Wittenberg Welcomes Distinguished Guests From University's Namesake In Germany

In keeping with its strategic plan initiative to infuse the curriculum with international perspective, Wittenberg University welcomed four distinguished guests from Wittenberg, Germany, on Monday, Feb. 9, to begin a dialogue regarding a possible partnership to provide study-abroad programs for Wittenberg students.

Eckhard Naumann, Lord Mayor of Wittenberg, Germany, Christian Eggert, owner, Christian Tours Europe & Manager of Colleg Wittenberg, Helmut Keitel, architect and president of CAMPUS Wittenberg, and Jean Godsall-Myers, co-director of the ELCA Wittenberg Center, spent the entire day touring Wittenberg’s campus, speaking with university officials, engaging with professors and renewing relations with representatives from the city of Springfield. For more than 15 years, Wittenberg University has enjoyed a partnership with the city of Wittenberg, and in the 1990s, Springfield also entered into a formal Sister City agreement with Wittenberg, Germany.

Monday’s visit, which included a meeting with Springfield Mayor and Wittenberg Professor of Religion Warren Copeland and a tour of the city, in part continued and expanded conversations that originally began in 1993 when Wittenberg, Germany, celebrated its 700th anniversary as a German city. At that time, Wittenberg University President Emeritus Bill Kinnison traveled with Tim Bennett, associate professor of languages, and JoAnn Bennett, director of international education, to tour the city and learn about potential opportunities for student learning in the place that changed the course of history with Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Theses, which began the Reformation.

The initial introduction of the city and subsequent visit by Kinnison and the Bennetts were the result of connections first arranged by Tom Lutz, Wittenberg class of 1956, who owns a consulting business in Berlin. A summer language program, sponsored by Wittenberg University, developed soon thereafter, which David Barry, associate professor of languages, has led since 1994. Three students from Wittenberg, Germany, have also studied at Wittenberg University in recent years.

Now, as the city of Wittenberg looks to open Colleg Wittenberg in 2010, Naumann and his colleagues want to engage Wittenberg University further in the conversations in hopes of having students spend more time in the famed city. Intent on rejuvenating its historic reputation as one of the most celebrated academic centers in Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the city spent much of the 1990s renovating and refurbishing the old university buildings, a feat that was accomplished thanks to the work of the foundation known as the Leucorea – the original name given to the town’s university by fellow reformer and friend of Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, in the early 1500s. Since the mid-1990s, Wittenberg, Germany, has served as a key location for Wittenberg University’s already established summer program.

With assistance from CAMPUS Wittenberg, a non-governmental umbrella organization for all the educational initiatives for the city of Wittenberg, a new residence hall, designed by Keitel and to be managed by Eggert, is being completed in Wittenberg for student use. Naumann, who has worked diligently to raise his city’s profile as the home of Luther and the Reformation in his lengthy tenure as Lord Mayor, is also supporting the effort, as is Godsall-Myers, who, along with her husband, The Rev. Stephen Myers, are eager to establish programs, both short and long-term, for students from Evangelical Lutheran Church in America colleges.

“Our visit is a renewal of the sister-city partnership and the beginning of a more intense collaboration between Wittenberg University and the City of Luther," said Naumann, who holds an honorary degree from Wittenberg University. “The reception for us in Springfield was simply overwhelming.”