Dr. Rainer Haseloff, premier, and Dr. Carlhans Uhle, director of investment/marketing, Saxony-Anhalt
Castle Church door engraved with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses	Castle Church altar

GERMANY
Wittenberg Gears Up To Celebrate
500^th Anniversary of Martin Luther

Story and Photos by Tim Boxer

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LTHOUGH Dr. Reiner Haseloff, the minister-president of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt is Catholic, he is swept up with an abundance of enthusiasm for the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. Tourists flock to festivals and church services throughout Luther Country (comprised of the states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringen) during this decade of observance that began in 2008 and will climax in 2017.

It was Oct. 31, 1517, when a resolute Augustine monk named, Martin Luther (1483-1546), nailed his "95 Theses" on the wooden door of the Castle Church (Schlosskirche) in the small Renaissance city of Wittenberg, on the banks of the River Elbe.

A professor of theology at Wittenberg University, Luther fearlessly objected what he perceived as false teachings of the Roman church, especially the requirement of dropping coins into the priest’s treasure chest to obtain letters of indulgences absolving them of sin.

In Wittenberg, Luther preached against this idea of buying your way out of sin, among other abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. By thus triggering the Protestant Reformation, Luther shook the power of the Pope and revolutionized Christian faith.

Resources Along with our affable guide, Bettina, we referred constantly to Lonely Planet: Germany to guide us around, especially in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, and other destinations in LutherCountry. This is an excellent companion for your journey. Lonely Planet, soft cover, 828 pages, $27.99. Currently priced at $19.59 at shop.lonelyplanet.com

Luther wrote many hymns in German, which was quite a novel idea at a time when Latin was the language of ritual. He translated the Bible from the Greek, Latin and Hebrew into Higher German to enable the common people to read it for themselves. That was a radical idea. Until then only the clergy were learned, able to read. Luther gave power to the people.

At a press luncheon at the city’s Best Western Stadpalais, the Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, which was part of East Germany during the Cold War, said there were 25,000 Russian soldiers stationed in Wittenberg. Outside the city there were nuclear missiles.

Dr. Reiner Haselof is thankfully relieved he doesn’t face such issues today. He is focused on tourism and investment. Next May he will head to the U.S. to tour the Bible Belt and the west coast to drum up business for his state.

St. Mary’s Town Church (Stadtkirche) in background where Martin Luther preached. At left is City Hall

Bettina Brett, an engaging Wittenberg tourist guide

Outdoor café

Dr. Haselof said Wittenberg counted 200 Jews during the Nazi era. Seven survived. After the fall of the wall, 3,000 Jews came here from Russia.

"Because of our history," Dr. Haselof said, "we must support Israel. "It’s the only democracy in the Middle East. I will go to Israel next October as a political signal, as support for them and for economic reasons."

Israeli firms are already active in his state, especially in the area of security. "They have a chemical factory here, and an alcohol business. They make kosher vodka in Magdeburg, which is sold in Europe and the United States."

The Chinese, he said, are here too, with the first green investments in Europe. They’ve invested in packaging for food and machine construction.

Unlike elsewhere in Germany, there are no Turks in this state, not a single mosque. But many Vietnamese have settled here. "They are very well integrated," Dr. Haselof said. "Their children are the best in school."

After the country’s reunion, unemployment was rampant in the ‘90s. Many people migrated west. The question of the future, Dr. Haselof said, is how to attract young people to return to this part of eastern Germany.

While he’s working on it, you will be well advised to start planning your trip to Lutherstadt Wittenberg in 2017 to partake of the many activities celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation. Get information at www.saxony-anhalt-tourism.eu.

Sunken garden in summer

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Discovering Victoria
‘Somewhere In Time’

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E took the ferry from Seattle and landed in the charming British Columbia town of Victoria which reminded us of olde England—the clock turned back maybe 30 years. The Clipper Ferry, from downtown Seattle to the heart of the port of Victoria on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, is three hours long and costs $238 round trip.

Once there we savored some of the delights of the region. And there are plenty. Victoria has a picturesque harbor presided over by the palatial looking world famous Fairmont Empress Hotel.

If you were to pick one reason for visiting Victoria it would have to be　the gorgeous Butchart Gardens (pronounced Butch-art). It’s a National Historic Site in Canada and　a must visit destination---just a short drive into the Victoria countryside.

Monet’s gardens at Giverney, the gardens at the Palais De Versailles and London’s Kew Gardens are all justly famous but for our money the gardens created by Jennie Butchart, wife of a wealthy cement merchant, are the most beautiful in the world.

I thought we’d check out the pretty flowerbeds, take a few pictures and be gone in an hour.

Rose garden with delphinium

Five hours later we were still there though we had made some concession to our tired feet by stopping on the veranda of the Butchart’s splendid Edwardian house for a magnificent English afternoon tea – finger sandwiches, scones, pastries – while our fellow garden devotees strolled unconcernedly in a fine drizzle.　 Tea was very reasonable at　 $26.65 per person (we added a Kir Royale as a 　special treat).

Jennie Butchart had started off with the modest dream of creating a Japanese garden through which she would conduct her guests, who arrived by small boat at the Butchart private cove steps from the main house.　

But the ugly remains of a limestone quarry, from which her husband’s company extracted the raw material for his cement, was a blight on the landscape.　 The quarry became the sunken garden—it now has fountains which become the center piece of the garden’s nightly fireworks and is the highlight of the entire landscape.

It’s difficult to convey the entire effect of this beautiful creation. Imagine a Disneyland for flower lovers but without the crass commercialism. Fifty full time gardeners keep the flower beds pristine.

Dahlia walk

It is impossible to fully appreciate the gardening smarts here in one visit. Do　come in the spring when 300,000 bulbs suddenly burst from the earth, or in the summer when the sunken rose gardens send forth a heady mix of perfume that somehow never cloyed, or at Christmas when the entire garden is illuminated with thousands upon thousands of fairy lights into a winter wonderland.

From the sublime to the ridiculous: while　we were in Victoria, the local Vancouver ice hockey team played Boston in the final game of the Stanley Cup.

This as an excuse to do some bar hopping, starting at the standing room only Sticky Wicket Pub—as English a pub as you’ll find in any village in England—great fun for us but not for the locals.　 Vancouver was destroyed, so the early fervor suddenly vanished like a quickly deflating balloon. Nobody stayed to drown their sorrows.

Before leaving Victoria we had another couple of stops to make. 　Point Ellice House is a Victorian home in the Italian style that was given to British Columbia by the family who owned it. Here you travel back in time to see how an upper class Canadian family lived at the turn of the century. It looks as if they had simply risen from their table, laid out their clothes on their beds and removed themselves to parts unknown. A really clever audio tour has visitors take the role of the new houseboy arriving for his first day on the job to be instructed in his duties by the Chinese major domo.

Alas, Point Ellice has been taken over by 21st century civilization: when you drive away from its　 quiet lawns and river front you emerge instantly into a desert of cement yards and a automobile crushing plant. It is very disorientating and one wishes that having been given such a gift, the city worthies would have the good sense to buy and reserve some of the land around the house to protect it. www.pointellicehouse.ca