TOUR PRICE from Chicago O'Hare International Airport:

Airport: $4,625 based on double occupancy
Single Room Supplement: $650

This tour price reflects special group rates. Deposits received after April 18, 2008, will likely incur additional charges due to supplier contract terms.

TOUR PRICE INCLUDES:

• Round trip air fare from Chicago O'Hare International Airport
• Current airline taxes and fuel surcharges ($305)
• Accommodations in moderate first class hotels
• Breakfast and dinner daily
• Lunch in Schwarzenau, August 2 & 3
• Services of experienced, English-speaking licensed guides
• Deluxe motorcoach service
• Sightseeing and entrance fees
• Roound-trip excursion from Interlaken to Jungfrau Joch
• Service charges and local taxes
• Porterage at airports and hotels in Europe
• Tips to guides, drivers and hotel staff ($110)
• Registration for 300th Anniversary Celebration ($85)

Depart from Chicago's O'Hare Airport this afternoon, on your transatlantic flight to Germany.

Sunday, July 27   Berlin

Upon arrival at Berlin airport this morning, you will be met by an Englishspeaking tour escort, who will accompany the group throughout Germany. Enjoy an orientation tour of Berlin with highlights of the capital of Germany, such as Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden Boulevard, Memorial Church, the Reichstag, Charlottenburg Palace, East Side Gallery, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, and former Check Point Charlie. Enjoy a boat ride on the Spree River. Dinner and overnight in Berlin at the Algon Aldea Hotel.

Monday, July 28   Berlin - Pottsdam

This morning visit the Pergamon Museum. In the afternoon, enjoy an excursion to Potsdam, a center of history and culture. Visit the New Palace, which was the last palace that Frederick the Great had built in his park. Walk in the marvelous gardens of Sanssouci Palace, built in 1744 for Frederick the Great as a place to relax after fi ghting wars. Dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight at Algon Aldea Hotel.

Tuesday, July 29   Berlin - Wittenberg - Leipzig

Drive to Wittenberg this morning, the birthplace of the Reformation and the city of Frederick the Wise who protected Luther. Luther lived here from 1508 until his death. Visit All Saints Castle Church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door and which contains the graves of Luther and Melanchthon. See the University where Luther taught, and visit Melanchthon’s House as well as the Luther House, which is the largest and greatest museum of Reformation history in the world. Visit the Stadtkirche of St. Marien where Luther used to preach, and see the Luther monument and the Renaissance Town Hall. Continue to Leipzig for dinner and overnight at the Novotel Leipzig City Center.

Wednesday, July 30   Leipzig - Halle

Begin the morning with a tour of Leipzig, the city where Luther debated John Eck on such topics as papal primacy and the infallibility of church council. Visit St. Nicholas Church, where in recent history, many prayers for freedom were heard, resulting in the “peaceful revolution” that led the way to German reunification in 1989. Continue to St. Thomas Church where Johann Sebastian Bach spent his most creative years and directed the still famous boys’ choir. Bach spent the last 27 years of his life in Leipzig and is buried at the eastern end of St. Thomas Church. Walk through Market Square, where Leipzig’s city coat-of-arms is set in mosaic paving, and see the Old City Hall, built in the record time of nine months between 1556 and 1557 by Hieronymus Lotter. Drive to Halle for a walking tour, including a visit to the Market Church, with twoeastern and two western towers. Also visit the music museum in the house where the city’s greatest son was born, George Frideric Händel. Continue to the 10th century
castle on the Giebichenstein, a rocky eminence over the river Saale. Return to Leipzig for dinner and overnight.

Thursday, July 31   Leipzig - Erfurt - Eisenach - Marburg

After breakfast travel to Erfurt, located in the “green heart of Germany”. Two magnifi cent examples of German Gothic architecture, the Mariendom (Cathedral of The Blessed Virgin Mary) and the Severikirche (St Severus Church), majestically dominate the cityscape. Walk through the city to the Augustinian Monastery, which possesses valuable stained glass windows dating back to the beginning of the 14th century. Martin Luther lived here as a monk from 1505 to 1511. Within the monastery complex there is an important library with rare books and a permanent exhibition about the life of Luther. Today the Augustinian Monastery is used as parish church. Continue to Eisenach to see the Church of St. George, built around 1180, where Martin Luther served as a choirboy between 1498 and 1501. Johann Sebastian Bach was baptised here in 1685. Visit Bach’s House, believed to be the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach. Drive to the nearby Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German from the original Greek. Visit the castle and see the room which once had the famous “ink spot” where Luther supposedly saw the devil and threw his ink well at him. Later today drive on to Marburg for dinner and overnight at the Hotel Am Schlossberg.

Friday, August 1   Marburg

Today is spent touring Marburg. See the Rathaus (Town Hall) in the Old Town, with its clock that houses a musical rooster that “crows” on the hour. Visit the fi ne Gothic Church and the library at the University of Marburg, the oldest university in the world that was founded as a Protestant institution in 1527. Also visit the 13th century castle to hear the story of the famous meeting between Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli which took place here in October 1529. As a special object of interest, drive to the hilltop town of Bad Berleburg, dominated by the beautiful 16th century baroque castle. The Castle Museum displays the Berleburger Bible as well as the Sauer Bible, which originated between 1726 and 1742. The Sauer Bible is the third edition and was a present of the Church of the Brethren to Bad Berleburg for the 250th Anniversary celebration! Dinner and overnight in Marburg.

Saturday, August 2   Marburg - Schwarzenau
Drive to Schwarzenau to visit the Alexander Mack Museum and school, the mill, the church, and the reputed site of the fi rst Brethren baptism in the Eder River. In 1708 Alexander Mack and seven others gathered on the banks of this river to begin a new fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ. Lunch and dinner will be included in Schwarzenau with an evening concert featuring the McPherson College Choir, Schwarzenau LadiesChoir, Schwarzenau Men’s Choir, and the Bad Berleburg Choir.
Return to Marburg for the night.

Sunday, August 3   Marburg - Schwarzenau

Return to Schwarzenau to take part in the events planned for the 300th Anniversary of the Church of the Brethren in Schwarzenau. Events will include morning worship, led by Rev. James Beckwith and Rev. Frederick Miller. A special Anniversary Program with speaker Dr. Marcus Meier will follow lunch, ending with a service beside the Eder River and a service of re-dedication. This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event! Return to Marburg for dinner and overnight. 

Monday, August 4   Marburg - Düdelsheim - Heidelberg

Depart Marburg this morning, stopping in Düdelsheim, birthplace of Peter Becker, who led a group of
Brethren to Pennsylvania in 1719. Alexander Mack baptized brethren in the Seeme Brook, which flows through Düdelsheim. Because of this activity, the Brethren were expelled from this area in 1715. From here they went to Krefeld. Conrad Beissel lived for a short time in Düdelsheim in the home of Jacob Schatz, from about 1717–1720.

Continue to Büdingen, situated in a wet and swampy valley. Visit the castle, built on centuries-old oak planks, set up on beech props. See the only extant letter by Alexander Mack, Sr. Stop at Schriesheim, home of Alexander Mack, with an opportunity to view archival materials found there.

Continue to Heidelberg to visit the well-known Castle, built on a hill overlooking the city. A walk through the city may include the 15th-Century Church of St. Peter and Church of the Holy Ghost. See the famous Old Bridge, which was once the city gate to the medieval city. Heidelberg is world renown for its University of Heidelberg, the fi rst university in Germany. Until 1720, Heidelberg was the capital of the Palatinate, and it was one of the main strongholds of German Protestantism during the Reformation. Dinner and overnight at the Marriott Heidelberg.

Tuesday, August 5   Heidelberg - Bern, Switzerland

Depart Heidelberg this morning, driving into Switzerland to the capital city of Bern. Enjoy a walking tour of the city, which is known for its beautifully preserved medieval old town. See the Prison Tower, a 17th Century government building where many Anabaptists were imprisoned and submitted to interrogation. See the Cathedral (Münster), Switzerland’s largest ecclesiastical building with its depiction of the Last Judgment. Also see the Clock Tower (Zeitglockenturm), which was Bern’s fi rst western city gate. The ornate astronomical calendar clock was created in 1530, and today it is one of Bern’s most important sights. Dinner and overnight at Mercure Hotel Plaza located in nearby Biel/Bienne.

Wednesday, August 6   Bern - Jungfrau Joch

This morning drive to the Jungfrau Region south of Interlaken, dominated by the mighty triple crest of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau (Ogre, Monk and Virgin)—three giant peaks rising side-by-side to over 13,000 feet. The Jungfrau is the highest at 13,640 feet. Enjoy a ride up to the summit to emerge at the Jungraujoch, just beneath the Jungfrau summit. You’ll fi nd an ice palace, dogsled rides, a weather station, a restaurant, and an observation post called the Sphinx Terrace that you reach via a 364-foot elevator. After returning to the valley below, drive back to Biel/Bienne for dinner and overnight.

Thursday, August 7   Bern - Lucerne - Zurich

Depart for Zurich this morning, stopping at Lucerne en route. Enjoy a short city tour including the Lion Monument, the famous wooden Kapell Bridge, and the ornate houses in the walled Old Town. Continue to Zurich, where Ulrich Zwingli led the Reformed branch of the Reformation. It was here that Conrad Grebel and associates held the fi rst Anabaptist adult baptisms in the nearby village of Zollikon in January 1525. Felix Mantz, an early Anabaptist martyr, was drowned in the River Limat in Zurich in 1527. Dinner and overnight at the Swissotel Zurich-Oerlikon.

Friday, August 8   Zurich

Begin the morning with a tour of Zurich, including Grossmunster Cathedral, where Ulrich Zwingli preached. The cathedral’s enormous bronze doors, which were created by Otto Munch in 1939, tell the story of the Reformation and the history of Zurich. Visit the home of Conrad Grebel and stand on the banks of the Limmat River, where Felix Manz was drowned for his profession of faith. Drive to nearby Zollikon, the home of the fi rst Anabaptist congregation. Walk through fi elds to the Cave of the Anabaptists, high above Zurich near Wappenswil. Enjoy your farewell dinner and overnight in Zurich. 

Saturday, August 9   Return to U.S.A.

After breakfast, transfer from your hotel to the Zurich Airport for your departure for the U.S., arriving home the same day. Auf wiedersehen!

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Responsibility

CST 2013363-40