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Lutherdenkmal im Sommer (Foto: Bernward Bertram)

Luther Monument

...one of the world’s largest monuments to the Reformation!

The Luther Monument, created by Ernst Rietschel to honour the reformer Martin Luther, was unveiled on 25th June 1868. Together with the International Reformation Monument in Geneva (the Reformation Wall), it is the largest reformation monument worldwide.

The concept

The beginnings of new theological thinking and the reform movements in the 15th and 16th centuries were closely connected with developments in science and secular power. Rietschel’s plan for the monument is based on Luther’s hymn “Ein feste Burg” (one of the many English translations is “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”). Its square base is surrounded on three sides by a wall, and on the raised parts o f this wall (which form the “battlements”) are the coats of arms of cities that sided with the Reformation. Statues of figures from imperial politics and Humanism in the 16th century who were connected with Luther stand on raised pedestals, and among them sit three female figures which symbolize the events and the effects of the Reformation. Luther with his bible stands on the main pedestal In the middle of the monument. He is looking towards where the Bishop’s Palace once stood, the place where, in the shadow of the cathedral, he stood before the emperor and the empire. Below him on four plinths are the pre-Reformers Wyclif and Hus, and Petrus Waldus, founder of the Waldensian movement, and the monk Savonarola. On the sides of the main pedestal are coats of arms, medallions and reliefs that illustrate the events of the Reformation.

Description of the monument

On raised pedestals on the wall are statues representing the rulers Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, and Philip the Magnanimous, Landgrave of Hesse. They supported and championed Luther and the Reformation. Also on pedestals are the reformers Philip Melanchthon und Johann Reuchlin, and the female figures represent the Reformations cities of Augsburg, Speyer und Magdeburg.
On the raised parts of the wall are the coats of arms of 27 cities that sided with the Reformation. On the main pedestal in the middle of the monument stands Martin Luther, and seated next to him are the pre-Reformers John Wyclif from England and the Frenchman Petrus Waldus, founder of the Waldensians, a religious movement, the Czech Johann Hus, who was burned at the stake during the Council of Constance in 1415, and the Italian Gironimo Savonarola, who suffered the same fate in 1498.

A brochure in English on the Luther Monument in Worms can be bought in the Tourist Information office.

Friedrich der Weise, Kurfürst von Sachsen [6]

Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony [6]

sovereign and protector of Luther. He rejected the candidacy offered to him at the imperial election in 1519, which is indicated by the imperial crown at his feet.

Philipp der Großmütige, Landgraf von Hessen [12]

Philip the Magnanimous, Landgrave of Hesse [12]

Promoter of the Reformation and one of the leaders of the Schmalkaldic League founded by evangelical princes.

Johann Reuchlin [8]

Professor at Ingolstadt. Humanist and excellent connoisseur of ancient languages. He sharply fought the grievances of his time, but refused any contact with Luther.

Philip Melanchthon [10]

grandnephew of Johann Reuchlin. Professor in Wittenberg, humanist and theologian, Luther's colleague and friend.

Augsburg with the Peace Palm [7]

In Augsburg, on June 25, 1530, the Evangelicals presented their creed to Emperor Charles V. The spiritual and political coexistence of the denominations was regulated in the Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555.

The protesting Speyer [9]

At the Reichstag in Speyer in 1529, the evangelical estates protested against a resolution of the Reich Assembly that forbade the continuation of the Reformation work; hence the term "Protestants".

Mourning Magdeburg [11]

Magdeburg was plundered and destroyed in 1631 during the Thirty Years' War on the orders of the army commander of the Catholic League, Tilly.

Below the battlements you can see the coats of arms of 27 cities that joined the Reformation:

[E] Brunswick, Bremen, Konstanz, Eisenach; Augsburg [7]
[F] Eisleben, Emden, Erfurt, Frankfurt/M.
[G] Schwäbisch Hall, Hamburg, Heilbronn, Jena; Speyer [9]
[H] Konigsberg, Leipzig, Lindau, Lübeck
[J] Marburg, Memmingen, Nördlingen, Riga; Magdeburg [11]
[K] Schmalkalden, Strasbourg, Ulm, Wittenberg

Inside (2-5 / A-D)
On the main pedestal (middle group) is
dr MartinLuther [1]

The reformer, in a sermon tunic and bareheaded, is holding the Bible in his left hand, on which he is resting his right fist. His 3.5m high statue is the central figure of the monument. (See: "Luther and the Reformers")

The Frenchman Petrus Waldus[2]

Founder of the religious lay community of the "Waldenser", committed to the ideal of poverty and persecuted by the Catholic Church, 12th century

The Englishman John Wiclef (Wyclef)[3],

who worked towards a reform of the church in the 14th century, was the most important spiritual forerunner of the Reformation. (Doctrine of grace, Bible.)

The Czech Johann Hus [4],

who was burned at the Council of Constance in 1415 as a follower of Wyclif and for processing heretical thoughts about the doctrine of the sacraments.

Der Italiener Girolamo (Hieronymus) Savonarola [5]

The Italian Girolamo (Hieronymus) Savonarola [5],
who, as prior of San Marco in Florence, sharply criticized the secular papacy and was burned as a heretic in 1498.

Luther auf dem Reichstag zu Worms vor Kaiser Karl V., 17./18. April 1521

The main pedestal consists of two cubes, the bottom one shows scenes from Luther's life:

[A] Luther at the Diet of Worms before Emperor Charles V.,
17th/18th April 1521