The Wittenberg Center will work closely with your congregation, academic institution, group or tour operator to design and arrange travel seminars, pilgrimages and study opportunities.   Contact Us  If you are thinking about planning a program, take a look at our "Considerations" brochure.

Please contact us for information regarding the programs described below.  Some of our program planners are encouraging others to join their programs.  These programs are marked: Other pilgrims welcome.  Contact Center.  If you click the blue "Contact Center" we can help you contact the program planner.

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Reformation Decade "Remembrances"

2010 Scheduled Programs

2008 Scheduled Programs

November 3-7 Lutheran Chaplains Conference, Coordinator:  Rev. Darrell Morton, Assistant to the Bishop for Federal Chaplaincy, ELCA

November  12 -17 Exploring Roots and Connections in Luther Land, Coordinator, Dr. Ondrej Prostrednik, Dean of the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the Commenius University in Bratislava. 

* Indicates programs of Christian Tours Europe

2009 Scheduled Programs

January 6 -27 Seminary Cross-Cultural Program, Coordinators:  ELCA Center and German Institute for Language and Culture, Leader:  Professor Duane Priebe, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, IA.

April 15- 27 ELCA Center 10th Anniversary Luther Land Program*, Coordinators:  Jean and Steve Godsall-Myers, Program Leader:  Professor Kathryn Kleinhans, Wartburg College, Waverly, IA. Other pilgrims welcome.  Contact Center.   Click for on-line Registration materials.

May 16 - 23  Wittenberg Journey, Texas Lutheran University, TX, Coordinator:  Dr. William Russell, Professor in Residence.

May 17 - June 7 May Term Abroad*, Ashland University, Ashland, OH.  Coordinators:  Drs. Don and Jan Rinehart.

June 20- July 4 Germany, Land of Many Lessons*, Program planner: Rev. Bob Grosch, Palo Cedro, CA.  former ELCA Wittenberg Center volunteer. Other pilgrims welcome.  Contact Center.   Click for on-line Registration materials.

June 27 - July 7 Luther and the Land of the Reformation,  Coordinator:  Rev. Bob Willse, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Vacaville, CA.

* Indicates program of Christian Tours Europe

Reformation Decade "Remembrances"

The Reformation Decade will provide many occasions to remember as several anniversaries come forward and give us a chance to remember some of the personalities connected with the Church, the Reformation and its impact in spreading the Gospel.  These personalities may give impetus for developing travel programs with certain themes:

2008    This year marks the 450^th  anniversary of the death of Johannes Bugenhagen.  The newly completed Bugenhagen House in Wittenberg has given many a chance to learn more about this Reformer and his role in establishing the structures that would help sustained the new church that emerged from the Reformation.

2009  This year will mark the 500^th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, who led the Reformation from Geneva and is connected with the Reformed branch of the Protestant Church.  This year will also mark the 250^th anniversary of the death of George Frederick Handel.  His many religious compositions, most notably the Messiah helped spread the joy and power of the Gospel.

2010   This year will mark the 450^th anniversary of the death of Philipp Melanchthon, the colleague of Martin Luther, the famous humanist scholar of Wittenberg University and the author of the Augsburg Confession.

2011  This year will mark the 300^th anniversary of the birth of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the pietist pastor who helped establish order among the Lutheran congregations of Pennsylvania and the northeast colonies, helping to found precursor to the first American Synod, the Pennsylvania Ministerium.

2015  This year will mark the 500^th anniversary of the birth of Lucas Cranach the Younger.  The son of Lucas Cranach the Elder, continued the work of his Father, and like his father, his paintings of biblical subjects and Reformation personalities, increased the impact of the Reformation and its teachings.

Tentative 2010 Programs

Note about Oberammergau Tours: 

The Passion Play performances will take place every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from May 16 to October 3, 2010. The first part will begin in the afternoon, the second part in the evening, after dinner. There will also be a performance on Fridays, but mainly for day visitors.   The two-nights packages will be in the following combinations: Monday-Tuesday night, a Wednesday-Thursday night, a Saturday-Sunday night. (bold are performance days).  We have been working with one of our partners, Christian Tours Europe, to create travel programs that include the Passion Play.  The ELCA Wittenberg Center, e.V. help create the non-Oberammergau part of the program, particularly places and resources connected with Luther and the Reformation, World War II, life in the “East” before and after the Fall of the Wall.  The town of Oberammergau has developed a very elaborate system of providing (selling) packages that include tickets to the play, two overnights, meals, etc.  Because of the high demand for the Passion Play tickets, they are able to include requirements that are not usual in the travel industry, i.e. the need for non-refundable down-payment immediately after the booking is accepted (two years before the Play), the requirement to pay in full for packages by September 2009, and the need to submit applications for packages with flexibility for dates and class of hotels.  We have worked  with program planners listed below and Christian Tours Europe to create the itineraries listed below  If you are interested in planning a program with the ELCA Center that includes the Passion Play, please contact us.  Our Tour Operator, Christian Tours Europe,  has packages and openings for the Oberammergau Passion Play available.

May 30 -June 14 LutherLand~Oberammergau* , Program planner:  Ruth Doty, Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, Emmaus, PA.

June 14 - 26 LutherLand~Oberammergau*, Program planner:  James Hild, Coordinator of Music, All Saints Lutheran Church, Minnetonka, MN

June 24 - July 6 LutherLand~Oberammergau*, Program planner: Leland Armbright, Minnesota.

July 11 - 24 LutherLand~Oberammergau*, Program planner: Charles Zimmermann, First Lutheran Church, Greensboro, NC

July 18 - 31 LutherLand~Oberammergau*, Program planner: Palmer Clemmer, St. Timothy Lutheran, Hendersonville, TN

August 9 - 20  LutherLand~Oberammergau* , Program planner: Rev. Peter Froehlke, Zion Lutheran Church, Long Valley, NJ.

August 9 - 22 LutherLand~Oberammergau*, Program planner: Rev. John Steward, Mount of Olives Lutheran Church, Mission Viejo, Ca.

* Indicates programs of Christian Tours Europe

St. Augustine Monastery in Erfurt, Germany is were Martin Luther took his vows to be a monk

The 95 theses door is a 2 minute walk from the ELCA Wittenberg Center!

In 1521-1522 Martin Luther composed his translation of the New Testament from Greek to German while in exile at  Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany.