It’s a tradition that’s been around since the 50s. It takes creativity, ingenuity and a whole lot of Wartburg spirit. The Wartburg rivalry with Luther College has long been intense, and so have the pranks.The pranking tradition began with the mystery of the missing Knight armor which was kept in a special little cubicle in the P.E. Complex, which was rather inaccessible.
To retaliate, Wartburg students painted Luther’s statue of Martin Luther yellow. The pranks continued the following years and some pranks became quite destructive. Students often went overboard trying to top each other. Luther students put a big ‘LC’ in the middle of the Wartburg football field.
Wartburg students responded by burning a huge ‘W’ in the Luther football field. Wartburg students used a chemical called atrazene, so Luther had to dig down three feet to get rid of the Knight’s symbol. But apparently Luther hadn’t dug deep enough because the big ‘W’ on the Norse field showed up for three years after the prank occurred.
The pranking tradition has slowly disappeared, but the traditional rivalry between Luther and Wartburg students and alumni will always hold true. Here is a story that was shared with us about a friendly Wartburg/Luther rivalry from Brian King ’92.
He was the first in his county to get a Wartburg plate (“REVD UP”) and their new Christian Education Director at Bethany Lutheran Church, Kristin Elerding was the first to get a Luther plate (“4 DINGS”). Besides helping her decorate her office with various Wartburg promotional materials and a lot of razzing back and forth at services and youth events, they decided to take it the next level.
They are doing a year-long Sunday School food drive for their local food pantry and have divided the Sunday School up into Wartburg (boys) vs. Luther (girls) and are keeping weekly and monthly tallies with various “penalties” for the “losing” team’s captain: Brian or Kristin. At the end of the year, the winning side gets to decorate the losing captain’s yard and there might be some blue or orange-dyed hair along the way!
To retaliate, Wartburg students painted Luther’s statue of Martin Luther yellow. The pranks continued the following years and some pranks became quite destructive. Students often went overboard trying to top each other. Luther students put a big ‘LC’ in the middle of the Wartburg football field.
Wartburg students responded by burning a huge ‘W’ in the Luther football field. Wartburg students used a chemical called atrazene, so Luther had to dig down three feet to get rid of the Knight’s symbol. But apparently Luther hadn’t dug deep enough because the big ‘W’ on the Norse field showed up for three years after the prank occurred.
The pranking tradition has slowly disappeared, but the traditional rivalry between Luther and Wartburg students and alumni will always hold true. Here is a story that was shared with us about a friendly Wartburg/Luther rivalry from Brian King ’92.
He was the first in his county to get a Wartburg plate (“REVD UP”) and their new Christian Education Director at Bethany Lutheran Church, Kristin Elerding was the first to get a Luther plate (“4 DINGS”). Besides helping her decorate her office with various Wartburg promotional materials and a lot of razzing back and forth at services and youth events, they decided to take it the next level.
They are doing a year-long Sunday School food drive for their local food pantry and have divided the Sunday School up into Wartburg (boys) vs. Luther (girls) and are keeping weekly and monthly tallies with various “penalties” for the “losing” team’s captain: Brian or Kristin. At the end of the year, the winning side gets to decorate the losing captain’s yard and there might be some blue or orange-dyed hair along the way!
Go Knights!
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