Pick-A-Day

Archives

Whatchamacallit 60: Wartburg etching.

Wartburg

I acquired this little etching (it is 10 x 10cm; 4×4 inches) shortly after moving to Germany in 2004. Oddly, I did not blog about my trip to the Wartburg.

This was acquired after I realized that I wanted to buy pictures representing the places that I was visiting but before I realized that I should only buy pictures that I actually like, pictures that capture the place in a way that brings deep meaning to me.

However, this one is not bad – it’s an original etching (it says so, right on the sticker on the glass) by König. I have no idea how much I paid for it, but given its diminutive size and my (lack of) money in that era, it had to be less than 10€. It came framed.

This etching triggers many positive memories: the Wartburg was the first touristy thing I did after moving to Weimar. It was an hour long train ride from Weimar to Eisenach taking the Regional Express – There was some kind of ticket that one could buy to go from Weimar to Eisenach and back in one day – maybe it was a HopperTicket, but the names of these products have faded from my mind now that I live in Berlin and rarely leave the city limits. I most assuredly took this adventure on a Saturday or Sunday, waking (relatively) early in order to maximize time in Eisenach.

The Wartburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – there are many reasons for this, but in my mind, even though I’m an atheist, the most important reason is that this is where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German, thus making it accessible to the common man.

Even I understand the revelatory importance of this event.

In my apartment, this sits just inside the door.  It fits my neighborhood: my nearest U-Bahn station is Eisenacherstrasse – named after the city that is home to the Wartburg; and Wartburgstrasse is nearby – named for the imminent location.


During the Covid-19 crisis, I am going to try and make a point of writing a blog post about an object in my home.

We’ll see how long this lasts.

Comments are closed.