Lutherstadt Wittenberg (City of Martin Luther in Wittenberg) and KZ Sachsenhausen (Concentration Camp in Sachsenhausen)

Today (Oct. 31) is "der Reformationstag" (Day of Reformation) and is an official holiday in at least five German federal states: Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen. In other federal states, such as Baden-Wüttenberg and Niedersachsen, students are entitled to be excused for a church service.

Christians of the Protestant Churches celebrate this day in commemoration of the Wittenberg Reformation by Martin Luther (1483-1546) . Luther is said to have nailed his 95 theses protesting against corruption in the Roman Catholic Church on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517. With the help of the invention of the printing press, his theses had been reprinted in many big cities within a month.

This summer, 800 colorful miniature figures of Martin Luther were on display on the central market square of Wittenberg where he lived and worked. In our course of the German language history, we are currently covering the life of Martin Luther and the contribution of his bible translation to the German language. So, an excursion to Wittenberg was necessary and meaningful, and we went on Thursday, Oct. 28th.
































During the time of his involuntary stay at the Wartburg, Luther devoted his time to translating the New Testament from Greek into German. Through this bible, Luther became the creator of the New High German written language.

Luther lived during a very anti-semitic time. Jews were discriminated against. In his 1523 work "Jesus Christ was born Jew" Luther made reference to the origin of Christianity. He wanted to convert the Jews to the belief he found after years of searching. When he was getting older and didn't see the Jews recognize and confess the "true belief," he turned bitter and wrote many antisemitic statements, including "...that one burns their synagogues".

Centuries later, the Nazis used Luther's antisemitic declarations to promote their theories and to justify their actions against Jews.

On Friday, Oct. 29, FU-BEST Program organized a local field trip to the Memorial Site KZ Sachsenhausen.






















Sachsenhausen's infamous slogen "Arbeit Macht Frei"

The Konzentrationslager (KZ) Sachsenhausen was not only used to retain and torture Jewish people, but also for international POWs, political prisoners, homosexuals, Romas and retarded people. Although the two field trips had entirely different focuses: one is religious and the other one political, it is nonetheless surprising to see that there is a slight connection of the two historical places. These were indeed two special days in a row!

Leipzig-- eine Stadt der Musik und der Demonstration (Leipzig-- a city of music and demonstration)

According to the FU-BEST program, the week of Oct. 18-23 is the semester break. After studying hard for their week-long midterms, students deserved a week of relaxation. Many of them planned to travel alone, with family, or with friends.

My own plan was also to travel. However, the main purpose was to help one of the students collect materials for her extensive semester paper. Since she is going to present her project to the class, I won't write about that part of the trip.

Instead, I will describe the side trip to Leipzig, a city like Vienna, Paris and Prague that have been praised as “music cities” due to their prominent musical traditions.

"A peaceful revolution in Leipzig" also denoted that leipzig is a city of demonstration. By the summer of 1989, East German dissidents had been meeting at Leipzig's 800-year-old Nicolaikirche for almost a decade to talk about political issues. When I was there, there was also one group passing out flyers and having their Friedensgebete (peace prayers).


On Oct. 9, 1989 Leipzig hosted the largest protest demonstration in East German history. In the end, the police did nothing, setting the stage for a peaceful revolution that swept across East Germany.

When I arrived in the evening of Oct. 18 and visited the famous Leipzig opera house and concert hall-- Gewandhaus, I also witnessed two demonstration groups standing in the cold night. One group requested a fair financial and political support for the community's art and culture promotion. The other one was against nuclear energy facilities. City of demonstration, indeed!


Three composers, who made Leipzig famous as a city of music, are Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847), and Robert Schumann (1810-1856).

J.S. Bach worked as Kantor in Thomaskirche and his remains also currently lie in the chapel of the church. Bach was not only a music director, he was also a composer, an organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist, whose works with contrapuntal technique for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments enriched the music of the Baroque period.


















(front and back of Thomaskirche)

















(Gewandhaus, day time and night time)





















Mendelssohn was the Kapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, which was the oldest symphony orchestra in the world.

Since I stayed only one night in Leipzig, I did not have the chance to listen to the Gewandhausorchestra, instead, I heard Singapore Symphony Orchestra. They did a good job playing Bach's pieces.














In addition to being a conductor, Mendelssohn was also a composer, a painter, and the founder of the Leipzig Conservatory. The Mendelssohn House, the authentically preserved residence of the composer, contains many original artifacts and personal objects of the composer.






























It is Robert Schumann's 200th birthday celebration this year. Unfortunately, when I tried to visit his museum, it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Robert Schumann and his wife Clara Schumann lived in Leipzig for four years after the court allowed them to marry against her father's will. Robert Schumann composed the most joyful music in Leipzig.

Leipzig is the largest city in Bundesland Saxon (German federal sate of Saxony). However, most of its culturally significant sights are in downtown. I stayed in a hotel which is only 3 minutes from the main train station, the largest one in Europe and an architectural jewel itself. The hostel is located in a historic post office building with grand facade and relatively low price. So, I could take a tour on foot anytime I wanted. So, I will recommend Leipzig to our students to spend one or two days because you can experience a city of music and demonstration with glamorous past and exciting present.

Demostrations in Germany

Germany is a nation where people's will is a wrath of god. In the two-month period I have been in Berlin, I followed the news about huge demonstrations in Stuttgart and anti-nuclear protests everywhere in the country.

The anti-nuclear protests are mostly peaceful. People were only voicing their anger over the government's decision to keep nuclear reactors in use beyond a deadline set by the previous government. The one in Berlin gathered more than 30,000 people in September. Unfortunately, I missed it!

One demonstration in Stuttgart brought together around 60,000 people, who took to the streets to demonstrate against "Stuttgart 21" - a multi-billion-dollar plan to reconstruct the city's train station. The peaceful rally quickly degenerated into violence. Police used water cannons and pepper spray to clear a park where activists had gathered, injuring more than 100 people.

Yesterday (Oct. 9), I experienced one demonstration in Berlin. At first, I thought the rally was an echo of Stuttgart project in the capital city or anti-nuclear protest again. However, the theme-song singing, colorful banners, and the military-type of march gave the parade an impression of show rather than a demonstration.

It turned out the soccer fans were demonstrating against the commercialization of Germany's football (soccer) league. The "Zum Erhalt der Fankulture" (To Obtain the Fan Culture) rally was represented by ca. 4,000 fans from all over Germany. In addition to the increasing commercialization of football, the demonstrators also criticized the rising ticket prices, fan unfriendly kick-off times and heavy-handed action by the police.


Demonstrations seem to be a type of German culture of its own! I have never cared too much about soccer games and was quite surprised even soccer fans can unite themselves regardless which team they support. I, for one, cannot imagine Maryland and Duke basketball fans rally together to criticize the high NBA ticket price!

Das Fest zum Tag der Deutschen Einheit (The Celebration for the Day of German Unity)

It was a gorgeous day for Germany to celebrate its 20^th anniversary of unity. When I biked to Under den Linden, an iconic boulevard in the central part of Berlin, I saw the stage was erected right behind the Brandenburger Tor, the former city gate. This tourist attraction is always well visited, but I have never seen so many people. The crowd stretched from the gate down to the Siegessäuler for more than one kilometer. I bumped into three students who also didn't want to miss this occasion.

I then went to the Reichstag (the parliament building) early enough to occupy a good spot for the official ceremony. More students joined later, and we enjoyed a picnic style of gathering similar to my 4th-of-July experiences.

The security was very tight because many government leaders would appear in the event, including the current Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who was also known as the "Kanzler der Einheit" (Chancellor of Unity) and received standing ovation in the ceremony.

There were people standing in front of us. I thought when the program began, I could simply ask them to sit down, like I did so many times on 4th of July. However, I was totally wrong with the idea. When I politely asked them in German, the answer was also in German, " Wir sitzen uns doch nicht, Sie sollen aufstehen!" (No way we are going to sit down. You should stand up!) I was too naïve and thought things would be like in America. Students and I simply experienced a scene of cultural shock with some rude and unfriendly Germans!

Luckily, the program started. When the sun was setting down, there was a show with a helicopter and parachutes. Then, the music, dance, and light show started.



When I slowly biked back to my apartment, I knew that we certainly will take this scene as an example and discuss the topic of "cultural shock" and "cultural confrontation" in our class tomorrow!