Luther Trail Thuringia

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Luther Church and local history museum in Tambach-Dietharz

The Lutherweg in Thuringia is a hiking trail that leads from the Wartburg via Möhra , Glasbachgrund, Schmalkalden , Tambach-Dietharz , Reinhardsbrunn , Waltershausen and Gotha to Arnstadt through the Thuringian Forest . The branch to Gera and Altenburg connects to Borna , Gnandstein and Zwickau to the Lutherweg in Saxony and to Zeitz to the Lutherweg in Saxony-Anhalt . The branch via Nordhausen also leads via Stolberg (Harz) to the Lutherweg in Saxony-Anhalt. At the Wartburg near Eisenach , the Lutherweg in Thuringia connects to the Lutherweg 1521 towards Worms . The path is marked with a green "L" on a white square. The 150-kilometer hiking trail was laid out and signposted in 1937 on the 400th anniversary of the Schmalkald Princes' Day, in which Martin Luther had participated. On August 12, 2012 the last 18 km section between Gotha / Seeberg and Holzhausen was opened. In the meantime the Lutherweg in Thuringia has been extended to approx. 1000 km.

Directions for the section at Schmalkalden

Information board on the Luther Trail in Thuringia

The path is suitable for those interested in cultural history and pilgrims . The route is partly based on the historic road on which Martin Luther traveled: Schmalkalden, Lutherplatz - Kleinsteinbach junction (4 km) - Großer Steinberg (3 km) - Brückenfelsen (2.5 km) - Nesselhofwiese (2.5 km ) - Alte Ausspanne am Rennsteig (1.5 km) - Lutherbrunnen (3.5 km). The distance is 17 kilometers, which can be covered in four to five hours. There are 443 meters uphill and 242 meters downhill. The highest point is 742 meters and the lowest is 299 meters. The path is sure-footed, but not barrier-free.

Historical background

The Luther Trail recalls the route on which Martin Luther started his journey home to Wittenberg on February 26, 1537 after signing the Schmalkaldic Articles . Luther drove, accompanied by the Erfurt doctor Dr. Sturtz, in a car that Elector Johann Friedrich I of Saxony had given him.

Luther had already suffered from bladder and kidney problems in Schmalkalden. When he got near Tambach, he drank from the water of a well there and believed himself cured. The next morning in his quarters, the Electoral Geleithof in Tambach, he wrote to Philipp Melanchthon “ from Tambach, the place where I was blessed, because here is my Phanuel, where God appeared to me. "According to Ludwig Bechstein, he even felt called to graffiti: [...] in the Gasthaus zu Tambach he took a coal and wrote on the wall:" Tambach est mea Pniel "- the name of the place where Jacob wrestled with God -" ibi apparuit mihi dominus. ML ". It stood in that house for a long time [...] . To mark the anniversary of the Reformation in 1717, the Dambachsborn in Tammichgrund near Tambach - it is said to be the one from which Luther drank from, was renamed Lutherbrunnen . It is more likely, however, that the kidney stones loosened from the shaking of the car ride.

Today, the plaques with Luther's sayings put up next to the fountain and the Electoral Geleithof in Tambach commemorate Martin Luther.

Hiking maps

  • Schmalkalden - Steinbach-Hallenberg , scale 1: 30,000. Verlag Grünes Herz, Ilmenau, ISBN 3-929993-13-9

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Official Journal of the Drei Gleichen municipality of September 21, 2012, p. 3
  2. ↑ Place where Jacob wrestled with the angel (God?) ( Genesis 32:30)
  3. ↑ Heike Hentschel: True stories about the Luther Trail in Thuringia . Tauchaer Verlag, Taucha 2017, ISBN 3-89772-293-3 , p. 20 .

Web links

Commons : Lutherweg in Thuringia  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files