 Photo from internet site |
Wartburg Castle – Eisenach, Germany and Wartburg, Tennessee |
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BYRD MOUNTAIN LANDS ACQUIRED TO BUILD CASTLE
Plans are in the making to build a “full scale” replica of the Wartburg Castle on a mountain overlooking the city of Wartburg, Tn. This replica is the dream of a former pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Wartburg. This pastor and a group of interested Morgan County people, traveled to Germany recently to view the original Wartburg Castle. Building plans are to begin soon with the building of the Chapel area of the Wartburg Castle of Wartburg, Tennessee.
From the Morgan County News, Wartburg, TN, March 9, 2000
Wartburg Castle is located on a 1230-foot cliff overlooking Eisenach, a city formerly behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany. It was founded by Duke Ludwig of Thuringia in 1067 AD and is one of the best preserved castles in In its great hall, the minstrels of the High Middle Ages held their competition. Germany. The oldest part of the Wartburg Castle is believed to be the lower gatehouse, whose arch was built about c 1150, and is now the entrance for visitors.
Martin Luther, the excommunicated and outlawed reformer, translated the New Testament into today’s German language at the Wartburg. After being called upon to stop his teachings and writings against the prevailing church of the day, Martin Luther was “kidnapped” in a friendly way, by Frederick the Wise and taken to Wartburg Castle to provide him a safe haven.
The castle became a powerful, historical symbol of the Reformation after Martin Luther’s stay there. This ‘symbol’ was brought to Tennessee when the German and Swiss immigrants came to East Tennessee and named their settlement “Wartburg”.
Sources:
Morgan County News dated March 9, 2000
Printed materials at the Wartburg Public Library, Warburg, Tennessee
Web Site about Wartburg Castle: