The Wartburg

Eisenach, Thüringen

A castle has existed on the site of the Wartburg for about a thousand years.  The earliest records date from 1067, but they indicate an existing fortification.  The castle sits on a cliff, at an altitude of 1230 feet and 600 feet above Eisenach.  (As I can testify, it is a strenuous walk from the city up to the castle.)  The picture below is from a 1920s postcard.  The castle looks the same today.

The Wartburg for most of its history has been the seat of power of the Duke (Landgraf)of Thuringia.  The Duke was subservient to the Elector (Kurfürst) of Saxony.  The lands of Saxony were divided into a number of subsidiary states, such as Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (note the overlap).  

Over the centuries the Wartburg has been continuously updated and modified, so it is not of great interest from the point of view of a Medieval fortification or a Burg.  However the Wartburg is the most visited tourist attraction in the former DDR, averaging since the Wende more than 3,000,000 visitors a year.  Waits to tour the Wartburg can easily be three hours or more, hopeless without reservations on weekends.  So what is the attraction? 

For both Roman-Catholics and Protestants, the Wartburg is one of the most important sites in Germany.  St. Elizabeth (1207 - 1231) was the Countess (Landgräfin) of Thuringia and Martin Luther translated the Bible there (1521-22) while being held in 'protective custody' there by the Elector of Saxony.  When I visited the Wartburg, in 1979, during the DDR era, it was in good repair but had been stripped of all period pieces.  Of course one may well ask "which period".

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