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Events Calendar
Concert for handbell ensemble plus organ, recorder and vocals
23 June | 3 p.m.
Altar and choir room of the Wittenberg Castle Church
Free admission | Collection at the exit
On Sunday, June 23 at 3 p.m., the next concert in the Castle Music series will take place in the Wittenberg Castle Church with the motto "Ring Praise Plus!" Both handbell ensembles of the Castle Church, with a total of 16 people, will play music at the front of the chancel. Visitors to the concert are invited to sit in the church's choir room to not only enjoy an exciting sound experience of the bells, but also to make the playing styles and techniques of handbell playing visible (you can secure a good seat from 2.30 p.m.)!
In addition to works for handbell ensembles, the program also includes works combined with recorder, organ and vocals. There is also an opportunity to get active yourself and sing along to the accompaniment of the handbells and organ.
Handbells are bronze-cast instruments from the USA, where each player in the ensemble plays two to four bells in their hand using different techniques. The chimes, metal rods with a light, floating sound, complement and expand the sound space of the handbells in the concert. Since 2011 we have been happy to play these instruments in the ensemble at the castle church! The musical director is the castle church cantor Sarah Herzer.
On Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026, the Protestant Lenten campaign "7 Weeks Without" begins. Until April 6, under the motto "Feeling! Seven Weeks Without Harshness," it invites participants to consciously experience Lent. The focus is on compassionate interaction: perceiving the pain of others, offering support, and discovering new ways of being together. Harshness can manifest itself in many ways in everyday life: in harsh words, in situations that hurt us or leave us speechless. Often, we put on our own armor to protect ourselves—and yet realize how much this distances us from one another. The "7 Weeks Without" Lenten campaign invites us to take a different path in 2026. Further information is available at https://7wochenohne.evangelisch.de/ [Photo: Jodie Griggs / Getty Images]
30 Years of World Heritage
In 1996, the castle church was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an almost completely preserved prime example of 19th-century monument preservation. From 2012 to 2016, it was renovated and restored with funding from the State of Saxony-Anhalt, the Federal Republic of Germany, the European Union, and private donors.
My volunteer service in Japan
Dear members of the Schlosskirche congregation, I have been in Japan since September, where I am doing voluntary service with the Berlin Mission Society.
History
Around 1340, the Ascanian dukes had an "All Saints' Chapel" built at their castle and founded a collegiate monastery in it for liturgical service. Elector Friedrich the Wise had the palace with the chapel demolished and his new residential palace with a more spacious palace church built on the site. You can find out more about the story here.
Church for children
Every Sunday there is a children's service in the Wittenberg Castle Church, parallel to the adult service. Ms. Felicia Grauel is one of the volunteers for the children's service.