MONUMENTS COMMÉMORATIFS DE LUTHER À EISLEBEN ET WITTENBERG

Just over a hundred kilometers apart, the towns of Eisleben and Wittenberg were designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1996. One of the reasons for this is the heritage associated with Martin Luther and the Reformation, a veritable historical and religious turning point in German, European and world history. A visit to either town will take you to places that played a decisive role in Luther's personal journey, from the house where he was born to the house where he died, the monastery where he lived and even the church where he nailed down his theses.

Lutherstadt Eisleben

It was here, in this small Saxon town nestling in the Harz mountains, that Martin Luther was born in 1483. It was also here that he died in 1546. The old town itself is an attractive place to visit, with its medieval buildings. You'll find the house where he was born (which became a museum in the late ^17th century and a place of pilgrimage) and the house where the man of faith ended his days. In the town's main square, a beautiful statue pays tribute to Luther. It was unveiled to mark the ^400th anniversary of his birth. It shows him holding a Bible in one hand and the famous papal bull written against him by the Pope in the other. On the base, reliefs refer to different stages in Luther's life.

Lutherstadt Wittenberg

In Wittenberg, the Schlosskirche (castle church), Lutherhaus (Luther's house), Stadtkirche (city church) and Melanchthonhaus (Melanchthon's house) have been singled out by UNESCO as part of this ensemble. This charming little town was once the nerve center of the Reformation. It was on the doors of the castle church that Luther nailed his 95 theses on October 31, 1517. A real turning point in the history of Christianity. Phillip Melanchthon, one of Luther's closest disciples, also lived here, and his house is one of the city's landmarks.

The so-called Luther House was in fact an Augustinian monastery, built in the early 16th century. He lived and worked here for over thirty years, first as a monk and then with his family. It was here that he taught his Reformation to students from all over Europe. Since 1883, Cranach's personal objects and paintings have been on display in the museum.