Wolfenbuttel. Verz cool library. Interesting that there is so much history in a town I previously hadnt heard of. Important in the history of libraries, this counts as my beginning my library education along with Amanda. Lessing, Liebnitz, among others worked here. Today it houses the largest collection of 17th documents anywhere in the world.

http://www.wolfenbuettel.de/

http://www.bartleby.com/65/ha/Hanseati.html

Reading Thomas Mann's Bruddenbrook right now. Those of you interested in things like the U.N. and new forms of economic organization might be interested in the Hanseatic League, encyclopedia link above.

Was invited this evening to the family Karla and Dieter Bierschwalen. They're a couple in their 50s who were on the trip yesterday. I walked with Dieter from the centrum out to their house, 1.5 hours, for a bit of afternoon exercise. They have a beautifully rebuilt masonric house. Dieter did all the reconstruction. Their mother lives in the other half of the house. The walk out was great. When you're walking, you don't care if you speak slowly, quickly, whatever, so it's ideal for a conversation in a foreign language. 3 parks, two breweries, a gartenverein, and many streets later, we arrived at their house.

They came to the Bruedern church because Karla originally cme out of the Apostolic-Catholic movement (do a google search if you want). Turns out this is another high church semi-charismatic movement that began in teh 1830s in England. Many members of the Bruedern community come out of this tradition, not Lutheranism per se. Then, even more interesting, their daughter belongs to a Pentecostal Charismatic LItiurgical church that arose in America in the 90s as a protest against abortion, among other things.

We sat on their deck and grilled good meats, had iced coffee and schnaaps. So far I've found that universally germans are against George W. Bush's military decisions, and our government's overly self-righteous attitude as regards its role as a global police.

So far Braunschweig is everything I had expected, and more. Pastor Diestelmann picked me up at the train station, and we went to his cozy apt. in a suburb for coffee. We talked about the Hoch Wasser, of course, Martin Chemnitz and his predecessor pastor. The most humorous part of our day is: we went and surfed the Internet together. There were a # of things he was interested in, like blogging, the magayine First Things, the evangelical catholic movement in America, Orthodox Lutherans in Kiev, etc., So we surfed in his office. He gave me a copy of his book on Luthers Mass of 1526.

Heres where things get a little crazy, even dreamy. Bruedern church is an actual 16th century church with an attached convent, nad the pastor and wife actually live on one floor of the monastery. We entered church through the social hall, and then into the back smaller chapel behind the altar (the choir) for Vespers. There were eight people present, including me, Juergen, and Pastor Grozdek.

The entire Vespers service is chanted, a capella. The order of service is virtually identical to the one found in the LBW, with some language differences. The Psalms and other verses are pleasantly sung in a particular manner- the congregation comes in on their verse immediately after the pastor sings the downbeat of his last note, thus overlapping each other ever so slightly, and creating a sustained chant. Very beautiful.

After Vespers, we visited briefly, and then headed up to the pastors residence.

I have a small bedroom with ancient furniture, hardwoods, and a small window looking out over the innner courtyard grounds. Also on my floor are other bedrooms, a living room with oddly colored chairs. Theres also an immense library. But the amazing thing is the pastors residence. He has hundreds, possibly thousands, of ancient leather bound books interspersed with his newer books. The whole house is decorated with icons and art from the Renaissance. In addition, his wife is a professional harbsichordist, so she has two very nice harpsichords in the living room, among other old instruments. She plays renaissance music and 16th century tunes on original instruments as her specialty. He is a specialist in 16th centurz reformation theology and liturgy. In other words, they literally live in the 16th century. Its amazing.

I jumped the next train to Braunschweig from Magdeburg, and am now writing and enjoying a meal at a stand up Burger King stand. Crispy chicken, pomme frites, pomme frites sauce. The church Im visiting is interesting. It represents one way to relate the history of the Reformation to the present. Keep things as they were. Luthers translation of the Mass is used as their main service. They use quotes from Luther and other early reformers in their monthly church mag. They have also, like the Missouri synod church, adopted relatively stringent rules concerning the inerrancy of Scripture. Will be interesting to see how this plays in the Braunschweig context.

On first visit, it has been a wonderful chance to be contemplative, a kind of retreat. Ive so far visited Vespers, Compline, and High Mass. The congregational bus trip comes next.

Warning... been having a bit of a problem finding time to be on line. so these are notes only to get them off paper onto the web

To get from Wittenberg to Braunschweig last week, I had to take a bus through Wittenberg because of the flooding, and then board the train at the Witenberg west train station. I arrived in Roslau, the first transfer point, only to be greated bz a very worried train attendant wantng to know where we were headed. When I said Magdeburg, sh informed us they had sent the train off early because they thought we werent coming. She went and got a new schedule for me- combination of small town and guilt- then, the pay phone in the train station wasnt working, so she let me use her own personal cell phone, Handi in german, to call Juergen, the pastor and theologian meeting me in Braunschweig. When I asked if I could reimburse her, she said "the important thing isnt the money. the important things is that your friend comes at the right time." How nice. So far Germany has been the land of good neighbors for me.

I struck up a conversation with a similarly situation traveller named Maik. He was a diminutive young man (26) who, although initially angry at being stranded, was very happy to have a travelling companion. He was a power-lifter and computer technician from Sahne, a village near Wittenberg. We chatted all the way to Magdeburg, where hes visiting his parents. His dream destinations in America are Florida and Las Vegas. His favorite cities in Europe Berlin and Paris. Once he found out I wa a theologian he had a ton of questions. But like many in East Germany, he was fascinated but not interested. This strikes me as an interesting topic, the difference between being fascinated by someone who is a religious person, and actually being interested in the faith yourself.

http://www.luther-in-bs.de/

This is a page designed by the pastor I begin visiting tomorrow in Braunschweig. He is a confessional (free) Lutheran, and a church historian. Most of the articles are in German, but there is an excellent article on Melanchthon, as well as a couple other pieces in various languages, for anyone wishing to read more on Melanchthon.

On the last post, the web site for flacius should be with one c:


www.flacius.com

The author of the book is Oliver Olson, a specialist in Reformation church history. He's written on Melanchthon also, I've learned, so when I get back to the states, I'll have to read up and correct some of the errors on this post. For the moment, please forgive historical or theological inacurracies (or send corrections... I always appreciate that).

Philip Melanchthon

The Luther house and museum are closed in Wittenberg and won't re-open until late October of this year. This is unfortunate for me, but good for future tourists, because they are restoring more rooms, improving the museum and archival displays, and so are doing a more adequate job than in the past of helping visitors understand Luther and his period.

The Philip Melanchthon house had, on the other hand, already been restored in 2000. Melanchthon's life and work was celebrated with a travelling exhibition that made its way around Europe back in 1996 or 1997. Various European humanists were celebrated at this time, and Melanchthon is a prime example of the movement. The travelling exhibition concentrated on Melanchthon as a man of letters, literally. From early in his life, people began to collect Melanchthon's correspondence, and there are an astounding 10,000 letters extant. It's estimated that M wrote between 10 and 20 letters some mornings before heading for the university to teach! His letters ranged around the world, and he carried on careful and frequent correspondence with many of the leading political and intellectual figures of his time.

Melanchthon's opening lecture in Wittenberg (a lecture Luther responded to appreciatively) was entitled, "On Improving the Education of the Young." In the lecture, he referred especially to Horace's dictum, "Sapere audete!" Dare to know! The Melanchthon museum goes into considerable detail regarding the various ways Melanchthon encouraged a humanist curriculum at Wittenberg University (the Leucorea... yes, the same school where I now take German lessons). In fact, the museum gives equal time to M's work in the humanities and school reform as it does to his historical importance as a reformer in the church.

Many people have not even heard of Melanchthon, including some Lutherans. He is the primary author of many of the sections of the Book of Concord (a book some Lutherans don't know, either), including the Apology to the Augsburg Confession, large tracts of the AC itself, etc.). But Luther gets a bad rap in many seminaries, and whereas students come out of, say, Luther Seminary, having read many works by Martin Luther, very few students read the works of Melanchthon. There are many complicated, and some overly simply, explanations for why this is the case. Nevertheless, it makes a visit to the museum all the more interesting.

At the risk of over simplifying things, the reason Melanchthon gets a bad rap is, surprisingly, because he tried to bring together people from radically different camps. Whereas many reformers and reform congregations held rigorously to their new (or old) confessions, Melanchthon tried to build concords and interim agreements between communions. The Augsburg Confession is an example of this, actually, as well as the apology to it. Luther's Smalcald Articles are much more strongly worded, for example, but just so also more clear.

This might be unfair, and historians can feel free to correct me, but it might be said that Melanchthon risked clarity of confession for the sake of greater ecumenism. Other reformers were not nearly as willing to let this happen. A prime example is the Augsburg Interim, a document written in absentia by Melanchthon, and re-titled the "Leipzig Interim" by Flaccius, a more strident and confessional Lutheran. This document deals with the issue of adiaphora. The result of the Interim was the re-establishment of certain RC practices in places in southern Germany where Lutheranism had taken a hold. Other Lutherans believed that requiring these practices itself became a matter of confession, and therefore not of adiaphora (things of no account). Flaccius famously said (to paraphrase), that in matters of confession, nothing is adiaphora.

For this statement, and other's more strong, Melanchthon labeled Flaccius as one of the "rabid" theologians.

For a book on Flaccius recently published, and the only one available of its kind, go to:

www.flaccius.com

I encourage pastor's and church leaders especially to purchase this book.

For a summary of Melanchthon's teaching as a systematic theologian, see his "Loci Communes". This summary of doctrine went through a number of re-writings, but the earliest formulations of it were approved expressly by Luther. "Loci Communes" is fascinating because M takes Erasmus's humanist method to back up Luther's Apologia. Erasmus and Luther were radically at odds with one another in matters of confession (especially around the issue of free will), and Melanchthon famously found a middle ground here as well.

Melanchthon was very talented, and his work will be remembered for posterity. But in the church today, we might say his greatest influence is exactly in that area which causes the largest divisions (ironically)... that of ecumenism. I tend to side with the Gnesio-Lutherans rather than the Philipists when it comes to matters of confession and ecumenism. Wherever one falls in this discussion, Melanchthon clearly rises up as one who will continue to set the agenda, for better or for worse, through his life and writings.

Heres a friendly e-mail reply from a friend regarding Bach biography suggestions, as well as information on why the creed comes before the sermon in German churches. Excellent information! Thanks.

Your blog asked for a bach book; read Christoph Wolff's biography. Philip
Spitta would be a close second. Avoid Schweitzer's. Wolff attends to
Bach's churchly vocation and is shorter than Spitta's four volumes.

Also, the creed comes before the sermon in Luther's order and in most
pre-Vat II versions of the mass. For North American Lutherans, the creed
follows the sermon only starting in the Green Book. The Red Book had the
opposite. It's a matter of conformity to the Book of Common Prayer in the
LBW rather than Luther/the Mass. The creed does go before the sermon
sometimes so that the Preacher can be clear on what's expected of him to
say. ;-)

I just finished reading an early sermon by Barth (re: the New Year, Sylvester) while sitting in the courtyard of Brauhaus Wittenberg im Beyerhof. The brick street sits under my feet, there's a cool breeze from the (flooded) river, the sun is setting, and I find there is no better place to sit and read and write than in a courtyard with beer and a nice shaded picnic table on a Sunday evening. There's the trickle of an ancient Wittenberg spring to my right. Non-potable, but pleasant nonetheless. It makes me think of how the purity of the water influences the taste of the beer. I wonder where Wittenberg Brauhaus gets their water. I get whiffs of good cooking periodically from the kitchen, the noise of helicopters passing over and Red Cross sirens whining reminds me that the floods are still doing their damage, and it's a bit hard to believe I'm sitting here while the flooding is happening there. Nevertheless, it is the case, the stores are open and people are living there lives. Incongruity, as always.

1. Wittenberg Wießen, a summer brew that is very fresh, and the leaves the yeast suspended in the batch. It gives the beer a tart flavor.

2. Krystal Weisen, where they remove the yeast somehow while still giving it the tart flavor.

3. Mass, in Munich, apparently not elsewhere, the beer is served in masses, a whole liter of beer.

4. Cola bier, a popular afternoon choice, this is the German equivalent of American 3.2% beer, except it tastes like cola. Yuck.

5. Haven't tasted the dunkels yet.

English Worship

Although it might be cliche, I think any pastor visiting Wittenberg wonders secretly or out loud, "What is it like to preach in the same church where Luther preached?" It's hard not to think this, since all the trappings of the church still come from Luther's period. The art is by Cranach, the statues and other paintings are of Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen. So, it was not much of a surprise for me, when I sat down for the service, that we sang two hymns by Luther, and the sole references in the sermon to other writings were a) the Bible, and b) Martin Luther's writings. In fact, there were probably more references to Luther than the Bible, specifically references to Luther's Large Catechism, explanation of the first commandment.

What did surprise me, though, was that the sermon started with a kind of abstract reference to God's inclusive nature, God's reaching out past the bounds of Israel, outside of the Jewish community to the Samaritan woman, etc., but then the sermon ended with an ABC's of personal conversion. A, Admit your sin, B, I have forgotten, but I think it was something like beg for forgiveness or begin to pray, and C, commit your life to Christ. Thus, although the sermon could have done justice to either Scripture or Luther, it ended up doing justice to neither. It turned the gospel promise of justification by faith into a law, one must admit, believe, commit, always with emphasis on the must. Apparently, this inadequate kind of preaching, with no doctrine of the Spirit (I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ or come to him, but the Holy Spirit...) ends up turning faith into an act of the free will rather than something wrought by God through the preaching of the Gospel itself.

Herr Ulrichi, the current Wittenberg organist, accompanied hymns, and played the prelude and postlude. Imagine if every congregation of 30 had a professional recording organist to accompany them!

Hochwasser (Flood Water)

The villages that my host families mother's live in have been evacuated because of the flooding, and we wait until today to see if they will actually flood. In the meantime, they have been staying at our house. Gisela, my host mother, has been wonderful, preparing food for everyone, still calm and welcoming in the midst of it all. I've offered to help at various points, but I think the best way I can help, as far as I can tell, is to be a good tourist and supporter of the economy while in Wittenberg. And in the meantime, try not to get in the way.

Towards that end, I stayed in Wittenberg the whole weekend. Friday evening was very basic, stayed at home drinking wine with some guests, waited for the families to go pick up their mother's (to drive anywhere requires considerable wending and weaving to get around the flood areas). We also, of course, watched the news. In fact, both evenings we had supper around the television, completely out of the norm, so we could learn what was going on.

Saturday morning I came into the city centre to see the Melanchthon house museum (this requires a separate blog). I ate lunch at the Kartofel House (potato house), a busy and old-style chic restaurant that I recommend to any visitor of Wittenberg. By this time, because of class and conversations with my family, I know all the specialized vocabulary around floods. So I was able to sit at the restaurant, coffee shop, wherever, and listen in on conversations with a good deal of comprehension. Everyone is talking about the flood. There really is no other topic.

While I sat for lunch, helicopters kepts flying overhead with large nets full of sandbags that were being delivered to the suburbs of Wittenberg on the other side of the river. These towns were imminently in danger of flooding. The Elbe is the same river that passes through Dresden, which made national news in the U.S., so you can imagine how high the water is here. The water has come right up to, but not into, the old city centre. All the hotels and hostels in town are full of evacuees. In fact, some of my classmates who were living in dorms had to evacuate their own rooms to make room for evacuees. They went from single room luxury to four people in a basement in one of the higher lying suburbs. You do what you must.

Saturday evening I attended the English language worship (a separate blog), and then Sunday morning I attended the German service in the main castle church. It was interesting visiting worship with a Portuguese Catholic and a Japanese student who had never attended any kind of religious service before. All three of us read and sang what we could together in German. What to make of confession and faith in such a context?

Then, after the service, we were invited by one of the elders of the congregation to climb the Turm (tower) and see the flooding. Apparently, everybody in Wittenberg had the same idea, because people were arriving in droves on their bicycles, not to attend worship, but to climb the tower. It was a wise choice, because we could see all over, and we weren't interrupting relief efforts or endangering ourselves going out on treacherous bridges. The river is normally about 200 meters across. Now, you can't see from one end to the other, or you can just barely see the other side of the water.

Hubert went and got a few sandbags himself on Saturday, just in case. We haven't filled them yet, he just has the empty bags in the yard. Nobody really knows how high the water will go, so even people who thought they were safe take pre-cautions. Also, the water comes not simply from the flooded river, but also from the elevated ground water level. It's possible our basement (keller) could flood from that pressure alone, and so sandbags could help stop up cracks). Meanwhile, everyone is also very curious. Last night, I went back down to the city center for a beer, and it seemed like the whole town was out for a stroll. They were "gucken", that is, taking a look, a German verb not too distant from our "google", or "gawk". It's pretty hard not to gawk when the exhibits its power.

I learned that the first beer was made in Baghdad, and that in fact the first hospitals were in Baghdad as well. Then we got into a joke telling session, some of which were really great. For example, Margo contradicted the historical veracity of beer originating in Baghdad, and said that it was actually the Egyptians who invented beer, and then to honor the beer, built the "beer-a-mids". Yes, you have read correctly.

A Lutheran pastor from Cuba was the English pastor for two weeks in Wittenberg a few years ago, and his joke topped them all. Fidel Castro dies and goes to heaven. Who does he find there but Napoleon, Kennedy, and Breznev. Napoleon soon shows he is the most sociable and talkative. First, he goes up to Breznev and says, "If only I had had your tanks, I would have won the battle of Waterloo." Then, he strolls over to Kennedy, and says, "Oh, if only I had had your money, I would have won the battle of Waterloo." Then, he sidles over to Castro, and says, "Oh, Castro, if only I had had your newspapers, nobody would have known I had lost the battle of Waterloo!" So it goes.

There's a five year waiting list for pastors to come and serve their two week stint in Wittenberg. This is interesting to me. Because we have met some of these English congeration members, though, we have an inside track, and I was told I could be bumped a couple of years up the waiting list, if I so desired! :)

There are two English language ministries in Wittenberg, and Lutherans won't be surprised to learn these are hosted by the ELCA and LCMS respectively. The ELCA program, the Wittenberg Center, has two full time staff members through the department of global missions who live and work in Wittenberg full time. Their office is housed in the Lutheran seminary here in Wittenberg, and their primary work is hospitality, providing resources, trips, information, etc., for American Lutheran travellers coming to Wittenberg to learn about Reformation history. They were hired from the top down, through the division in Chicago, a lot of their work is bureaucratic, lots of e-mail going back and forth from Chicago to Wittenberg, conference calls,e tc.

The LCMS runs a different program. During the prime tourist months, they provide English language worship and prayer services in the city. These serviced are usually Wednesday afternoon, Friday evening, and Saturday evening. They alternate between the Stadt Kirche and the Schloss Kirche. They also host a Thursday evening Stammtisch (standing table) at a local restaurant. This whole ministry is very loosely organized. A pastor comes in for a two week period to preach and be available for conversation and pastoral care. Then, when he leaves, another pastor comes. This goes on for five months of the year. All of their information is available through the Wittenberg information center, and they have close ties with the people that work there. But as you can imagine from the LCMS, there is much less of the bureaucratic in their work, much more focused on providing a confessional religious and pilgrimmage experience for English speakers travelling to Wittenberg.

"Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimmage", to quote Chaucer

I attended the English Stammtisch last night, out of curiosity for who would show up, and what it would be like. Two LCMS pastors came, one of whom was the deputy director of the program for the two weeks that he was there. The other was with his wife, and was just visiting. They spoke no German, and expected the waiters and everyone around them to speak English. They were kind and welcoming to a fault, and very happy to be able to participate in such an event. Then, there were five young people (I'm 30, so I guess I can still say I'm young). Myself, Anna, a seminary student from Philadelphia doing beginner's German study, Erica, an international studies student doing a internship in Wittenberg for seven months (who interestingly grew up in Dubuque), Sven, the son of Margot, to be mentioned later, and Michael, a young man from Wittenberg. Michael studied for a year in New Mexico, I think.

But the conversation was dominated by the intelligent, middle-aged German couples who came to practice their English. Pontificating wouldn't be too strong of a word for what a couple of them did most of the evening. There were many heated debates, often over dates and historical data, and when the debates got too heated, they switched to German. Apparently, if you want someone to really listen to you, you speak their full name to them. So, "Herr Doktor ..., do you really think that...". Or, "Mrs. ..., I don't think that is so. In fact, I know it isn't, and here is why..." Earnest to a fault, I learned a ton of German history in a short amount of time. One of the most interesting discussions revolved around why Wittenberg wasn't bombed during WW II. Some thought it was simply because America ran out of bombs, others because Wittenberg wasn't strategically important, and others thought it was because Americans, as Protestants, love Martin Luther, and so didn't bomb his home city.

To be continued...

Anyone out there have any good book recommendations on Bach? I need a suggestion prior to the Leipzig trip. There's good stuff on the web, but not much theology or biography.

1. Pfifferling- a specialty in Germany in August, made of hand-picked mushrooms sauteed in spices and oils, and then presented with a pork tenderloin, in an omelette, etc. Very good.

2. Weiss bier- beer where the yeast is left in and suspended in the beer, thus making it white in color, opaque. Kind of tangy and fresh, the local brauhaus here in Wittenberg has prepared a batch that will be served until it runs out some time in September. Then the October brews come out...

Last night my host mother brought out an old yellowed envelope. In it were the papers that her own mother had to have made to prove her German purity in order to be married. She was married in 1942. She needed paperwork proving that her parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles were all German and Christian (not Jewish). Each paper has similar data. Date of birth, date of baptism, date of marriage, birth name, lineage, home city, type of work. All the papers were carefully wrapped and kept. I kept thinking to myself (though I'm not sure my host family thinks this), "Will people in Germany ever need these papers again? Who else in the world has to prove by paperwork their racial lineage?" No wonder the papers are handled carefully, wrapped gently, and stored.

It's flooding all over Germany, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic. 50,000 people were evacuated from the Prague city center. The Dresden main train station is under two feet of water. The Elbe, which flows past Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, is 10 times its normal size. Wittenberg won't flood, though, because it is on a small hill (Witten = white berg= hill).

Last night we watched the news here in Germany, and it was dominated by the flood. It was really incredible. Periodically, my host family would translate into simpler language something that was said on the television. A couple of times, I could see tears welling up in their eyes. It's terrible to see beloved cities ravaged by water, and to hear of people losing their homes, and sometimes their lives. In all likelihood, the flooding will change some of my travel plans. But the worst thing is the stress it is causing all these thousands of people.

Here's the introduction to the Magdeburg confession, where I'm headed next Sunday. There's been some talk of late that it was quite influential in the founders writing the Declaration of Independence. It is also unique among the Reformation confessions as regards the issues of tyranny and resistance.

THE MAGDEBURG CONFESSION
Magdeburg Bekenntnis

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Confessio et Apologia Pastorum et Reliquorum Ministrorum Ecclesiae Magdeburgensis
1550

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We will show from Holy Scripture that if a higher magistrate undertakes by force to restore popish idolatry and to suppress of exterminate the pure teaching of the Holy Gospel, as in the present instance, then the lower god-fearing magistrate may defend himself and his subjects against such unjust force in order to preserve the true teaching, the worship of God together with body, life, goods, and honor. The powers that be are ordained of God to protect the good and punish the bad (Romans 13), but if they start to persecute the good, they are no longer ordained of God. There are to be sure degrees of tyranny and if a magistrate makes unjust war upon his subjects contrary to his plighted oath, they may resist, though they are not commanded to do so by God. But if a ruler is so demented as to attack God, then he is the very devil who employs mighty potentates in Church and State. When, for example, a prince or an emperor tampers with marriage against the dictates of natural law, then in the name of natural law and Scripture he may be resisted.
Praise be to God. Because He lives we also shall live and be exalted since now we suffer with Him and for His sake we are killed all the day long (Psalm 44).

A random list:

1. Butter is vitamin enhanced in Germany, rather than cereal.
2. After the trainer at the gymn poured eucalyptus water over the heater, he took a large towel in hand and spun it vigorously, helicopter style, over his head. This quickly spread all the hot steam evenly over the room. I could feel all my pores opening simultaneously.
3. I eat meat three meals a day here.
4. Everybody in Germany rides a bicycle. Everybody.
5. I learned that virtually everybody in the German church leadership is on vacation in August.

Another good web site:

www.wittenberg.de

The service at the Schloss Kirche was relatively similar to the order of service found in the LBW or most Roman Catholic churches, although unfortunately it was only a service of the word and not a service of the meal. No Lord's Supper. Apparently every church (every church I've been to) has a super organist, so the service opened and closed with gorgeous organ music. The bells of the church ring for over five minutes, and immediately as the last resounding gong fades away, the organist comes in with, generally speaking, something from Bach. At the end of the service, the entire congregations sits down after the benediction and listens to the Postlude.

One thing that is radically different in the order of service from most American congregations is the location of the announcements. In the U.S., the service begins with announcements. This tends to be problematic, though, because it forces the announcement to be somewhat informal and chatty, funny and homey, because everyone in the worship space has themselves been chatting. Thus the pastor, prior to formally leading worship, has to informally be the "cool" announcer.

In many German congregations (again as in Slovakia), announcements are made after the sermon. I find this to be very wise. The preacher preaches the word of God, and after the sermon, there is a necessary time of cessation, of letting the words sink in (not necessarily consciously), of taking a breath, of becoming "easier", and this time can be filled well with the announcements of the congregations life and work. This also logically follows the sermon, because the sermon is the place where the people of God are called to hear the proclamation of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake alone, and then following this, they are free, as it were, to serve in the world. I will recommend this I think often in congregations.

I also appreciate the presence of many confessional and creedal hymns in the hymn book. In place of the Apostle's Creed, this past Sunday we sang a creedal hymn based on the Apostle's Creed. There are many of these in the hymn book, and they would be of great service in a Lutheran hymnal in the U.S. as well, because they allow the singing church to be not simply emotional or I-centered, but also thoughtful and we-centered, gathered in song in a common confession of faith. They also serve a didactic purpose, in that they teach the congregation how to think correctly concerning the Trinity (which is a matter of Christian doctrine, ala the conclusion of the Athanasian Creed).

I do wonder though whether the creed should come before the sermon. This is what happened here in Wittenberg, but I wonder if liturgically the creed should be spoken AFTER the sermon. The creed is a confession of faith by the congregation after having heard the Gospel. If the creed comes before the sermon, it seems to say that faith comes prior to the preaching of the Word (and this would be contra, say, Romans 10:12 through 14).

The altar was graced with sunflowers, which happen to be in season right now in the fields of Saxony-Anhalt. The sermon was over Nathan's rebuke of David after he went in to Bathsheba.

www.dessau.com

http://www.dessau.de/amt41/kulttour/engl/index_ueberblick.html

I am providing two links above, the first for those of you wishing to brave a German web site concerning Dessau, the 2nd a quick link to the English tourist portion. Sunday was Dessau day. First, we attended worship at the SchlossKirche, the castle church in Wittenberg. This is the church where Luther regularly preached, and also the legendary location of the posting of the 95 theses (although there is some dispute about how, where, and in what fashion they were posted). It might seem a bit cliche to say that it was somewhat overwhelming to hear a sermon preached in this church. In fact, I only thought of it at times. The space forces you to think about it, because Melanchthon and Luther are buried here. Nevertheless, the pastor led worship and preached in a style very similar to Lutheran pastors in Slovakia, so it seemed familiar and natural to me. (a post on the worship service itself is forthcoming)

There's a quick and easy train between Wittenberg and Dessau. Dessau is the final and primary home of Bauhaus, an architectural/artistic movement who's primary motto was "form follows function." Which is to say, rather than building a house, or a school, or a piece of furniture, with the idea that you will decorate, ornament, or otherwise accentuate it, you try to bring out the chairs natural chair-ness in the design. Form follows function, so all the artistry should be devoted to having the form bring out and make beautiful what is already there in the chair qua chair.

It is a little hard to describe Bauhaus, because in fact, the architectural style itself became something of the norm for buildings the world over. Not all buildings are built in the Bauhaus style, but a majority of modern buildings today, almost anywhere you go, follow the more functional design strategies of the Bauhaus movement. Squarish, blockish, and generally ugly apartment complexes, quirky colorful high-rises, these are some examples of the children of the Bauhaus movement.

But if you can imagine taking one of these functionalist, blockish houses, and dropping it in the middle of the 1920s, this will give you an idea of how radical an idea Bauhaus was.

Close relatives of Bauhuas include Marie Montessori, who utilized the Bauhaus artists to help build schools and school furniture according to her pedagogical ideals. Others were artists like Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky, both of whom were in residence in Dessau. Their art, which today is called abstract expressionism, had close affinities with the Bauhaus ideals.

One of the interesting things about Bauhaus is how it got caught up in the political changes of the time. Everybody had an opinion about whether or not Bauhaus supported such and such ideology. During the 2nd World War, when Marxists and Jews were in danger, most of the Bauhaus leaders left (many were Jewish or Marxist or both), and so the movement went to more Western European countries, or to America. Thus Bauhaus became an expat movement.

Dessau is a really careful and excellent memorial of Bauhaus. We had a tour of the school, took a walk through the gorgeous homes of the Bauhaus directors and lead instructors, and then walked out to the Elbe, where we had a magnificent German supper in a Bauhaus restaurant and dance hall. Many photos from these buildings are available on the web site.

Just a reminder that if anyone wants more info from the blogspot, and/or wants to respond, correct mistakes etc., you can write to:

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I've got fifteen minutes left of my half hour session at an internet cafe on Potsdamer Platz. A long chain of those motorcycles with two wheels in the back and one in the front, I don't know the name, just rode by in good summer motoring fashion. Lots of honking horns and sirens and stuff. Potsdamer Platz was finished in the summer of 2000, so I wanted to get back to it and see it. It is a stunning mix of old city street side cafes and modern electronics and business extravaganzas. Definitely post-modern. Weekdays it is the home to over 10,000 workers at the Sony Center, the DB, and the Deutsch Bank, among others. Weekends it is a popular hang-out for families and Berliners who want good expensive fancy food and cool shopping. Imagine a cross between the Mall of America and the State Street, Madison, and you might get the picture.

WE had a bus tour of the city this morning. Very fun, and good German listening practice. After the tour, everyone took off in different directions based on interests and language groups. Funny how even at a German language immersion course, people need to relax and hang out walking while speaking in Japanese, Russian, or what have you. I've decided to go solo. I'm headed for the Bauhaus Archives, which is a little bit less popular of a tourist destination within my group of students...

Jugendweihe - Ceremony in which 14 year olds are given adult social status in (formerly in the DDR, still sometimes in modern eastern Germany) This is the equivalent to socialist confirmation

I'm still thinking through all the implications of this, but the context for learning the term was very helpful. I sat down after dinner with my host mother, her daughter, and her own mother, three generations, and learned the differences between baptism and confirmation in the three generations. One thing I learned is that people describe the religious and political events that transpired around them as things that happened to them, that they passively went through. Thus, not "I decided not to be baptized" but rather "I wasn't baptized" or "My daughter wasn't baptized".

More later...

This next post speaks oodles, at least for me, about the life of former east Germany (and possibly also life in a small town). I set out yesterday in search of a fitness centrum. Gisela had given me very explicit directions, including a map, on how to find the place. This turned out to be important, even though the centrum was in my neighborhood. I decided to walk rather than bike, at least in part to break in my new Birkenstocks. :)

The gym was located in a former fabric factory. Like many buildings in the east, the factory had been built, used, and then abandoned some time in the late 70s or early 80s because of the poor economy. Then, in the early 90s, it was purchased and rebuilt, and now stands as a very notable and interesting shopping mall. The building itself is built of red brick in a quaint early 20th century style, I don't know the actual name, and so is something of a relief from the normal socialist functionalism in which many factories here were built. Now, it is like a mini-old city center, with stone streets and walkways, ornate passageways, etc.

The map helped me find the place. Otherwise, the building becomes something of a maze through which one wends. I walked past a hair stylist, an Imbiss, a couple of groceries, a bank, etc., until I finally came to the fitness center, Terra Firma. This center is up a flight of stairs and takes up most of the top two floors of the building.

What luck! I asked at the front desk whether they had any special deals for short term passes, and it turns out that Frau Doktor Timmerman, the director of our institute, had called Terra Firma, to request that they give a one month reduced rate for Leucorea students (29 Euro per month), and also that they only speak German with us so that we will learn there as well! So, for 29 Euro, I get extra German lessons, a personal trainer, and access to a ton of great fitness center amenities, like a sauna, a sun bed, weights, treadmills, raquetball, all at no extra cost. My personal trainer, Susen, even went so far as to give me a tour of the center, and a brief lesson on German fitness center vocabulary. How great!

I also get a very clear picture of how things stand today. At the gym, everything is clean, and new, and wunderbar. The trainers all take great pride in their work, clearly, and there is the sense that everyone wants to provide quality services and a good experience. Susen introduced me to the other trainers, and showed me their photos on the wall with their credentials and certificates. Even though you can see signs of the former "decrepitude", you also see how people are working to move beyond that, keeping some of what is good, many of the local customs and styles and habits, but also energetically jumping into the new. I head back on Friday to take advantage of the sauna and sleeping room.

German language classes here in Wittenberg are offered through the Leucorea, an institute founded in the early part of the last decade, when the change happened (die Wende), the re-unification of Germany. The building in which I am typing, and the library more specifically, was built through a grant from Western Germany. Our building sits almost right next to the Luther House (the old monastary which became Martin Luther's families home). In 1990 it was a run-down mess, almost ready to collapse onto itself. The 2nd day of class, we saw pictures from the period of re-construction. It's amazing what they have done with the place. The library is especially cute, with the books shelved in a loft area with the original hardwood beams gracing and bracing the roof.

Our program is actually a branch program of the University of Halle, a larger city about 1 hour by train from Wittenberg. They are very well organized. On the day of arrival, they were waiting here with bottles of mineral water and fruit, knowing we would have come off long hours of travel. They immediately called our host families, who came and picked us up and gave us an orientation for our three week stay. Classes are also very well organized. It's a good mix of hard work and then breaks for coffee or lunch, which is also learning time, as we sit down with our host families, neighbors, or colleagues, and continue conversation in German.

But the best part is my host family. They are kind to a fault, and have really made it a vocation to welcome students into their home. I have a beautiful upstairs room with a desk and enough mix of privacy and "family time" that I'm never frustrated with either. We've been on a few walks together, and this afternoon, I'm invited to see mother and daughter working at the Lucas Cranach house on a paper-making project. Just like being part of the family.

One of the best deals in German travel is the WochenendTicket, which, for 28 Euros gets you unlimited train travel for one day. The only rule is that you cant ride any of the super fast trains. So, to travel a long distance in Germany for a small amount of money, you purchase this ticket, and then have the train ticket office print you a schedule for switching trains between your departure point and your destination. Oh, and the coolest part of the ticket is that up to five people can travel on the same ticket, still just 28 euro.

So, I didnt know anyone traveling from Munich to Wittenberg this past Sunday, but i bought the ticket anyway. At various points along the trip, i had people traveling "with" me. I had five changes of train total, some short, some long, all perfectly on time and therefore not worrisome. Then, on the last leg of my journey, from Bitterfeld to Wittenberg, a young attractive German couple was sitting next to me and asked if they could travel with me on my ticket. They offered to pay a bit of money, but I settled for a carrot and an apple from their rucksack. As we rode along, they discovered i was a theologian (or at least had an interest in theology), and so we had a conversation about that. Neither of them were confirmed and neither of them participated in church regularly, and yet both of them had heard of Jungel, Moltmann, and a few other famous German theologians, among others. This shocked me, because the same thing wouldnät happen in the U.S. If I mentioned, say, Robert Jenson or Jaroslav Pelikan, the names would usually fall on deaf ears.

We had a very nice chat, I practiced my German and wanted to ride further with them, but Wittenberg came up quickly, I hopped off, and I was at last in what had been the center of a Christian Reformation, and is now a quaint little town with wonderful museums and a great German language program.

So, I'm getting a bit behind in all of these blogs, but this is one of th emore interesting things so far. I took a day trip from Munich to Augsburg, the location of the signing of the Augsburg Confession, among other things, and really enjoyed the time. First, there was a small but well organized museum concerning the Reformation, particulars of Reformation history in Augsburg (the confession, the Augsburg Interim, etc.) and then the church itself where recently the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between Roman Catholics and the LWF was signed, is really quite nice. There is an altar piece by Cranach that has a painting entitled "Jesus and the children", or something like that, and there is even a depiction of a woman breast-feeding a baby right next to Joseph holding the baby Jesus. Imagine this same painting on the wall of ANY American church, Lutheran or otherwise.

After the historical walk-a-bout through the city, I stopped in at one coffee shop that was run by the local Lutheran church. What I learned, much to my amazement, was that the coffee shop was actually under the proprietorship of a woman's Benedictine monastic community, a Lutheran community at that. Those of you who keep up on evangelical Lutheran faith and its origins might be surprised to learn that there is such a community in Germany. Those of you who know the diversity of the church throughout the world might be less surprised. In any event, there it was, a group of Lutheran women taking vows of chastity, "celibate for the sake of heaven", "free for God and the coming of His Kingdom in the common life of the community to serve the world determines its life and work.

Oh, yes, there name is "The Community Casteller Ring". Founded in northern Bavaria in 1950, it is one of the communities that sprang up during and after the II World War in various Protestant churches in Europe and elsewhere. In 1957 they took over the castle on the Schwanberg (Schloss Schwanberg) near Rodelsee. They have now founded small religious houses also in Nurnberg, Augsburg, Hildesheim, and Erfurt.

The coffee house was quite similar in design and spirit to some of the Christian outreach coffee houses I have seen in the States. It was incredibly clean, modern, nicely decorated, with games, magazines, and books available, confessional and religious writings mixed in with pop culture, etc. There was a small prayer chapel in the shop, which I imagined served both as a way of offering a place of prayer for visitors, but also as the places where the sisters could hold divine office throughout the day (according to the Benedictine Rite).

I had a small cup of espresso, tasted their kuchen (apple cake), and then read their brochures. You can take retreats at their main center, which would be a nice way to stay somewhere along the "Romantic Road" in Bavaria and enjoy the outdoors. I might try it.

All in all, a somewhat ironic trip seeing the Augsburg Confession site and a Benedictine Rite coffee house, all in the same town.

My first worship service this time in Germany was yesterday, the 6:30 p.m. "Freitag Abend Gebet" at St. Thomas Church. This evening prayer service is regular for them, but it was the first and only time I'll be able to attend.

Apparently St. Thomas has the distinction of being the church in town where the homeless and otherwise hang out. I haven't seen the same kind of poverty and uncleanliness anywhere else in Munich. I had walked by earlier that day, in the hopes of going into the pastor's offices, but I was thwarted by a group of squatters sleeping and/or drinking beer at 9 a.m. who were at that time being politely harassed by a group of police officers. It was a bit too crowded and confusing to make my way through the mess.

I came back for the evening service, though, and attended at least in one way what I had expected. The service had only nine congregants (although one of the wall hangings re-affirmed us in this with the quote regarding "wherever two or three are gathered"). What took me absolutely by surprise, though, was how sometimes a small event can paint a picture of the world in miniature.

First there is the kind of awkward elder who has been walking around the church inviting those hanging out to attend. He invited me, first in German and then when I responded with halting German, in excellent English. His demeanor throughout the service was calm and organized. Next, there was a very slender woman sitting in the back who clearly was working to take up as little space in the world as possible. I think she would have been a nun, had there been such a thing in the Lutheran tradition (note: I learned today that in Germany there is).

Next, the woman next to me, who was emoting so strongly that I knew the service was very important to her. She became more and more dramatic in her praying and singing, and when we heard the words of absolution, and then prayed the Lord's Prayer, she was weeping openly. She left briskly during the postlude so as to avoid conversation.

Next, the pianist, who played two Bach pieces (of course), very well at that, although the piano needed tuning. Then, the pastor, who was clearly the classic male German pastor of the generation prior to mine. If I tried to describe what I mean by this, it would sound a little strange, but trust me, there is such a type. Words like stocky, taciturn, deep, rumbling come to mind.

Two young men arrived late, seminary types, and they still had their bicycle helmets on as they came in. They sat on the side and talked fervently together following the service. The elder and a few others seemed to know them.

Finally, there was Mattias. He sat in front of me, and was clearly one of those people who's intelligence has handicapped them in some way. His clothes were a bit soiled, and he smelled like the street. Rather than shorts, he was wearing pants he had rolled up to his knees. After the service, he spoke to me quickly in German, and then, when he realized I was American, also switched to perfect English. We had a rather profound if transient conversation concerning prayer, ecumenism, etc. Turns out he has a sister who is a librarian in Madison (small world)! He hadn't heard of Minnesota, though. In the middle of talking to me, he suddenly ran away, chasing down the pastor, and apologized to me, "I have two earnest questions for the pastor", he said.

The pastor seemed to be fleeing none too furtively. It was a good moment because of the truth of it all.

This blog would certainly not be complete if I didn't include at least one running entry. So, here it is. Thursday morning I was up at 5 a.m. because of the time change, and there is nothing worse (for me) than being up this early with nothing to do really. So I put on the running shoes, and headed for one of the sites in town that I intended to visit but not really tour, Nymphenburg Schloss up the hill from downtown Munich. There's something of a cult around Ludwig II and his extravagances, which i won't go into, but the short of it is that this castle is amazing. At one point of what is effectually a large circle in the main castle. The rest of the buildings around the circle are also large mansions. Imagine if a bunch of wealthy suburbanites decided to put up their palatial dwellings all facing each other around a lawn and pond, etc. Then multiple that by twenty, and you'll have some idea.

Germans have blessed themselves with excellent bicycle lanes along major roads, so I ran on one of these out from the train station and up the hill. First, there was the usual big city construction and banks and railroad tracks. Soon, I was in a rather normal housing addition. Then came the first pleasant surprise. The Germans apparently have the same habit (at least in Eastern Germany) that the Slovaks had of having private family gardens all packed together in big complexes. All of a sudden, on both sides of the street, there were these quaint little garden zones. A bit more money has been spent on them than their Slovak counter-parts, but they were just as neat, just as diverse, and just as tended as others I have seen. There was the smell of vegetables, flowers, loam and dirt.

I continued along, up into the more wealthy districts, and finally got to the Schloss. I'd like to be able to say I arrived just at sunrise, to complete the romantic/sentimental picture, but that wouldn't be true. The sun was already up, though still red and low in the sky, and it was shining across the grounds in a way that did paint thinks a kind of welcoming pink. Then I noticed, floating in the ponds and crapping on the grounds, hundreds of honking geese. It occurred to me that although these birds are considered dumb, they had the genius to camp out at the Schloss all night to be awakened by a red sun in a beautiful landscape.

I'm here. Everything you hear about beefed up security in the airports is true, at least in the U.S. I even had to take my boots off twice. I sat next to a Grand Master in chess from Zurich on the flight over, and he agreed to be my first German teacher. Munich definitely looks like a slightly spruced up part of what was formerly Eastern Germany, at least on the fringes. I head for the city center now.