Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity memorial church to the Reformation, built 1709-1725. This was previously the site of the Guildhall (Haus zur Münze – House of Coinage), called the 'world's most beautiful house', which was destroyed in 1689 during the Nine Years' War by troops loyal to Louis XIV.
The church was built at this location because the citizens of Worms believed it was here that Martin Luther had stood before the King in 1521. Destroyed during a bombing raid in 1945, the church was restored to its former glory in 1959.
Ludwig Seekatz, an artist from Worms, created a monumental painting for the newly constructed Trinity Church in 1733, depicting the scene before the Imperial Diet in 1521. The painting was hung above the gallery on the western wall of the church, where it was enclosed in a frame made of plaster.
Its signature identifies the artist as Johann Martin Seekatz. J. M. Seekatz (born 1669 in Grünstadt), father of Ludwig Seekatz, accepted the commission to paint the church in 1725. But he passed away in 1729. His son continued the work in the name of his father. The painting was restored in 1817 by Philipp Christian Seekatz, a nephew of Ludwig Seekatz.
It was destroyed in the fire that burned down the church in 1945. A watercolour remains preserved (gouache – original 31 x 39 cm). There is every indication that this painting is the work of Philipp Christian Seekatz, who will have created it during his restoration of the large-scale work. But some details of his watercolour differ from the original, the most striking of which is the architecture: The engraving by Remshart and the painting in the church show the pilasters on the walls, the cornice above the windows and the cupola ceiling to be richly adorned.
In contrast, Philipp Christian Seekatz reduced all of these features to classicist lines and forms. A modern mosaic by Walter Eglin (Basel) entitled "Luther before the King and the Realm" now hangs in place of the former painting in the reconstructed Trinity Church. A memorial plaque attached to the north-eastern wall of the choir in the Trinity Church commemorates the magnificent Guildhall once located here, which together with the Burgher House (Bürgerhof) formed the administrative centre of Worms. Its destruction was perceived as divine retribution, prompting the city to build Trinity Church at precisely this location during reconstruction.
Today the walls of the church are adorned with letters, fashioned in clay, depicting the Apostles' Creed and Luther's statement on its content.