- May 5, 2025–May 17, 2025
Heritage of Germany: From Luther and Bach to Dresden and Berlin
Highlights
Travel to Germany for a 13-day trip in May 2025. This tour itinerary will have strong musical components—particularly with J.S. Bach—as well as strong historical components. A few highlights from the itinerary:
- J.S. Bach sites
- Bach House with manuscripts, scores, and family portraits
- Köthen Castle, where Bach led the court orchestra
- Bach Museum, an interactive, multimedia exhibition
- Martin Luther sites
- Luther Museum
- Wartburg Castle, where Luther translated the New Testament into German
- Augustinian Monastery
- Enlightenment and Romanticism sites
- Goethe Residence and National Museum
- Friedrich Schiller’s Garden House
- Romantikerhaus Jena, a museum in the home of Johann Gottlieb Fichte
- Historical sites
- Buchenwald concentration camp
- Residenzschloss (Royal Palace)
- Schloss Cecilienhof, site of the Potsdam Conference
- Berlin Wall Memorial
- Additional activities
- Krämerbrücke (Merchant’s Bridge)
- Classical music concert in Leipzig or/and Dresden
- Sanssouci Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Lunch at a beer garden
- Cruise on the Elbe River
- Meissen porcelain-making demonstration
With three nights in Leipzig and Berlin as well as two nights in Erfurt and Dresden, there will be plenty of other excursions, as well as free time to explore these cities and try some local restaurants on your own.
Tour leaders
Jim Bratt is professor of history emeritus; he will offer insights to places connected with the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, and Romanticism, tracing how these three movements influenced American intellectual and religion history. Suzanne Bratt is a cataloging librarian at the University of Cincinnati who has a PhD in musicology and wrote her dissertation on J.S. Bach.
Cost
Preliminary pricing indicates that this tour may be around $5300 per person for a double-occupancy room, with an additional $650 for single rooms. This price may be revised once we are able to lock in flights in June.
Flights will be from Grand Rapids to Frankfort, and home from Berlin to Grand Rapids. Witte Travel can arrange for flights from other departure cities as well ($75/person fee). Travel insurance through TravelEx will also be available.
More information
We expect to have final tour details and to open registration some time in July 2024. Please email alumni@calvin.edu to be added to the interest list for this tour, and we'll make sure you receive the full tour details when available.
Calvin tours are open to any friends of CALL and the Calvin Alumni Association who wish to travel with us. Explore other Calvin-sponsored tours, too.
