Wittenberg

:''This page is about the German town. See also Wittenberg University, Ohio, USA and Wittenberg, Wisconsin

Statue of Martin Luther in the main square

Wittenberg, officially [Die] Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59' E, 51° 51' N, on the Elbe river. It has a population of about 50,000.

The importance of Wittenberg is due to its close connection with Martin Luther and the dawn of the Reformation: several of its buildings are associated with the events of that time. Part of the Augustinian monastery in which Luther dwelt, at first as a monk and in later life as owner with his wife and family, is preserved, and is now the world's premier Luther museum. It contains numerous priceless historical artifacts, and portraits and other paintings by the Cranachs.

All Saints' Church, the Schlosskirche ("castle church"), to the doors of which Luther is said to have nailed his famous 95 theses in 1517, dates from 1439-1499. It was seriously damaged by fire in 1760 during a bombardment by the French during the Seven Years' War, was practically rebuilt, and was later (1885-1892) restored. The wooden doors, burnt in 1760, were replaced in 1858 by bronze doors, bearing the Latin text of the theses. Inside the church are the tombs of Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, and of the electors Frederick the Wise (by Peter Vischer the Elder, 1527) and John the Constant (by Hans Vischer), and portraits of the reformers by Lucas Cranach the younger.

St. Mary's Church, the parish church in which Luther often preached, was built in the 14th century, but has been much altered since Luther's time. It contains a magnificent painting by Lucas Cranach the elder, representing the Lord's Supper (with the faces of Luther and other reformers), Baptism and Confession, also a font by Hermann Vischer (1457). In addition, there are numerous historic paintings in the church.

The ancient electoral palace is another of the buildings that suffered severely in 1760; it now contains archives.

There are also Melanchthon's house and the house of Lucas Cranach the elder (1472-1553), who was mayor of Wittenberg.

Statues of Luther (by Schadow), Melanchthon and Bugenhagen embellish the town.

The spot outside the Elster Gate where Luther publicly burned the papal bull in 1520 is marked by an oak tree.

History

Market square. The ancient Rathaus, city hall, is to the left with a statue of Martin Luther in front of it, and the Stadtkirche can be see towering from behind the buildings at the right.

Back side of the Schlosskirche, All Saints Church, on whose door Luther is said to have nailed his 95 theses. It was the church for the Court and the University. View from the courtyard of the mostly-demolished palace.

House of Philipp Melanchthon, professor of Greek and active defender of Luther's work.

The settlement was first mentioned in 1180 as a small village founded by Flemish colonists. In 1293 the settlement was granted a town charter. Wittenberg soon developed into an important trade center during the following centuries due to its location.The city's importance reached one of its heydays at the end of the 15th century, when Friedrich III, Elector of Saxony (The Wise) took up residence in Wittenberg. Several parts of the city were extended in those days: the second bridge over the Elbe river was built from 1486 to 1490 and the Castle Church was built from 1490 to 1499, the same time the palace was rebuilt.It was the capital of the little duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg, the rulers of which afterwards became electors of Saxony, and it continued to be a Saxon residence under the Ernestine electors. In 1502 the University was founded and gave a home to many important thinkers, among them Martin Luther (Professor of Theology from 1508) and Philipp Melanchthon (Professor of Greek from 1518).

By tradition, on October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses against the selling of indulgences to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Side view of the Stadtkirche, St. Marys Church, which was the parish church for Wittenberg.

The Anabaptist movement had one of its early homes in Wittenberg, when the Zwickau prophets moved there in late 1521, only to be suppressed by Luther when he returned from the Wartburg in spring 1522.

The Capitulation of Wittenberg (1547) is the name given to the treaty by which John Frederick the Magnanimous was compelled to resign the electoral dignity and most of his territory to the Albertine branch of the Saxon family.

In 1760 the town was bombarded by the Austrians. It was occupied by the French in 1806, and refortified in 1813 by command of Napoleon. In 1814 it was stormed by the Prussians under Tauentzien, who received the title of "von Wittenberg" as a reward. In 1815 Wittenberg became part of Prussia. Wittenberg continued to be a fortress of the third class until the reorganization of German defences after the foundation of the new empire led to its being dismantled in 1873.

Wittenberg was spared destruction during World War II, a fate suffered by many other historic German cities at the end of World War II. The allies agreed not to bomb Wittenberg, though there was combat in Wittenberg, with bullet pock-marks visible on the statues of Luther and Melanchthon in the town square. At the end of World War II Wittenberg was occupied by Russian forces, and became part of the German Democratic Republic in 1949. By means of the peaceful revolution of 1989 the communist regime was brought down and the city has been governed democratically since 1990.

Coat of arms

Copy of Wittenberg's oldest arms

Wittenberg's civic coat of arms conveys with its various heraldic elements something of the town's history. On 27 June 1293, Wittenberg was granted town rights by Duke Albrecht II. There then arose a mediaeval town whose highest governing body was its council. This council, known to have existed as early as 1317, was given the job of administering the town in its care through law and legislation, and of handling the town's revenue. For documentation, the administration used its own seal.

One version of what is believed to be the town's oldest town seal, which the council used, and which dated from the first half of the 14th century, set the pattern with its elements for various civic coats of arms down to the present day.

The coat of arms symbolizes with its crenellated wall and the towers within and each side a town that was already strongly fortified by 1409.

The two shields in the centre form the coat of arms of the Electorate of Saxony with the Saxon arms on the right, whose gold and black stripes recall the Ascanian rulers' house colours with the Rautenkranz (literally "lozenge wreath", although it is no such thing, as can be seen at the Saxony article) across them symbolizing the town's founder Duke Albrecht II since 1262, when it appeared in his arms.

The shield on the left is the Wittenberg district's arms. In 1356, Emperor Charles IV bestowed upon the Duke of Saxony-Wittenberg the honour of Elector. Wittenberg became an Electoral residence. The shield with its crossed swords stands for the office of "Arch-Marshal of the Roman-German Empire" inextricably joined by the Electorate, brought to Wittenberg by Rudolf I. Both coats of arms continued to be used by the Wettins after the Ascanians died out.

The flowing water at the foot of the shield symbolizes Wittenberg's location on the river Elbe.

The fish is a salmon, which were once abundant in the Elbe. The fishermen, like all professions in town, got their own order in 1422, and the fish found its way onto their coat of arms.

Town partnerships

* Göttingen Lower Saxony since 1988
* Bretten Baden-Württemberg since 1990
* Springfield, Ohio United States since 1995
* Békéscsaba Hungary since 1999
* Haderslev Denmark since 2004

External links

* City map.
* The town's own website (in English).
* Castle Church.
* Wittenberg Photo Gallery
* A Blog about Wittenberg (in English)