Summer 2007 - Day 2

Day 2

Today we drove from Cologne to Marburg. We visited Marburg Castle and Elisabeth's Church.

Elisabeth's church was built by the Teutonic Knights in honour of Elisabeth of Hungary (not the Queen of England). This Elisabeth was married at the age of 12 to King Ludwig IV. Germany is chockers with Kings that are called Ludwig. Elisabeth didn't think much of royal life and was more interested in caring for the sick and poor.

After her husband died, Elisabeth was booted out and had to fend for herself. She started a hospital and gave everything she had to the sick and poor. She died at the age of 24 in 1231. Her relatives, who bagged her when she was alive, sought her canonization. This was agreed to in 1235. The Teutonic Knights then built a church over the grave of St Elisabeth.

The church is supposed to have been a model for the cathedral in Cologne.

Elisabeth built her hospital at the foot of the fortress. The Landgraves of Hesse enlarged the fortress into a fortified castle and lived there until 1604. Hesse is a state of Germany which includes Marburg. The landgraves are the Counts, Princes etc.

Next stop - Wartburg.

Wartburg came into being in 1067. It was founded by another Ludwig. This fellow was called Ludwig de Springer (Ludwig the Jumper). Construction of the castle began around 1155. In 1521, Martin Luther sought refuge at Wartburg after being excommunicated by the pope. He translated the New Testament into German during this time.

Photo of the drawbridge - the only access to the castle.

After our visit to Wartburg we drove to our hotel in Bad Salzungen. We stayed in a hotel by the lake.