a poem in my pocket

Joining with tanka challenge at Ramblings of a Writer, include: history, surrounded.

true church will stand strong

surrounded by witnesses

joined in history

reformation revival

proves perseverance of saints

Castle Church at Wittenberg

Of course, Christ’s true church is neither a building nor a denomination but the history of the Wittenberg church is interesting:

All Saints’ Church, commonly referred to as Schlosskirche (Castle Church) and sometimes known as the Reformation Memorial Church, is a Lutheran church in Wittenberg, Germany.

The main portal was often used by the university staff to pin up messages and notices. On 31 October 1517, the eve of All Saints’ Day, Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the doors of All Saints’ Church. This act, meant to promote a disputation on the sale of indulgences, is commonly viewed to be a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation…

The church became the burial site of Frederick the Wise (1525), Martin Luther himself in 1546, and of Philipp Melanchthon (1560).

During the Seven Years’ War the Wittenberg fortress was occupied by the Prussian Army and shelled by Imperial forces. In 1760, the Castle Church was destroyed by a fire resulting from the bombardment. The blaze left only half of the foundation standing, and none of the wooden portals survived but All Saints’ was soon rebuilt…

After Wittenberg was incorporated into the Prussian Province of Saxony, King Frederick William IV, in 1858, ordered commemorative bronze doors to be mounted onto the jambs where the original wooden ones had hung. On the doors the Theses are inscribed in their original Latin.

On the occasion of the fourth centenary of Luther’s birth in 1883, an extensive restoration of All Saints’ in a Neo-Gothic style was begun. (source: Wikipedia)