Wittenberg City Church St. Mary

The Wittenberg City Church of St. Mary was completed in 1283 and is thus the oldest building in the city. It had a very special significance - it was Luther's place of preaching since 1514 and has been considered the "mother church of the Reformation" ever since. Every year on Reformation Day on October 31, the Stadtkirche is therefore the focus of commemoration alongside the Schlosskirche. Today, you can see Martin Luther's original sermon pulpit on loan in the Luther House.

City Church of St. Mary in Lutherstadt Wittenberg ©TourismusRegion Anhalt-Dessau-Wittenberg e.V.

Holy Mass was also celebrated in the town church in German for the first time, and the Lord's Supper was served to the congregation in bread and wine for the first time - a message with a signal effect that went around the world. A short time later, in 1525, the church was also the venue for the wedding of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora, which is still celebrated every year in June with a large town festival.

The Reformation Altar in the Wittenberg Town Church of St. Mary in Lutherstadt Wittenberg ©Klaus-Peter Voigt, IMG Sachsen-Anhalt

The important painter Lucas Cranach the Elder created an impressive Reformation altar for the city church. On four panels he shows a detailed painting of the Last Supper with Luther as one of the disciples. Philipp Melanchthon and Johannes Bugenhagen have also been immortalized on the altar. In addition, the church houses an ornately decorated baptismal font by Hermann Vischer as the oldest exhibit.

Header picture: ©Michael Bader, IMG Sachsen-Anhalt