WARTBURG (CHÂTEAU DE LA WARTBOURG)

A Unesco World Heritage Site, the medieval Wartburg Castle, former residence of the Landgraves of Thuringia, proudly perched on its 400-metre-high hill, is well worth a visit. Set in a magnificent landscape of dense forests, it epitomizes the idea of the "ideal castle".

Its exterior is splendid, and its various interiors bear witness to different eras of German history. According to legend, it was founded in 1067 by Ludwig der Springer. Buildings grouped around two courtyards were erected over the following centuries. For Catholics and Protestants alike, the Wartburg is a place of pilgrimage. Elisabeth of Thuringia lived here from 1211 to 1227. After the death of her husband, this princess turned her back on worldly court life to care for the poor, look after the needy and found hospitals. In the eyes of the Church, she became Saint Elizabeth.

A few centuries later, in 1521, Luther was excommunicated. He refused to recant to Emperor Charles V and the Pope. Martin Luther's belief was that he was subject to the authority of his conscience and the Bible, and not to ecclesiastical authority. These revolutionary ideas, which led to the Reformation, forced him into exile here, in the castle of his friend Frederick III, Grand Elector of Saxony, under the name of "Junker Jörg", Knight George. Luther then devoted himself to his life's work: translating the Bible into German.

From the ^mid-16th century, the Wartburg was abandoned and fell into ruin. It wasn't until the end of the ^18th century that the elites of the day revisited the prestigious past of this picturesque ruin. Goethe visited the Wartburg in 1777 and conceived the idea of transforming it into a museum. The first Wartburg festival, now an anthology, took place in 1817. From 1853 onwards, the castle was rebuilt in neo-medieval style, in homage to all the national legends that ran through it. Contemporaries were eager to rediscover their national past, a narrative shared by the newly united Germany. In particular, they rediscovered the legends of the troubadour tournaments(Minnesänger), the most famous of which takes place in the Wartburg. It was this myth that Richard Wagner used in his opera Tannhäuser.

The architectural ensemble is extremely impressive. In the oldest, half-timbered part, you can see the room where Luther worked. Some of the rooms are dedicated to Saint Elizabeth, while others are devoted to the troubadour tournament. The national construction achieved through the castle itself (this synthesis of national myths in a single monument is rare), difficult for the Germans to assume since the tragic drift of Nazism, is treated critically and carefully during the guided tours. The elements of national myth-building and their relationship to historical reality will be explained to you with the appropriate analytical discourse.

Your visit can also be self-guided. In this case, you'll be able to discover some very fine permanent and temporary exhibitions. The frescoes in the Elisabethgalerie are superb, as are the works by Dürer and Cranach. The highlight of the collection is a copy of a Lutheran Bible from 1541, complete with annotations.