesque old town, admire St. Moriz Church and see Ehrenburg Palace.

• Lunch on your own.

• Depart for Munich.

• Check-in at the hotel.

• Dinner at Brauhaus.

• Overnight at the hotel in Munich.

• Breakfast at the hotel.

• Have a guided tour of Munich. See the Marienplatz with the world famous “Glockenspiel” and the twin-towered Frauenkirche, the most familiar landmark of old Munich. Continue on to see the Town Hall, Asamkirche, the magnificent boulevard Feldherrenhalle Ludwigsstrasse Siegestor, the Residenz, the palace of the kings of Bavaria, and the Hofgarten.

• Lunch on your own.

• Drive to Dachau.

• Visit Dachau Concentration Camp, where you can learn about the history of the Holocaust and honor the memory of its victims.

• Return to Munich for dinner and overnight.

• A morning walking tour reveals Salzburg’s beauty, including the Mirabel Gardens, the Cathedral, Mozart’s statue, and the vibrant Getreidegasse shopping street. In the afternoon, we head to Berchtesgaden to ascend Kehlstein Strasse to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, offering breathtaking views into Austria. We end the day at our hotel in Munich.

• Return to Munich for dinner and overnight.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

• Transfer to Munich Airport for your flight back home.