From Thursday, April 26th

Nimbschen and Grimma (not names from a fairy tale!)
After leaving Leipzig, we road-tripped to a pastoral grove in which stood the ruins of the Nimbschen monastery where Katharina von Bora had lived as a nun until 1523, when she and eight other nuns escaped the convent because of the writings of Dr. Martin Luther.

We sat in the sun under the quietly quivering trees and ate lunch remembering Katharina, who had come to live in Marienthron (Mary's Throne), the Cistercian convent of Nimbschen, at age 8. She had two aunts there with her: One of them, her maternal aunt, Margarete von Haubitz, was the mother superior. At age 16, on October 8, 1515, Katharina took her vows as a nun. Her time at the convent, though austere, was a blessing to her and other women of their day, as by entering the convent they gained the ability to learn reading, writing, and some Latin.

But as Katharina and others caught wind of the growing reform movement, they grew dissatisfied with life at the convent, eventually conspiring to flee from it. Leaving a convent was difficult — leaving religious life was an offense punishable by death. The women secretly contacted Luther, begging for his assistance.

On Easter eve 1523, Luther helped Katharina and the others escape in the dark of night. Legend has them being pursued by armed guards from the monastery, climbing a wall, Katharina losing a shoe, and all nine nuns making their getaway in fish barrels carted by Luther’s friend, Leonhard Köppe, a city councilman of Torgau and a merchant who regularly delivered herring to the convent.

Under the bright sun, it was hard to contemplate both the dangerous escape and the fact that the area had experienced record floods in 2002 that devastated local towns such as Grimma. The convent sits on the banks of the Muhlde River, which reached 20 feet above flood stage and cut a wide swath in the small valley. The quiet town is working to make a comeback, thanks to the creative work of town planners, managers, and leaders.

The Lord Mayor of Grimma gave us a hearty welcome and the picnic lunch. The young Mayor of Grimma, Matthias Berger, gave us an overview of his town and how they recovered after the flooding. We gave the town a lot of business and a story to tell for months to come about the horde of Lutheran women who flooded the town one bright April day in 2007. (Picture is of the Grimma City Hall.)
Following our meeting with Mayor Berger and our buying frenzy (for some just another beer stop), we continued to Erfurt, the spiritual home of Martin Luther. It was in 1501–1505 in Erfurt that Luther studied theology and, according to his father’s desires, law. Here Luther went into the Augustinian monastery and later became a priest and preached in numerous churches.

Our evening came to a delightful close with an authentic German brats, sauerkraut, and beer hall dinner. We sang our grace and recalled Luther writing hymns to the popular beer hall songs of his day.