The Schlosswiese is nev­er still or silent — here, jug­gling and fun are always in full swing.

Heureka Zun­ft­markt and Gaud­i­um of the min­strels ​‘Des Mar­tinus Loth­ers Ketzersspil’

The Heureka Guild Mar­ket and the min­strels’ spec­tacle, Des Mar­tinus Loth­ers Ket­zersspil, bring life to the Schlosswiese, loc­ated at the foot of the Schlosskirche. It trans­forms into a bust­ling camp, mar­ket, theatre, and pil­grim­age site for crafts­men, min­strels, jug­glers, and his­tor­ic soci­et­ies from Wit­ten­berg and the sur­round­ing region.

The his­tor­ic wag­on wheel event tests the strength of com­pet­ing clubs, cul­min­at­ing in an excit­ing finale on Sunday afternoon.

Trav­el­ling jour­ney­men, vag­a­bonds, buf­foons, mer­chants, and trades­men make a lively appear­ance, boldly attend­ing the Reformer’s wed­ding day. The mock­ers of the Curia’s order add to the Prot­est­ant gos­sip. The crowd eagerly listens to the comedi­ans’ antics and the rauc­ous clam­our. Min­strels, comedi­ans, dan­cers, and jug­glers enter­tain the audi­ence bril­liantly — while hold­ing up a dis­tort­ing mir­ror to society.

Since 2002, the Heureka-Zun­ft­markt (guild fair) has been a beloved part of the Luth­er Fest­iv­al, show­cas­ing the for­got­ten crafts of print­ers, rope makers, coopers, wood­work­ers, bag makers, leath­er cut­ters, per­fumers, map­makers, iron- and sil­ver­smiths, pot­ters, pre­cious stone mer­chants, lamp makers, stone­ma­sons, bead makers, felt makers, gar­ment cut­ters, bas­ket weavers, flower arrangers, and many oth­er skilled artisans.