Day 01 - Berlin/Wittenberg

Day 1 and Berlin are in the books!

After meeting everyone on Sunday night and enjoying dinner in our Berlin hotel, we got out of bed early and began our blitz of the German capital. 

We started at the Bebelplatz and saw the square where the famous Nazi book burnings took place in 1933 (and was the inspiration for a similar event in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). Each day has its own “idea” that Dan brings up in the morning and weaves throughout the day. 

Today’s idea was “ideas have consequences,” and before heading back in time to the Reformation, we saw some of the “consequences” of ideas in our more recent past. We walked the “Unter Den Linden” from the book burning site to the Brandenburg Gate and then the Reichstag building. Our local guide, Karen, showed us the significant World War II and Cold War sites. We stopped at the last section of the Berlin Wall, which was still standing, and reflected on the tragedy of the divided country and the events that led to reunification. 

At Zoo Station, we went to the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche- a church bombed during World War II and then rebuilt- except they kept part of the bombed-out old church and added to it a stunning modern sanctuary with cobalt blue stained glass. 

After lunch, we drove to the Olympic Stadium, an impressive monument with a curious history. It was the site of the 1933 Olympics, and Jesse Owens won gold medals in front of an irate Adolph Hitler. 

We then got on the bus, and as we drove to Wittenberg, Dan took us “back in time” to around 1500 to set the stage for the tour. He talked about everyday life and the religious context of the events we would explore. 

We pulled into Wittenberg just before sundown, and many of us went to an Ice Cream Parlor before (!) Dinner. Tomorrow morning, we will start our devotional in the book of Galatians and tour the epicenter of the Reformation. 

In addition to the idea that “ideas have consequences,” Dan asked us to reflect on what he called the “perennial human questions”: What should I believe? How Should I be Governed? And what is the nature of the Good Society? He suggested that our answers to these questions have animated the world we live in today and the world we are looking at in the Reformation, and we will revisit this throughout the trip.