Coming out of the pandemic, my family limited our long-distance travel and started exploring places closer to home. These day trips from Berlin are some of my favorite places and we have re-visited often. But I am always looking for somewhere new.
Enter the Deutschlandticket! For a similar price to the monthly city transportation ticket, you can travel all over Germany – albeit on regional rail, no ICE. We used this to visit Rostock and Warnemunde, as well as having access to local transport in Dresden and Hamburg. It has been a real motivator for us to explore the areas around Berlin and led us to a day trip to Wittenberg on May 1st, a holiday. Known as the site where Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the door of the church in 1517, effectively launching the Protestant Reformation, it also makes a nice little day trip.
Wittenberg PHOTO: Erin Porter
How to Get to Wittenberg from Berlin
Located in Saxony-Anhalt, Wittenberg is on the River Elbe, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Leipzig and 90 kilometers (56 miles) south-west of Berlin. The city is so associated with Luther, it is actually named Lutherstadt Wittenberg. It only takes about 40 minutes to get there from Berlin and trains leave nearly every hour. Even if you don’t have the Deutschlandticket, tickets cost less than 15 euro.
Of course you can also travel by car, but it may take a little longer. Drivers can navigate to Wittenberg via A115 and A9 and it takes about 1 hour 45.
Top Things to Do In Wittenberg
Sites dedicated to Martin Luther
Lutherstadt Wittenberg is where Martin Luther worked for over 30 years and there are sites dedicated to him and his contemporaries throughout the town. Most visitors are definitely here to pay tribute to the man who brought about radical change in the church.
Entering the town, one of the first places you come across is Luther House. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is the largest museum of the history of the Reformation. This former Augustinian monastery was built in 1504 and home to Martin Luther as a monk. Luther was given the house in 1532 and lived there with his family. After his death, the University of Leucorea converted the site into a scholarship house and today acts as the central location of the Luther Memorials Foundation.
(Note that the museum is closed til 2026 and the exhibits are available in the nearby Augusteum.)
Door of the Church
Site where the Ninety-five Theses were posted by Martin Luther in 1517 PHOTO: Erin Porter
Continuing to the other side of town is where visitors can find All Saints’ Church, commonly referred to as Schlosskirche (Castle Church). This impressive structure beckons to you from the central town square, but you have to look for the infamous door. On the side of the street, it is beautiful but also fairly unassuming. It’s hard to imagine that it was here that Luther placed his thesis on October 31, 1517, effectively changing the course of European history.
The church was restored in 1883 and made a memorial site, officially re-inaugurated on October 31st, 1892 – 375 years after Luther’s infamous act. To honor the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Theses, the building was renovated once again and reopened on October 2nd, 2016. The church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996 and Germany periodically has a public holiday on this day.
Tierpark Lutherstadt Wittenberg
With kids, a zoo is always high on the itinerary. This small zoo is a lovely break from the fairly dry history for the kids. Run by a small volunteer staff, you likely won’t see them during your visit. Admission is honor based and the animals seem content to gawk at you as you gawk at them. There are several hundred animals in this space on the outskirts of the city, easily reachable by walking. Animals include ring-tailed lemurs, meerkats, waterfowl, owls as well as a petting zoo with guinea pigs and goats. The small aquarium is housed in a former casemate and features reptiles, amphibians and fish from Saxony-Anhalt, particularly the Elbe and Elster rivers and the Baltic Sea.
Brauhaus Wittenberg
When i was looking for where to eat, one place was clearly the top recommendation. It is hard to go wrong with a brewery, so we went to Brauhaus Wittenberg.
There is a reason it is the most recommended – it is delightful! We went during Spargelzeit (asparagus season) and enjoyed a hearty plate of the “King of Vegetables”, plus some really nice beers. As the weather was pleasant, we ate in the charming Hof (courtyard) around which the hotel is arranged. In the courtyard there is a children’s play area as well as a 16th century Jungfernröhrenwasser, a fresh spring water supply built in 1556! The whole family left happy.
Other points of interest in Wittenberg
- Cranach Courts & Cranach House – Luther wasn’t the only “celebrity” who called Wittenberg home; Lucas Cranach the Elder had his painter’s studio and print shop here and today it receives its fair share of visitors.
- Melanchthon House – Melanchthonhaus is the family home for influential Protestant Reformer, Philipp Melanchtho. His study and family rooms are within a historic Renaissance building with late Gothic arched windows and broad-tiered gables.
- Piesteritz Workers’ Estate – This is the first and largest car-free housing estate in Germany, surprising for a country obsessed with cars! Built in 1916, it is still a tranquil residential settlement
- Hundertwasser School – From the same Hundertwasser who designed the eccentric complex in Vienna, the site is home to the Luther Melanchthon High School
Have you been to Wittenberg? What would you recommend? And if you have another favorite day trip from Berlin, I’d love to hear about it.
Sounds like Wittenberg was well worth the trip. Nice photos, too. Great article.