Meditation in the Luthergarten at the Bunkerberg

Start in the park at the bottom of the hill.

The entire parkland used to be medieval fortifications to protect the city. Part of this area belonged historically to Wittenberg University. During the Second World War, a bunker was built here which was destroyed after the war. Now it is a park where art, faith, history and global community come together through installations, the Luthergarten, and the Luther House.

  • What does such a transformation mean to you?
  • What do you think: Can faith motivate action for peaceful change?
  • What transformations are needed today?

“Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.”
(Matthew 17:1-2)

In the Bible, high locations are places of transformation. This hill – in the midst of the city, yet a space apart – can also be a place for new perspectives.

People have made pilgrimages for centuries. Yet many couldn’t take a long journey and found other ways for a “pilgrimage” of steps and prayers. Could the walk up the hill be a sort of pilgrimage for you?

  • Choose one of the paths. Concentrate on your steps, the path, and your surroundings.
  • Try a breath prayer: Breathe in: Thank you, God. Breathe out: Let me trust you in everything.
  • At the top of the hill, find a place where you can be still and experience this place with all its sights and sounds.
  • You may conclude your time of meditation and prayer with Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

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