After my last post I realized that it may not be clear why this blog is titled "Castle Connection". Hopefully the "Connection" portion of the blog is relatively straightforward as it to implies that the blog is intended to give those outside the Wartburg community a look at different things happening on campus. The "Castle" portion may not, on the other hand, be quite as clear.
The name "Wartburg" comes from the castle in Eisenbach, Germany in which Martin Luther hid from those seeking his life following the Diet of Worms in 1521. Luther's stay in Wartburg Castle could be considered a sort of reformation era witness protection program. Living under the alias of "knight George", Luther finished the first translation of the Bible into the German language, opening the door for those without knowledge of Latin, Greek or Hebrew to access scripture for themselves. His translation also served as a unifying document for the German language itself, which varied greatly in different parts of Germany at the time.
When the founder of Wartburg College and Seminary, Wilhelm Loehe, sent pastors to America to found the college and seminary and eventually to Dubuque in 1854, they took with them the name "Wartburg" (the college and seminary are now separate institutions). When the building in which the seminary is housed was complete in 1916, it was modeled as a replica of the center portion of the actual Wartburg Castle in Eisenbach, Germany. The building, now resembling the actual castle, is affectionately known around the seminary as "The Castle". Thus, when one gets connected to Wartburg Seminary they connect with "The Castle".
-Seth Nelson
MDive Junior
Wartburg Seminary
(Wartburg Castle history from: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/wartburg-castle )
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