People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1894 — Correspondence. [ARTICLE]

Correspondence.

ACROSS THE DEEP. Frotu our Special Correspondent. JENA, Aug. 20, ’93. The above date indicates the flight of almost a year since I visited that typical little city, of one of the most characteristic regions of all Germany—the Thuringen forest country. This beautiful and romantic mountain country has many of the legends of old Germany associated with it as well as much of the real and important history of central Germany. All those who have familiarized themselves with German Mythology know of the struggles and contests that took place at the castle of Wartburg, a few miles south of Jena, that led to the final overthrow of the worship of the old Germanic people and final introduction of Christianity into their savage midst.

Any person who pretends to be at all acquainted with great music has heard and recognizes the “Pilgrim’s March,” taken from Wagner’s Tannhauser. It is certainly one of the most beautiful and exquisite selections in all music and it is this that celebrates the journey of the pilgrims to Rome and return, and with him the spirit of the Christian religion. So we have this region as the place of the first voluntary recognition of Christianity on the part of our Germanic fathers. Previous to this they were forced to recognize it by Charles, the Great, as he baptized the old Saxons by the thousands—as many as 3,000 and 4,000 per day by driving them through the river while the priests recited the baptismal ritual. It was not according to the strict methods of orthodoxy, but was a necessary expedient of the occasion. These same Thuringen States were destined to lead their sister states in another important religious movement, little less important than the first acceptance of the Christian doctrine. The name of Martin Luther suggests more disturbance and trouble for this beautiful country as well as all the world, than possibly any other man in all history. He was not a general of an army at the rate of 10,000 men per day as was Napolean, but since his time many of the great and bloody wars are traceable to the differences in religious thought which he introduced into the political and religious life of Europe and to-day Catholic France is an eternal enemy of Protestant Germany. This region is the home and scene of most of the important work of Luther. He was born wfithin a few miles of Halle; he married a nun of the monastery a few miles from Leipzig. Not far from Halle is the little church, which has been lately restored by the present Emperor of Germany, on whose door he nailed his some ninety theses, which challenged the then existing system of religious teaching. It was here that burned, the bull of the pope that excommunicated him. It was in this little church that he preached his doctrines of purification and in the university of the place he taught the principles of his reforms, It is in this little church that his remains are deposited along with those of his great friend and co-laborer Malanthon. Here it was that he turned his “dogs of war” loose, which were to trail this beautiful region as well as most Europe, leaving in their tracks blood, destruction and germs of hatred between brothers and neighbors which have not to this day been rooted out and are rampant, at this moment, in the far off land of America. It was at Eisenach that he was concealed for some months after his epoch making

trial at Worms in 1521, where he refused to recant his position and in this concealment he spent his time in the translation of the Bible into the German, and in throwing ink bottles at his royal majesty, the devil. Almost every old church of this entire country still preserves the traditions of him at one time having preached in its pulpit. The stories of his life are almost as numerous as those of Queen of Scotts. It is not our intention to pass judgment upon the merits and demerits of Luther’s work for each have their invulnerable points but only to give some idea of how nearly this region contains the whole history of the life of this great and wonderful character of the world’s history. The little city of Jena has its Luther traditions as it was on the direct route from Wittenberg to Einsennach, he often passed through the then little village. He had answered to the charges of the church at Worms, the result of which wa& the efforts by means of war to compel the obedience to the church. Luther saw that the success of his work depended upon his personality and so, dressed as a knight equipped for war, he started for the scene of trouble. Night overtook him in the village of Jena and he took quarters in the hotel of the place which w’ould be in English “hotel to the Black Bear.” This “Gasthof” is the finest in the city to-day and splendidly equipped within and especial effort has been made to preserve the room in which Luther had his famous dispute with two Swiss students on their way to enroll themselves as his pupils. He did not disclose his identity but sought to arouse a discussion with them in which he opposed the teaching of himself in his disguise as a knight in order to arouse enthusiasm on the part of the students. Jena is especially noted for its great University which has enrolled among its teachers some of the great men of Germany. Its popularity, however, is not so great to-day as formerly. At one time its students reached several thousand, but to-day only a few hundred. The freedom of the Jena student is proverbial and is the centre of student duelling and the city has a reputation over all Germany for the beer drinking capacity of its citizens. The most numerous institution in the city and the surrounding villages is the “local,” which means a beer house and garden. The city is situated down in the valley of the river Saale and is very old and quaint in its appearance. Its recent expansion has driven the residences up the hillsides and one meets many a neat villa surrounded by clumps of vines and fruit tree's. The country around Jena is as delightful as one could desire. It is just in the edge of the Thuringen forest and catches the slightly elevated condition of that region. The walks wind themselves around the hillsides into delightful and romantic nooks. Th e city owns most of the country around and

has those portions which are planted in forest laid out into walks and fiaths with a system of “blazing” so that the pedestrian may find his w T ay. One often emerges from a wooded hill and finds himself confronted with a most beautiful surprise of the Saale valley below him with its small square, regular patches of grain or potatoes, so that the whale seems a magnificent piece of mosaic stone work, while the river trails its graceful way through their midst, with many a bend and woody bank, while across on some bold cliff are the remains of an old robber castle, still clinging to the rocky hillsides, a favorite resort to the pedestrian, whose efforts are rewarded by a glance at the winding valley below. My two months spent in Jena and her romantic walks around were somewhat marred by the task I had before me—the learning of the German language. Yet we found the people especially kind and easy to approach, and as a result we made some very pleasant acquaintances and were admitted to their homes. It was with many pleasant experiences and recollections that* we left the little city for the larger commercial centre of Halle to begin our real work,, and found that our time had been so employed that we understood the lectures in the University from the beginning.