Children of Fire - Wartburg

Considering all the prominent personalities Wartburg Castle has seen within its walls over centuries, it's hardly surprising that every castle tour starts in exactly the same way: "Please, watch your step and be mindful - the River of History is flowing right under your feet!" Adding the castle to the list of "children" is more counterintuitive but, in this case, it's the fire of a cozy fireplace conducive to telling and listening to stories of "the glorious past" - and Wartburg is permeated with those, many of them sounding like full-fledged ballads. One such story features Louis the Jumper who wandered off while hunting, and found himself in front of a barely accessible mountain plateau. Louis immediately grasped numerous strategic advantages of a fortress built at such a height. "You just wait, mountain, one day I'll turn you into my fortress!" ("Wart, Berg - Du sollst mir eine Burg werden"). The similarity between German words for "mountain" and "fortress" contributed to the name of the future castle. To obtain a building permit from the Emperor, Louis ordered several bags of soil collected from his hereditary land to be brought to the construction site. Then he swore to the Emperor that he would build "on his own soil" - and got a permit! A truly creative approach - and creativity has been part of the castle's identity ever since. For instance, Wartburg used to host medieval tournaments, and the participants were not knights with weapons but minstrels (Wagner's opera "Tannhauser" is partially based on one such event). Bards from all over Germany would come to Wartburg and try to impress a panel of noble judges in order to earn their financial appreciation and other perks. In other words, modern song contests, movie festivals and similar subjective competitions distorting the very nature of both artistic creation and "fair play" haven't come out of thin air - the main difference being that modern verdicts are often more cynical and politically biased.  

On the other hand, even politics can inspire - as a matter of exception. Wartburg was lucky to experience such a rare moment when 450 members of various student fraternities from a number of German principalities convened there in 1817 to celebrate the fall of Napoleon and discuss the future of their people. To formalize the discussions, they decided to introduce a common banner - and each fraternity pushed for its own colours. Eventually, everybody agreed on a black-yellow-red triad - three pieces of cloth were sewn together, attached to a pole and put on display in the main hall. One might argue that the unified German state was born at that very moment.

Last but not least, Wartburg Castle is soaring above the town of Eisenach - and that's where Martin Luther went to school when he was 15. About 200 years later, another teenager followed in his footsteps...