Printable 2 page flyer with a summarised itinerary
OVERVIEW
The Protestant Reformation is a movement that has shaped Christian faith and life in ways that remain critical and relevant for today. We invite you to participate in a unique tour which will enable you to engage with the vital biblical truths rediscovered at the Reformation as well as experience the world famous Passion Play in Oberammergau.
Discover the life and work of great heroes of faith such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Johannes Gutenberg, and Ulrich Zwingli, and be inspired and encouraged in your own faith.
The tour commences in Germany’s vibrant capital city of Berlin. The following days will be spent exploring the picturesque and historic Luther towns of Wittenberg and Erfurt, as well as enjoying a relaxing morning cruise on the beautiful Rhine River. After some shopping in the medieval town of Rothenburg we will visit the fascinating city of Nuremberg, site of many important events associated with World War 2. We will then travel to Oberammergau for the Passion Play ( a play that is only held every 10 years and has been running since the 1600s). Continue to Switzerland to experience the history and beauty of Zurich and Geneva, key cities for the Swiss Reformation and the work of Calvin, Zwingli and the Anabaptist movement.
Bishop Paul Barker has been an Assistant Bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne since November 2016. Formerly he lived for seven years in Malaysia and was a lecturer in Old Testament and Preaching in various Bible colleges in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Pakistan and India. In addition he was Regional Coordinator for Asia for Langham Preaching and Langham Scholars. His PhD was in Deuteronomy and he has written a number of books on Deuteronomy, Amos, Psalms and Kings. In earlier years, Paul was Senior Minister of Holy Trinity Doncaster in Melbourne and helped start two Chinese congregations there. Paul has led numerous Christian tour groups to the Holy Land, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, Turkey and Italy.
ITINERARY
Welcome to Germany!
Please ensure you are at the Berlin hotel by 2pm today. This afternoon we embark on a sightseeing tour with a local guide. Get to know the many different faces of Berlin. Pass the places of historical Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the boulevard Unter den Linden as well as the famous Gendarmenmarkt, the Berlin Cathedral, the unique Museum Island with five important museum-buildings, the Embassy quarter around Pariser Platz, Tiergarten, Checkpoint Charlie (the former border crossing between East and West Berlin), Potsdamer Platz, the boulevard Kurfürstendamm with the Memorial Church and much more. (The tour does not include inside visits) Tonight we enjoy a Welcome Dinner together at a local restaurant.
HOTEL: Maritim Hotel, Berlin or similar
Please ensure you are at the Berlin hotel by 2pm today. This afternoon we embark on a sightseeing tour with a local guide. Get to know the many different faces of Berlin. Pass the places of historical Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the boulevard Unter den Linden as well as the famous Gendarmenmarkt, the Berlin Cathedral, the unique Museum Island with five important museum-buildings, the Embassy quarter around Pariser Platz, Tiergarten, Checkpoint Charlie (the former border crossing between East and West Berlin), Potsdamer Platz, the boulevard Kurfürstendamm with the Memorial Church and much more. (The tour does not include inside visits) Tonight we enjoy a Welcome Dinner together at a local restaurant.
HOTEL: Maritim Hotel, Berlin or similar
Included Meals:
B
Today after breakfast we visit the Pergamon Museum. This famous museum contains many archaeological finds from Biblical times including the Pergamon Altar and the Market Gate of Miletus (Revelation 2:12-17, Acts 20:17-38). The remainder of the day is free for you to explore Berlin, this once divided city.
HOTEL: Maritim Hotel, Berlin or similar
HOTEL: Maritim Hotel, Berlin or similar
Included Meals:
B
Drive to Wittenberg this morning. Check in at hotel before enjoying a guided city tour of Wittenberg. Experience the historic city centre of Wittenberg with the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) and its famous door where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses in protest to the sale of indulgences. Stroll around the streets where Luther and his colleagues walked many years ago. Included is a visit to the Luther House, the Melanchthon House and the City Church St. Marien. The remainder of the day is at leisure. Tonight, we have dinner at a local restaurant in Wittenberg.
HOTEL: Best Western Stadtpalais, Wittenberg or similar
HOTEL: Best Western Stadtpalais, Wittenberg or similar
Included Meals:
B
D
Today we check out of our hotel and travel to Torgau. Upon arrival we enjoy a guided tour – “Martin Luther, Katharina von Bora and the Reformation in Torgau”. More than forty stays of the reformer Martin Luther in Torgau are documented. The foundation of the Augsburg Confession was developed here. We then continue to Eisleben and on arrival embark on a guided walking tour. Martin Luther is the most famous citizen of Eisleben (also called Lutherstadt Eisleben), a town founded more than a thousand years ago. He was born here on November 10, 1483 and died here on February 18, 1546. During the tour you will visit Luther’s birthplace and last residence, the Luther monument, the Church of St. Peter and Paul where Luther was baptised, as well as the Church of St. Andrew where Luther gave his last sermons. Also included will be St. Anne’s Church – one of the most beautiful Renaissance churches in Germany. Continue to Erfurt for overnight and dinner at our hotel.
HOTEL: Radisson Blu, Erfurt or similar
HOTEL: Radisson Blu, Erfurt or similar
Included Meals:
B
D
This morning we enjoy a walking tour of Erfurt with a local guide. This tour will introduce you to the city of flowers and horticulture, the city where Martin Luther lived and studied, and the location of a number of historical Jewish sites. Erfurt was Martin Luther’s spiritual home. A student at Erfurt’s famous university between 1501 and 1505, Luther first studied the “seven liberal arts”, then theology and, at his father’s wish, jurisprudence. But a dramatic personal incident brought about a radical change in Luther’s life: terrified by a dreadful storm close to the city, during which he was struck by lightning, he took monastic vows and entered the Augustinian Monastery on 17 July 1505. In April 1507, Martin Luther was ordained as priest in Erfurt Cathedral. On your route through the town you will see interesting places connected with Luther, such as the Luther monument, St. Michael’s Church and the student hostel which also date from this era. At the end of this tour there is an opportunity to visit the Augustinian Monastery.
After the tour we will transfer to Wartburg Castle for a one-hour visit. This UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site stands top a 200-meter high rock above the town of Eisenach. The Wartburg’s most famous resident was Martin Luther, who lived here in protective custody in 1521-1522 after refusing to retract his writings. It was here that he translated the New Testament from Greek into German. Continue to Mainz.
HOTEL:Hilton Hotel, Mainz or similar
After the tour we will transfer to Wartburg Castle for a one-hour visit. This UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site stands top a 200-meter high rock above the town of Eisenach. The Wartburg’s most famous resident was Martin Luther, who lived here in protective custody in 1521-1522 after refusing to retract his writings. It was here that he translated the New Testament from Greek into German. Continue to Mainz.
HOTEL:Hilton Hotel, Mainz or similar
Included Meals:
B
D
Begin the day with a relaxing river cruise past steep-sided vineyards, half-timbered taverns, the hilltop castles and the notorious Lorelei Rock. Alight at Rudesheim, where we then enjoy the awe-inspiring panoramic views over Rüdesheim’s old town, the vineyards and the shimmering waters of the Rhine from the mighty Niederwald Monument. In the afternoon we transfer to Worms. Martin Luther spent just ten days in Worms, but these ten days fundamentally changed the world. In 1521 he was summoned to the Imperial Diet where he was supposed to disassociate himself from what he had written. Luther asked for time to consider, and then decided not to compromise. He said that if he could not be confuted by the Holy Scriptures, which were his only point of reference, then he did not want to and could not recant “because to go against one’s conscience is neither right nor safe”. We take a guided tour following the footsteps of Luther during his stay (entrance fees not included). Later return to Mainz.
HOTEL: Hilton Hotel, Mainz or similar
HOTEL: Hilton Hotel, Mainz or similar
Included Meals:
B
We will start the day with a tour in Mainz, where we will take you to the Gutenberg Museum, home to the most famous Bible in the world. On a guided tour of the city, you’ll see sites associated with Johannes Gutenberg – the place where he was born, the church where he was baptised, the house where he lived in his later year and his final resting place – as well as former printing houses and various monuments. We then travel to the concentration camp Flossenbürg when the famous German theologian and pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and martyred. Bonhoeffer’s book The Cost of Discipleship is his most famous work, and in many ways foreshadowed the cost he ultimately paid as a result of his opposition to the Nazi regime. Continue to Nuremberg.
HOTEL: Intercity Hotel, Nuremburg
HOTEL: Intercity Hotel, Nuremburg
Included Meals:
B
This morning is set aside for free time to explore the old town of Nuremberg. We then depart for Oberammergau with a stop en route at the picturesque town of Rothenburg.
HOTEL: TBC, Oberammergau
HOTEL: TBC, Oberammergau
Included Meals:
B
D
This morning is free to explore the village of Oberammergau before attending the Passion Play commencing at 2.30pm. The Play ends around 10.30pm with a 3-hour dinner break.
HOTEL: TBC, Oberammergau
HOTEL: TBC, Oberammergau
Included Meals:
B
D
Today we drive from Oberammergau to Konstanz with a stop at Neuschwanstein Castle. On arrival in Konstanz we see the Imperia, the city’s most famous statue representing the Council of Constance which ended the Papal Schism of the 15th Century. We then visit the Jan Hus Museum, which has been for more than 200 years a place of reverence to the great Church reformer. Hus was a follower of John Wycliffe and a predecessor of Martin Luther. Continue on to Zurich for our 2-night stay.
HOTEL: Sheraton Hotel, Zurich
HOTEL: Sheraton Hotel, Zurich
Included Meals:
B
D
This morning we will enjoy a guided city tour of Zurich ending at the Landesmuseum with some free time to explore. It was in Zurich where the Reformed branch of the Reformation got its start under the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli beginning in 1520. We will tour the Grossmünster, the Helferei (where Zwingli lived) and see the Zwingli Statue. We then travel to Einsiedeln Monastery for evening prayer at 5:30 pm. Return to the hotel for dinner.
HOTEL:Sheraton Hotel, Zurich
HOTEL:Sheraton Hotel, Zurich
Included Meals:
B
D
We depart to the village Bäretswil and walk to an Anabaptist cave. The Anabaptists pressed the Reformers for a separation of church and state, adult baptism, and freedom from taxation and military conscription. When this was refused them, they moved into the countryside where they worshipped in secret in caves. Afterwards we will drive from Geneva to Gruyere with picture postcard scenery along the way. Arrive in Geneva for our 2 night stay.
HOTEL: Novotel Hotel, Geneva
HOTEL: Novotel Hotel, Geneva
Included Meals:
B
This morning we will do a tour of Geneva’s famous attractions. Geneva was the city where the famous reformer John Calvin was based. The tour includes seeing the Reformation Monument, St Peter’s Church, Calvin’s home and grave. The afternoon is free for further exploring or last-minute shopping. Tonight, we will have our Farewell Dinner at our hotel.
HOTEL: Novotel Hotel, Geneva
HOTEL: Novotel Hotel, Geneva
Included Meals:
B
D
Our tour ends after breakfast with a transfer to Geneva airport for your 10 am flight.
Included Meals:
B
Included Meals: None
Highlights
- The cosmopolitan city of Berlin, including the Pergamom Museum
- Castle Church Wittenberg where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door
- Bonhoeffer’s Nuremburg
- Oberammergau Passion Play
- Neuschwanstein Castle
- Anabaptist Caves
- Bishop Paul Barker as your expert
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Map
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