The former electoral residence in Wittenberg was once the center of intellectual life in Europe. The old town has outstanding historical evidence of the Reformation period, such as B. the town church, the castle church or the Lutherhaus. Martin Luther (1483–1546) was born and died in Eisleben. The house where he was born is one of the oldest history museums in Germany according to a2zgov.
The oldest of the three churches is St. Peter and Paul (799) in Niederzell, which is particularly famous for its Romanesque apse paintings. The building visible today, however, dates from the 11th and 12th centuries. The St. Maria and Markus Minster in Mittelzell was formerly the monastery church, but is now a Catholic parish church. The impressive roof structure of the three-aisled basilica resembles an inverted ship’s hull. The lodge and the grave slab of Emperor Heinrich III are worth seeing here. as well as the rich treasury. The collegiate church of St. Georg is located in Oberzell. It was consecrated in 896 and is mainly famous for its magnificent wall paintings from the Ottonian period. The monumental cycle of frescoes depicting the nine miracles of Christ was created around 980. It is considered to be one of the most important Romanesque wall paintings ever. In its appearance, the church has been preserved almost unchanged to this day.
The history of art in the 10th and 11th centuries was significantly advanced not only through the architecture of the churches, but also within the monastery walls. Among other things, the Benedictine monastery was known throughout the Christian world for its library, which was built up by librarian Reginbert from the early 9th century to become one of the most extensive libraries of its time. In the scriptorium, significant book illuminations were created in the tradition of the St. Gallen monastery, including the Gospel Book of Otto III. and the pericopes of Heinrich II. The surviving inventory of the Reichenau School of Painting comprises around 40 codices.
On the festival of Mark, on April 25th of each year, the bones of the evangelist Mark are carried in a valuable, ornately decorated shrine all over the island. The Holy Blood Festival is celebrated one week after Whit Monday. It is reminiscent of a Byzantine abbot’s cross that was given to the abbey in 925 and, according to legend, is said to contain the blood of Christ. Finally, on August 15, the Assumption of Mary, the Virgin Mary, the patroness of the cathedral, is commemorated.
Luther memorials: facts
| Official title: | Luther memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg |
| Cultural monument: | The house where Martin Luther was born and where he died in Eisleben, the Luther Hall, the Melanchthon House, and the town and castle church in Wittenberg |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Germany |
| Location: | Lutherstadt Eisleben, Lutherstadt Wittenberg |
| Appointment: | 1996 |
| Meaning: | Stone testimonies from the life of the reformer Martin Luther and his pupil Philipp Melanchthon |
Luther memorials: history
| 1483 | Branch of the Luther family in Eisleben |
| 11/10/1483 | Martin Luther is born |
| 1508 | Martin Luther’s ordination to the priesthood |
| 1511 | Luther’s settlement in the Black Monastery |
| 1512 | Luther becomes subprior of the Black Monastery |
| 10/31/1517 | Publication of the famous 95 theses |
| 1518 | Settlement of the scholar Philipp Melanchthon in Wittenberg |
| 1521-22 | Luther’s stay at the Wartburg |
| March 1522 | Invocavit sermons of Luther in the city church Wittenberg |
| June 13, 1525 | Luther marries Katharina von Bora |
| 1532 | Donation of the Black Monastery by Elector Johann Friedrich I the Magnanimous to Martin Luther |
| February 18, 1546 | Martin Luther dies |
| February 22, 1546 | Martin Luther’s funeral |
| April 13, 1560 | Philipp Melanchthon dies |
| 1601 | Fire in Eisleben, demolition of all the houses around Luther’s birthplace |
| 1689 | Fire in the birth house |
| 1982 | Restoration of the Black Monastery |
The Wörlitz Gardens and Wörlitz Castle are the artistic highlight of the Garden Realm. This park is located 25 kilometers east of the city of Dessau and was created between 1765 and 1810 as one of the first landscape gardens on the European mainland. Here lakes and canals, classical and neo-Gothic buildings, bridges, grottos and statues form a harmonious unit together with the Wörlitz Castle. Today it houses a valuable art collection and contains the original interior furnishings. Also worth seeing is the Gothic House from 1813, which with its canal front is reminiscent of a Venetian church, as well as the Church of St. Petri, the starting point of the neo-Gothic.
To the southwest of the city of Dessau is the rococo palace Mosigkau, also called “little Sanssouci”, built by Christian Friedrich Damm (* 1721, † 1758). In its gallery room it houses masterpieces by Flemish and Dutch painters, including Rubens and van Dyck. Many rooms still show the original furnishings from the 18th century with furniture, mirrors, porcelain and faience. The Mosigkauer Park with its maze was laid out between 1755 and 1757, and the Japanese tea house was built in 1775.
The Oranienbaum palace and park, which was influenced by the Dutch Baroque and served as a widow’s residence for Henriette Catharina Fürstin von Anhalt-Dessau (* 1637, † 1708), dates back to the end of the 17th century. An ensemble of town, palace and park was created on their behalf. At the end of the 18th century, Prince Leopold III. and had numerous rooms in the house remodeled in the Chinese style. The Anglo-Chinese garden with pagoda, tea house and arched bridges can also be traced back to his initiative. On the southern edge of the park, he added one of the longest orangeries in Europe in 1812.
To the north-west of the Dessau main station is the classicist Georgium Palace from 1782. It houses the Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie with over 2000 works. Alongside Wörlitz, the Georgium is the most important landscape park of the world cultural heritage in terms of art history. The classicist country estate of the princely wife Louise, the Luisium in Waldersee, and its English garden are of harmonious beauty. The baroque castle Großkühnau was built for the prince’s brother, Prince Albert von Anhalt-Dessau (* 1750, † 1811), today the seat of the DessauWörlitz Cultural Foundation. At the Sieglitzer Berg, Prince Leopold III. finally create a 25 hectare forest park, which he described as an “orderly wilderness”. Among other things, there was a medicinal bath here, which was supposed to alleviate the rheumatic complaints of the prince.
