The Wartburg
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Picture:
A.Murmann CC BY-SA 4.0
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The Wartburg
is a castle in Thuringia with important historical value. It is been a national
monument since the 19th century. Since 1999, it belongs to the
UNESCO heritage sites. Every year there
are about 350-450.000 visitors.
By
order of Ludwig der Springer the
castle was built around 1067. It is considered a striking example of Romanesque architecture. Typical for
this kind of architecture are round arches and fortress-like walls with small
windows.
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Picture:
A.Murmann CC BY-SA 4.0
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Under Hermann I. the castle was allowed to
become an attraction for artists and the main centre of German poetry. This was
due to the Sängerkrieg (singers
war). The Sängerkrieg is a historical poet competition, allegedly won in the 13th
century, between Dietrich von Apolda
and Johannes Rothe.
In
1521/1522 the reformer Martin Luther hided himself in this
castle. He changed his identity in „Junker
Jörg” to protect himself from enemies. There he translated the new
testament of the bible in only four weeks into the German language. Also Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stayed there
for many times. The first time was in 1777.
On
the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Martin Luther’s theses and
in commemoration of the Battle of Leipzig, the first Wartburgferst took place
on 18.12.1817 at the invitation of students from Jena university. The students
demanded a unified German nation with its own constitution. In 1848, the year
of the German revolution, the second Wartburgfest took place.
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