Participants arrange their own airfare to arrive in Berlin on Tuesday, October 12. Pilgrimage activities officially begin with dinner on October 12.

Please arrange your flights to arrive in Berlin today. Our hotel is Hotel ZOE by AMANO at Hackescher Markt, in the Mitte district, a short walk from Alexanderplatz and the Berliner Dom. The afternoon is yours to settle in. We gather in the evening for opening dinner and worship together (included).

Included

Today, we explore Berlin on foot, starting at Alexanderplatz. We visit the Marienkirche, the oldest parish church still in use in Berlin, and the Berliner Dom, where the first Reformation sermon was preached in 1539. We pass the Humboldt Forum, St. Hedwig's Cathedral, and the Französischer Dom, built for Huguenot refugees. We finish along Unter den Linden, at the Brandenburger Tor. Having explored Berlin on foot, the balance of the day is yours to visit the Pergamon Museum, the Reichstag dome, or any other sites you desire in Berlin. Lunch and dinner are on your own.

This morning we leave Berlin and drive south toward Wittenberg, stopping en route at Jüterbog. Johann Tetzel, known for selling indulgences, operated here. At Nikolaikirche, we view an indulgence chest associated with Tetzel.

in Wittenberg

After lunch, take a short tour of church where Luther nailed his 95-Theses, protesting certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church in the 15th century and launching what would become the Protestant Reformation.

in Wittenberg

Martas Hotel is a social enterprise of the Berlin City Mission, offering modern, comfortable accommodations and specializing in welcoming Christian groups. The proceeds of the hotel support the ministry to unhoused and impoverished residents of Berlin.

Friday, October 15 | Wittenberg 

Today we explore Wittenberg in more detail, starting with Lutherhaus, where Luther and Katherine von Bora raised their family and hosted the many guests who took up Luther's ideas. We'll continue with a walking tour that includes the City Church where Luther preached.

Enjoy a free afternoon to further explore the city and its lovely shops and historic sites.

in Wittenberg.

Martas Hotel is a social enterprise of the Berlin City Mission, offering modern, comfortable accommodations and specializing in welcoming Christian groups. The proceeds of the hotel support the ministry to unhoused and impoverished residents of Berlin.

This morning we will depart Wittenberg, and travel to Erfurt, stopping in Eisleben along the way.

In Eisleben we will see the places where Luther was born, baptized, and died. The church of Luther's baptism is an especially poignant place to remember your own baptism into the communion of saints.

in Eisleben

in Erfurt

The Augustinian Cloister, now a Protestant monastery with a small community of sisters, was once the very monastery where Luther, an Augustinian, studied and where he was ordained. The Cloister offers modern but simple rooms appropriate for a pilgrimage, along with space for worship and meditation.

We worship this morning in the Cloister's own worship space. Afterward we explore the old city where Luther was a student, including the Augustinian Monastery, the Michaeliskirche, the Studentenburse, and the Luther Monument. Lunch (included). Erfurt is also where the Bach family comes from. Johann Sebastian's parents were married in the Kaufmannskirche in 1668, and his grandfather served as the city's official piper. The family supplied so many of Erfurt's town musicians that the pipers were known locally as "the Bachs" long after the last of them had gone. We visit the Kaufmannskirche in the late afternoon.

in Erfurt.

Today we will depart for Worms, stopping at Wartburg Castle and Eisenach along the way.

We begin our visits today with Wartburg Castle, where Luther took refuge after his excommunication. Here, he first translated the New Testament from Greek into vernacular German.

We continue a short distance to the town of Eisenach for lunch.

After lunch, visit the Bachhaus, the museum to Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in Eisenach in 1685 and baptized two days later at the Georgenkirche on the market square. This is the same church where Luther sang as a schoolboy nearly two centuries earlier. After visiting the Bachhaus, we continue to Worms.

in Worms

Leaving Worms, we travel to Heidelberg for a free afternoon in this iconic city. Heidelberg is where Luther set out his theology of the cross at the disputation of 1518, and where the Heidelberg Catechism was written in 1563. The Catechism is in the PCUSA Book of Confessions.

in Heidelberg

Dinner (on your own) in Worms

Today marks a shift in the pilgrimage, as we leave Luther and Germany behind and start exploring Calvin and Switzerland. We depart Worms early today, stopping in Strasbourg en route to Zurich.

We’ll arrive in Strasbourg in the late morning. On our walking tour, we'll visit the Cathedral (exterior) where many of Luther’s ideas were first preached. We’ll also visit The Church of Saint Nicolas, where Calvin preached, and the Church of the Shield, which replaced Calvin’s original church.

in Strasbourg

in Zurich

Next we'll visit Grossmünster Church, founded in the 12th century and known for its distinctive twin towers. It played a crucial role during the Reformation, as it became the center of the movement led by Huldrych Zwingli in the 16th century, shaping the city's religious landscape.

in Zurich

After lunch, we visit the Fraumünster, a Protestant church in Zurich. The former convent was given to the protestant church peacefully by it's Abbess, Katharina von Zimmern. The sanctuary includes stained glass windows by Marc Chagall.

After our tours, you’ll have the balance of the day to explore Zurich at your own pace.

in Zurich.

Enjoy the morning to explore more of Zurich. Possibilities include the excellent art museum, a short boat ride the lake, or wandering the lanes and alleys of the old city.

in Zurich

This afternoon, we will travel to Geneva by train. After we arrive, you will have the rest of the day free. Geneva is a wonderfully walkable city with excellent public transportation. You will receive a transit pass upon checking in to the hotel to encourage further exploration.

in Geneva.

in Geneva

in Geneva

This morning we worship in English with the Church of Scotland congregation in Geneva.

The rest of the day is yours. After two weeks on the road, this day is deliberately unscheduled: rest, return to a museum or a church you want more time with, or walk the lake.

Enjoy closing reflections and a celebratory dinner in Geneva.