Two years ago, in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, ground was broken for the Luther Garden in Wittenberg, Germany. The Garden will be 230 meters long and will have an oval shape. Five hundred trees will surround a public square centered on a cobblestone Luther Rose. It will be completed by October 31, 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The garden will serve to connect the town center and the River Elbe, with the garden pointing southward to the river, thus symbolically opening itself to the world.
The idea is inspired by a quote ascribed to Martin Luther, "Even if I knew that the world were to collapse tomorrow, I would still plant my apple tree today." Close to the Luther house on the outskirts of the town, two thick old trees still stand that locals claim Luther planted.
On All Saints Day, November 1, Cardinal Walter Kaspar, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, planted the first tree, and said a tree would also be planted at the Vatican.
"Now again that which belongs together grows together," Kasper said in the Luther Garden, using a phrase of former West German chancellor Willy Brandt after the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and referring to hopes for unity between East and West Germany.
Ironically, only a minority of Wittenberg's citizens are Christian. Wittenberg is located near Leipzig in the former East Germany. It is one of the "most de-Christianized" areas of Europe, says Siegfried Kasparick, the Protestant regional bishop for Wittenberg, who also said that 85% of Wittenberg's citizens have no connection to the church.
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