Wittenberg with Castle church tower in background
Wittenberg, city, east central Germany, in Saxony-Anhalt, on the Elbe River. It is a railroad junction, and factories for the manufacture of textiles, hosiery, leather, machinery, pottery, electrical apparatus, bricks, cement, and chemicals are here.
Castle church towerWittenberg contains many architectural landmarks associated with the Protestant Reformation. Particularly noteworthy is the Castle Church, on the door of which Martin Luther in 1517 nailed his 95 theses opposing the granting of indulgences.
Castle church door
95 theses in bronze
Martin Luther at the cross
Within the church are the tombs of Luther and of the German religious reformer Melanchthon.
the tomb inscription
Of interest, too, are the home of Luther, now a museum; the houses of Melanchthon and of the German painter and etcher Lucas Cranach the Elder; and the parish church, dating from the 14th century, where Luther preached. Luther, Melanchthon, and the German religious reformer Johann Bugenhagen were all faculty members of the University of Wittenberg (1502), which was merged with the University of Halle in 1817. The spot where Luther burned the papal bull condemning his doctrines is marked by an oak tree.
fountain in courtyard of Luther home
doorway to old residence of
(being restored 1990)
The city sustained heavy damage in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and in the Seven Years' War. Wittenberg, following the deliberations at the Congress of Vienna, was annexed by Prussia in 1815. Population (1992 estimate) 48,400.
Text from Microsoft Encarta
Wittenberg hotels, Germany
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