Covered 50 km yesterday, 22+ by streetcar to get to the other end of Leipzig and 27+ to get to this beautiful 1000-year old city of Merseburg. The hostel is where the organ used to be in another church, the Neumarkt Church that dates back to 1188.
Along the way in the small town of Horburg, I passed the tearing sandstone Madonna that dates back to the 1250s. She so upset one of the 17th century Lutheran ministers that he had it "destroyed," but the pieces were later reassembled in the 1930s. The forest paths were decorated with blooming wild flowers.
Only one young couple here with me and the llamas three of us just barely made it into the cathedral built in 1015---tour groups flocked in and out all the while someone played the organ majestically for us, adding to the spirituality of the setting. BTW, Luther preached here in 1545!
And then you have Hugo looking over the church where the two of us slept--I actually felt honored to be there.
