Lutherstadt Wittenberg

We encounter lived faith in the Wittenberg parishes. Central places of Protestant history lie close together in the old town. As a promenade, the Collegienstraße connects many of them. The eastern end is marked by the Luther House, the former residence of Martin Luther, in which the largest museum of Reformation history in the world is located. Particularly impressive is the original Lutherstube. Together with the former university building “Augusteum”, in which special exhibitions are shown, the Luther House forms a building complex steeped in history. The courtyard invites you to linger with a cosy café.

At the other end of Collegienstraße, the “Pickelhaube” of the Wittenberg Castle Church can be seen from afar, where Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, his closest companion, are buried. On 31 October 1517, Luther published his 95 theses on the door of the castle church, which were directed against the papal sale of indulgences. This event is considered the birth of the Protestant Church, which is remembered by people all over the world on Reformation Day. In Wittenberg, a big festival is celebrated around 31 October.

The friends Luther and Melanchthon are also united in two statues on the municipal market in front of the town hall. The Melanchthonhaus on Collegienstraße provides information about the “teacher of Germany”, humanists and pioneering pedagogues. Numerous houses in the city centre point to famous reformers as former residents, including Andreas Karlstadt, Justus Jonas and Johannes Bugenhagen.
The magnificently renovated city church of St. Mary was the preaching place of Martin Luther, who spoke here for the first time on German to his congregation. On the altar of Lucas Cranach the Elder, the reformer can be seen with contemporaries. The famous Renaissance artist, court painter of Elector Frederick III, and his son Lucas Cranach the Younger contributed significantly to the spread of the Reformation with their workshop. In the Wittenberg Cranachhöfe, visitors can trace the life of Cranach, who was also mayor and successful entrepreneur. Like the historic Luther sites, the Cranachhöfe are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In addition to Reformation Day, the wedding of Martin Luther and his wife Katharina von Bora on 13 June 1525 is celebrated in Wittenberg in early summer. The highlight of the Luther celebrations with central offers in Wittenberg was the Reformation year 2017. The panorama installed at that time by the artist Yadegar Asisi is dedicated to life in Wittenberg at the time of Luther.
But Wittenberg also has new sights to offer, such as a school designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the “House of History”, with an exhibition on everyday life in the GDR and the Alaris Butterfly Park.