Erfurt is the town where Luther studied liberal arts (like a bachelors degree) and later entered the monastery. He was on his way back to school in Erfurt to study law, but in the midst of a terrible thunderstorm he prayed to St. Anne – the Saint of the miners – that he survive, and if he did, he would become a monk. True to his word, he entered the monastery and studied to become a priest in July of 1505. He was ordained a priest in the chapel laying down on the ground before the altar and gave an oath to be a true defender of the Church of Rome.  

It was in this place Luther offered his First Mass, and fumbled through it embarrassing his father who was in attendance. 

The stained glass windows are the original from 14th century. You can see what later became known as the Luther rose in the glass – his inspiration for his crest. 

Over time Luther became a supervisor and a district vicar. In 1511 he went to Rome on business. He was a great teacher and devout monk.  

We gathered in a meeting room at the monastery where chores were given out each day. This room was the place of a special meeting just a few years ago.  Whenever a pope visits Germany he must meet with the German Bishop. Benedict came in 2011 and met with the bishop in this room. 

We visited St Martin of Tours church.  Every November 10 there is a service commemorating Luther at this church. For lunch we had bratwurst and a beer at a street side cafe.  

The camp served as a rifle factory and was the main camp for 139 other camps. There was a hierarchy of camps that included 1100 camps plus other prisons and holding areas- in all over 10,000 sites. I never realized there were so many. When the prisoners arrived they were made to run from the town to the camp – 8 kilometers or about 5 miles. They were registered and given colored triangles that were used to label them for their reason of imprisonment. There was a Hierarchy of these groups – the Jews and homosexuals were treated most harshly.  

In the barracks the prisoners were packed in. There was only 20 centimeters of space per person – that is only 8 inches. Twelve in one bunk – when one rolled over all had to roll over. Pastor Paul Schneider was one who died here. 

The following information is from Wikipedia: Schneider was incarcerated in Buchenwald on November 27, 1937, just a few months after the camp opened. In the labor commandos, Pastor Schneider watched out for his fellow inmates. After being sentenced to solitary confinement, he preached the good news of the Gospel from the window of his prison cell. He was moved to the cell when he refused to remove his beret in honor of Hitler on the Führer’s birthday, April 20, 1938 and to salute the swastika flag. He explained his behavior by saying “I cannot salute this criminal symbol“. He also refused, as he had done earlier, the Hitler salute, saying that “you can only receive salvation (Heil) from the Lord and not from a human being.” 

From his cell, Schneider accused his captors and encouraged his fellow inmates. On one occasion on Easter Sunday, when thousands of prisoners were assembled for mustering, despite being severely handicapped by previous torture he climbed to the cell window and shouted: “Comrades, listen to me. This is Pastor Schneider. People are tortured and murdered here. So the Lord says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life!’