Medieval Germany: Saxony and Berlin
September 21-October 4, 2012
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Our Fall 2012 medieval tour returns to Germany with a special focus on Saxony's historic churches, abbeys, castles, and towns. We'll explore major sites and cities including Marburg, Wartburg Castle, Naumburg, Quedlinburg, Halberstadt, Magdeburg, Goslar, and Hildesheim and end with a few days in Berlin.
Enjoy two weeks of extraordinary history, art, and architecture in the Saxony-Anhalt region of Germany. Join medievalist Jane T. Schulenburg, Professor of History, Department of Liberal Studies and the Arts, Medieval Studies, and Gender and Women's Studies, UW Madison; and Heidi Wilde, ABD German and Comparative Literature and German native; for this exceptional tour.
We'll visit many major medieval sites—historic towns, castles, cathedrals, abbeys, and museums—as well as a number of unique, out-of-the way places. We'll explore the Romanesque Route, with its amazing collection of medieval churches, cloisters, castles, and ancient towns with half-timbered houses, impressive town halls, guild halls, and early hospitals. We'll also visit a number of museums that offer marvelous collections of medieval artwork.
Itinerary sites
- Marburg: This lovely university city, located on the River Lahn, is known for its great castle and Gothic Elisabethkirche;
- Wartburg Castle: This famous castle dates to the 11th century with later additions, has ties to Martin Luther, and is an UNESCO World Heritage site;
- Quedlinburg: This picturesque medieval town is nestled beneath a rock pinnacle crowned by an ancient abbey church and castle. Its narrow, winding streets are lined with nearly 900 half-timbered houses classified as historic monuments;
- Gernrode: The lovely convent of St. Cyriakus of Gernrode, founded in the 10th century for aristocratic women, is one of the best preserved and most impressive examples of Ottonian architecture;
- Magdeburg: The historic city of Magdeburg is rich in medieval monuments—especially its Gothic Cathedral of Sts. Mauritus and Katharina and Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen;
- Halberstadt: Features the Cathedral of Sts. Stephan and Sixtus along with its impressive cathedral treasury/museum;
- Naumburg: The historic town has maintained its ancient character with its town gate, marketplace, interesting houses, and great Gothic Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul with its wonderful statues of the cathedral’s benefactors;
- Goslar: This marvelous town in the Harz Mountains, whose prosperity was based on its early silver mines, was for centuries the center of the Holy Roman Empire. Today it contains one of the largest collections of ancient buildings in Germany;
- Wolfenbüttel: A lovely historic town with many styles of half-timbered houses. The Herzog-August Library has an impressive collection of precious illuminated manuscripts and rare documents from the Middle Ages;
- Hildesheim: Founded by Louis the Pious in 815, Hildesheim was a great center of Romanesque art with the famous bronze doors of Bishop Bernward and St. Michaelskirche with its great painted ceiling;
- Wienhausen Convent: Established in the 13th century as a Cistercian abbey for women, it is presently occupied by a small community of Protestant canonesses. An amazing collection of 14th century wall paintings decorate the nuns’ choir, and its museum displays an extensive collection of late medieval embroideries;
- Lüneburg: Known as the "salt town," medieval Lüneburg's prosperity relied on its salt deposits. The Rathaus contains superb wood sculpture, painted decoration and stained glass. The 15th century Kloster Lüne has an interesting church, cloister and fine textile museum; and
- Berlin: The great economic and cultural capital of Berlin is a beautiful and fascinating city. In addition to its imposing historic monuments, great avenues, squares and gardens, it has some of the finest museums in the world.
Other sites will be visited, and there will be free time for participants to explore on their own. Background readings, as well as on-site lectures by local historians and guides, will make our visits to sites especially meaningful.
Important information
Please download and read our terms and conditions (pdf) carefully. This document provides specific details as to what is included in the seminar cost, as well as exclusions, standard cancellation policies and penalties.
Fee details
Total price per person, double occupancy, is $4,875 (including air). This price includes round-trip economy class air from Chicago to Frankfurt and Berlin to Chicago, all surface transportation, hotels, transfers, entrance fees, daily breakfast buffets, eight group dinners, gratuities and taxes. Single room supplement approximately $625.
Early reservations are essential and a deposit of $500 per person is due upon registration. Cancellations at any time will be charged $300; refunds after final payment has been made will be based on the tour's ability to find a replacement or recoup/reassign the participant's specific package.
How to register
Or contact Kim Seymour at 608-262-3731 or kseymour@dcs.wisc.edu to reserve your place for Medieval Germany!
Accommodations
The program begins with a one-night stay in Marburg at the centrally located Welcome Hotel, followed by one night in Naumburg at the Hotel Stadt Naumburg. We'll then spend three nights in Quedlinburg at the Hotel Schlossmühle, followed by one night in Goslar at the unique historic Hotel Kaiserworth. We'll then travel to Hildesheim for one night at the Parkhotel Berghoelzchen, one night in Celle at the Hotel Celler Hof, and one night in Lüneburg at the Hotel Bergström, and conclude with three nights in Potsdam (just outside of Berlin) at the Hotel Steigenberger Sanssouci or a centrally located Berlin hotel to be announced.
Contact information
Professor Jane Schulenburg, 608-262-8663 or jschulenburg@dcs.wisc.edu; or Kim Seymour, 608-262-3731 or kseymour@dcs.wisc.edu