July 3, 2023 - Germany
Wittenberg - Martin Luther

After departing Erfurt, we went a little out of our way to drive through Jena, and then drove to Wittenberg.

The little town of Wittenberg was the adopted hometown of Martin Luther, and the birthplace of his Protestant Reformation.  Wittenberg was part of communist East Germany but fortunately they didn't tear down the historic sites so the town is remarkably well-preserved.

We started out in the Town Square.  Here, Lynnette is checkout out a map of the Old Town.

Another Wittenberg son and Reformation big name is Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), whose statue is also in the Town Square, pictured below.

Melanchthon was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and influential designer of educational systems.  He stands next to Luther and John Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and shaper of Protestantism.  Melanchthon was perhaps even more brilliant than Luther.  He taught several topics (specializing in ancient languages, pedagogy, and theology.  Particularly gifted with languages, he provided Luter with invaluable assistance when translating the Bible into German from the original Greek and Hebrew texts.

Melanchthon's importance for the Reformation lay essentially in the fact that he systematized Luther's ideas, defended them in public, and made them the basis of a religious education. These two figures, by complementing each other, could be said to have harmoniously achieved the results of the Reformation. Melanchthon was impelled by Luther to work for the Reformation; his own inclinations would have kept him in academia.  While Luther scattered the sparks among the people, Melanchthon had the sympathy of educated people and scholars. Both Luther's strength of faith and Melanchthon's calmness, temperance and love of peace, had a share in the success of the movement.  Both were aware of their mutual position and they thought of it as a “divine necessity”.

To get to the Luther House, we had to pass through a 16th-century college building called the Augusteum.  It was once an extension of the University of Wittenberg "Leucorea".

Lynnette standing outside the Luther House where Martin Luther lived and worked for more than 35 years.  He moved into the building as an unknown Monk in 1508.  Being a professer of theology at the University, it was here that he prepared his lectures.  In 1532, ownership of the building was transferred to him, and he inhabited it until his death in 1546.

You go through the Augusteum building, and cross a courtyard to get to the Luther House.  We got to the Luther House somehow but not by crossing the courtyard.  So we never really saw the outside of the Luther House.  Here it is, courtesy of Wikipedia.

In this picture, the Augusteum building is on the right and the Luther House is on the left.

In 1516 Lucas Cranach the Elder was commissioned by the town council to create this painting -- The Ten Commandments -- for the courtroom in the old town house.   It now hangs in the refectory.

Each square represents one of the ten commandments -- either being followed - or broken.

This is the door where Luther nailed his 95 Theses.  They were a bold attack on the Roman Catholic Church's practice of "selling  letters of indulgence that promised 'forgiveness for all thy sins, transgressions, and excesses'".  For only a $29.95!

Of course, the old wooden door is long gone and has been replaced by a bronze door with the 95 Theses in Latin engraved on it.

Above the door is an image of the crucified Christ flanked by Luther (on the left) and his fellow Reformer Philipp Melanchthon (on the right), with the skyline of Wittenberg behind them.

Next to the Castle Church was a little but interesting museum.  What struck me was how many influencial and enabling friends Martin Luther had.  Without them things might have been quite different for Luther.  The most important friend might have been Friedrich der Weise -- a man who Luther never met face-to-face as far as is known -- who protected Luther from the Pope and Catholic Church who would not have minded if Luther had been burned at the stake.  While Prince Elector Frederick remained devoutly Catholic throughout his life, his support for Luther, Melanchthon , and the early Protestant Reformers never wavered.

Other friends included Philipp Melanchthon (mentioned earlier) and Lucas Cranach: painter, illustrator, influencer, and owner of printing presses that churned out Luther's pamphlets.

Louis Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He has been considered the most successful German artist of his time.  He was the only painter who had permission to do portraits of Luther and his family.  Cranach and his school produced and reproduced some 2,000 Luther portraits, and he was on eof the first printers of Luther's writings.  He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm. He was a close friend of Martin Luther. Cranach also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art.  His son Lucas Cranach the Younger and others continued to create versions of his father's works for decades after his death.

Now we're inside of the "All Saints" or Castle Church.

Beautiful stained glass windows behind the alter.

At lower right is the tomb marker for Friedrich the Wise'syounger brother, John the Steadfast.  On the left side -- outside of this picture -- is the tomb marker for Friedrich the Wise himself.

In the middle of the church, in front of the pulpit, to the right, is Martin Luther's burial site.  He died in 1546.

Opposite of Luther's tomb, on the left side of the church, is Philipp Melanchthon's tomb.  He died in 1560.

Frederick the Wise, who died in 1525, is also buried in Castle Church.

Beautiful stained glass windows.

We didn't think the Town Church of St. Mary would be open today but we lucked out and it was.  St. Mary's Town Church and Parish Church is the mother church of the Reformation. The first Protestant service was held in it in 1521 by Justus Jonas the Elder and Andreas Bodenstein of Karlstadt. As Martin Luther's preaching church, it was the Reformation official church of the general superintendents of the Saxon Kurkreis.

The Church was built in the 14th century, but has been much altered since Luther's time.