Luther in Coburg
Coburg and the Reformation
Coburg in the Luther decade
V es t e C ob u r g A r t C ollec t i on s
Georg Konrad Rothbart
Portrait of Martin Luther in the
Reformer Chamber, 1844
A word of
welcome…
Dear Coburger and visitors,
Dear friends of the Reformation Decade
On Good Friday, 15 April 1530, 70 nobles, 7 knights, 120
travellers and soldiers ride through the Spitaltor in Coburg.
Among them Martin Luther, the theologians Philipp
Melanchthon and Justus Jonas as well as the influential
electoral councillor Georg Spalatin. The travelling party
takes up lodgings in Coburg. Luther cannot travel on
to Augsburg with his companions because he is under the
Imperial Ban.
Consequently, Luther stays in Coburg for almost six
months.
2
Walking up the hill to the castle, Veste Coburg, he summed
up his first impression in these words: “It is a perfectly
charming place and suitable for studying”. In the Veste Coburg, he composed numerous confessions and pamphlets
and devoted himself to translating. His literary activity
in Coburg was very extensive. In 172 days he wrote more
than 120 letters to his friends in Augsburg, as well as to
his family in Wittenberg. There are highly imaginative
descriptions of his abode: “Of the empire of the birds”; of
“the castle full of demons”, “solitude” – he was disturbed by
the squawking jackdaws and crows, and much more.
ra i ner b ra b ec
The town of Coburg feels close links to the Theologian
and Reformer Martin Luther and expresses that closeness
in the context of the Reformation Decade. We hope you
enjoy discovering more about Martin Luther and his time
in Coburg.
Best regards
Norbert Tessmer
Lord Mayor
of Coburg
Dr. Birgit Weber
2nd Mayor
of Coburg
3
Luther in Coburg
T
his brochure is appearing at the right time. We
are on the threshold of the 500th anniversary of
the Reformation. In 1517, Luther published his
95 theses. They were widely debated and were the initial
impulse for the Reformation.
When I am in Wittenberg, I encounter large groups of
Americans, Brazilians and many other nationalities. They
visit Wittenberg as Luther’s domicile to learn more about
the Reformer. In the last few years, hotels, restaurants,
and many other businesses have flourished there thanks to
tourists’ interest in Luther. The churches are well-frequented too.
And Coburg? It is far too little known – both worldwide and within Bavaria – that the most significant Luther
site in Bavaria, and the most beautiful in Germany, is in
Coburg. Luther lived in the Veste for six
months. Luther’s importance in combination with the magnificence of the Veste
Coburg – this is something Coburg can
only be congratulated on. Much more
can develop from this to benefit the town
than has done so far. May history inspire
the present and may faith inspire culture.
That is what I sincerely wish all citizens
of the town and all visitors.
Dr. Dorothea Greiner
Regional Bishop of the Lutheran-Protestant Church District in Bayreuth
4
The region of Coburg –
Region of the Reformation
D
uring the Reformation, developments, which had
already begun in the late Middle Ages, came to
a head. Due to a favourable conjuncture of, for example, new achievements in technology and the emergence
and interaction of significant individuals, the Reformation
was able to break out and unfold correspondingly in the
first decades of the 16th century. In this way, the Reformation set a new epochal course in the humanities, theology,
political and church organisation, the consequences of
which continue to have an effect up to the present.
That particularly applies to the region of Coburg. It
became Protestant through Martin Luther, closely linked
to and committed to the biblical gospel of the merciful
God solely through Jesus Christ. At that time a Protestant
church structure arose which, from then on, assumed the
priesthood of all believers, which could appoint clergy and
possibly dismiss them again.
In doing so, they rediscovered their obligation towards
their neighbours, not for their own sakes, but rather out
of their own direct experience of divine love. Furthermore,
in the course of the Reformation, parishes, almost all of
which have survived up to the present, were confirmed,
reorganised or founded. Ultimately a school system developed in the town and the region which can still be perceived
today, despite several later additions and reorganisations. RAINER AXMANN
5
Martin Luther and the region of Coburg
T
he Coburg region, which was known as ‘Sächsische
Ortlande zu Franken’, or ‘Pflege Coburg’, meaning
‘territory of Coburg in Franconia’ during the time
of the Reformation, belongs to Franconia in terms of both
geography and language. However, historically (from 1513
to 1518) and culturally it belonged to the Wettin territory,
and from 1485 to its Ernestine territory. It was the most
southerly situated region of the former electorate of Saxony.
If we follow the ‘Romweg’ map by the Nuremberg
master Erhard Etzlaub from 1500, showing the path that
Martin Luther took on his journey to and from Rome,
and which he undertook on the authority of his monastic order in autumn 1310 and spring 1311, it then leads
through Coburg. Mid-April 1518, Luther came through
Coburg once again – this time because he was on the way to
Heidel­berg to the local chapter gathering of the Augustinian
Reformation congregation. In October 1518 the Reformer
passed through Coburg both on the journey to Augsburg
as well as on the way home from an interrogation by the
nuncio Cardinal Cajetan.
On 14 April 1530, Luther finally came to Neustadt near
Coburg with his lord, Elector John the Constant. On Good
Friday, he preached in the St. George’s church. Afterwards,
the party of travellers made their way to Coburg. As the
Reformer had been excommunicated and was under the
Imperial Ban, he had to stay in the safe shelter of the Veste
Coburg, which he moved into on 24 April. From Coburg,
Luther not only took an intense interest in the events of the
Imperial Diet in Augsburg but also composed numerous
works (“sermons” or “epistles”), translated texts from the Old
Testament as well as Aesop’s Fables. The 5 ½ months in Coburg, are the best documented period in the Reformer’s life.
6
Ve ste C ob urg Ar t C oll ect i ons
Veste Coburg
Stair tower of
the residential
building with a
Luther relief
After the Elector had returned to Coburg with his
retinue on 1 October, Luther left the town with him on
4 October. He never returned to the region of Coburg,
although, he still kept in touch with some people and,
together with his trusted friend Melanchthon, had various
matters to settle concering the church and the school
system in Coburg. RAINER AXMANN
7
The history of Veste Coburg –
from a Saxon castle to Luther Veste
S
ince the last third of the 11th century, a priory of
Benedictine monks from the monastery in Saalfeld existed where the Veste Coburg of the Staufer
period was built, one and a half centuries later. It reached
its height as a castle of the Electors of Saxony at the end of
the 15th century. It was the southern-most point of their
territory which is why the Veste was frequently used by
Frederick the Wise and John the Constant on their way to
Nuremberg or Augsburg on Electorate business. In Luther’s
time, the castle had a permanent garrison of 30 men; it was
surrounded by two rings of walls, which had been secured
with semi-circular towers during the Hussite attacks a
century before. In the ‘Hohes Haus’, there was the armoury,
the residential rooms were situated in the royal building
and the banquet hall, the ‘Große Hofstube’, was in the living
quarters. Later the Veste served as a fortress and garrison
for centuries, while slowly falling into decay.
In the second quarter of the 19th century, Duke
Ernest I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha initiated the restauration in honour of Luther’s stay at the Veste. Ever since
that time, the construction of a Luther monument has
been discussed. When the last reigning Duke Carl Eduard
took power in 1905, his subjects made him the gift of the
Veste Coburg Art collections
Veste Coburg
96450 Coburg
Phone +49 9561 879-0
Fax +49 9561 879- 66
www.kunstsammlungen-coburg.de
[email protected]
8
An audio-visual presentation describes
Luther’s stay in Coburg and its religious-historical importance (In German
and in English)
Ves te C ob urg Ar t C oll ec ti ons
restauration of the castle chapel, which from then on was
to bear the name ‘Lutherkapelle’. The Berlin architect and
castle researcher Bodo Ebhardt carried out the fundamental refurbishment. The intention to construct a Luther
monument in 1917 was thwarted by the World War I, but
the Duke had one of the contributions to the competition,
the sculpture ‘Licht und Kraft’, ‘Light and Strength’, set up
close to the royal building. On the occasion of the 400th
anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, a Luther relief
was mounted on the stair tower of the residential quarters
in 1930. KLAUS WESCHENFELDER
Lutherkapelle
9
V est e C ob urg Ar t Co lle c tion s
Luther Chamber
Martin Luther (1483 –1546) lived
and worked in the two rooms
opposite the ‘Große Hofstube’
during his 6-month stay at the
Veste in 1530.
10
11
Vest e C obur g Ar t C oll ect ions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Portrait of Martin Luther around 1540.
Cranach’s Luther portraits used striking, recurring imagery with typical characteristics
such as the forelock or the hands folded
around the book.
12
Martin Luther and the Veste Coburg
T
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Portrait of Katharina von
Bora, 1528.
Ves t e C obur g Ar t C oll ec ti on s
he Veste Coburg is one of the most significant
Luther sites in Germany, on the one hand because
of Luther’s six-month stay in the shelter of the
castle from the middle of April to the beginning of October
1530 during the Imperial Diet of Augsburg, on the other
hand due to the methodical dynastical commemoration of
Luther in the Veste Coburg by the house of Saxe-Coburg,
which reached its height especially in the 19th and the early
20th century.
Luther accompanied his lord, Elector John the Con­
stant, on the way to Augsburg where the Augsburg
Confession, the articles of faith of the Reformation, were
to be read to the Emperor. However, the Elector left Luther
behind in the Veste Coburg, as the further journey outside the Saxon territory
would have significantly endangered the
Reformer who was under the Imperial
Ban and had been excommunicated.
Luther only reluctantly remained in the
“Realm of the Jackdaws”, as he called
his refuge due to the numerous ravens
around the castle’s walls. Especially since
he had to remain incognito and was not
allowed to leave the Veste.
The two rooms then inhabited by
Luther are still preserved today; portraits
of the Reformer, his wife and his com-
13
panions painted by Lucas Cranach are displayed there, as
well as paintings, engravings, coins and medals that illustrate the events of those months which were so incredibly
important for religious history. The Coburg Hedwig glass
is the central exhibition piece.
V est e C obur g Ar t C olle ction s
The commemoration of Luther in Coburg
Shortly after Luther’s death, visitors already gathered at
the Veste to see Luther’s abode, during the Imperial Diet in
Augsburg. There they found the psalm verses which the
Georg Konrad Rothbart according to specifications from
Carl Alexander von Heideloff: the Reformer Chamber at
the Veste Coburg, 1846, coloured engraving. During the
neo-gothic refurbishment of the Veste, Duke Ernest I of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha furnished the Reformer Chamber
with images of and sayings from most representatives of
the Reformation.
14
Ves te C ob urg Ar t C oll ect ions
Reformer had written on the walls of his study room, just
after his arrival at the Veste. There is also said to have been
an ink stain, a trace of a fight with the devil, which, however, could no longer be verified by around 1700. During
the 19th century, the commemoration of the Reformer’s
stay gained more and more importance for the House
of Saxe-Coburg, part of the Ernestin Wettin Dynasty, and
how they saw themselves. The Coburg dukes were proud
to commemorate Luther’s stay which helped to underline
their own historical significance.
Since 1830, there have been efforts to construct a
Luther monument in the Veste, in 1844, in the course of
the historicizing refurbishment of the Veste, a richly decorated Reformer Chamber was created, a unique testimony
to the vivid memory of the Reformer’s
time there. Nowadays, numerous exhibi­
tion pieces from the anniversary years
of the reformatory events of 1617 and
from 1630 up to the 19th century are
presented in place of the Reformer
Chamber, only fragments of which had
been preserved. Glass goblets, faience
mugs and commemorative lockets. Small
sculptures from the wood of the ‘Luther
beech’, the very tree where the Reformer
was abducted in 1521 to be brought to
the Wartburg, are among the curiosities.
Walzenkrug, flagon, to
commemorate Martin
Luther’s placarding of the
theses, 1717
15
A precious glass from among Luther‘s possessions
“He brought to the table a crystal glass that had supposedly belonged to the Saint Elisabeth; he filled it up himself and passed
the drink around”, one of Luther’s guests reports from a
lunch in Wittenberg in 1541. The glass mentioned had
once been a part of the famous ‘Heiltumsschatz’, the collection of holy relics that the Elector Frederick the Wise had
gathered in the castle church in Wittenberg. It originally
belonged to Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia (1207–1231),
who was also greatly respected by the Reformer for her
benevolence. Saint Elisabeth, in turn, had probably received
the precious glass, of which only a dozen still survive, as a
gift from the imperial court. Elisabeth’s aunt, Saint Hedwig
of Silesia, owned three glasses of this type. The rare glasses
are named ‘Hedwig glasses’ after her. Legend says that once
water turned to wine in her glass, which is why drinking
from it was supposed to fortify expectant mothers and aid
an easy delivery.
The origin of the ‘Hedwig glasses’ is not very clear. It is
safe to say that, at that time, the craftsmanship necessary
to produce and decorate clear glass was only known in the
Islamic culture of the Near East. The glasses are likely to
originate from the Fatimid Caliphate. From there they
were presumably taken to the courts in Germany by looting
crusaders shortly after they were made. This glass, which
is evidence of the most refined craftsmanship from the late
12th century, and was once in the possession of saints and
electors, is now a first rate Luther relic.
KLAUS WESCHENFELDER
16
Vest e C obur g Ar t C oll ect ions
The Hedwig glass is an almost immaculately
preserved high-relief decoration glass from a
group of glasses of the same kind, probably
crafted around the 12th century in the Middle
East. It is one of the most precious exhibits
of the art collection of the Veste Coburg. It is
proven that Luther possessed the glass in 1541.
17
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18
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19
Architectural History of the Morizkirche
I
n the 14th century, the citizens of Coburg started to
construct a parish church in the then new Gothic
style. The eastern choir was constructed first. After the
completion of the western choir with its new towers, the
construction of the nave was begun in 1520. When Luther
preached in the ‘Morizkirche’ (Church of Saint Moriz) in
1530, the three-naved hall was almost completed. However,
the church with the ‘Fürstenstand’, the duke’s gallery, and
the north tower was not finally completed until towards the
end of the 16th century. The construction of the southern
tower (‘Rabenturm’ or Raven’s tower) was cut short. From
1740, a profound refurbishment of the interior of the
church was carried out in the style of the early rococo. To
this day, it characterises the interior aspect of the church,
which is in intense contrast to the gothic exterior aspect,
with the clear windows, the integration of two galleries, the
stucco moulding, the design and the colour scheme.
The church was the burial site for the ducal house until
1860. The church is dominated by the epitaph for John
Frederick II (1529–1595) in the choir. Duke John Casimir
had it built from 1595 to 1598 in honour of his father who
died in exile in Austria; it was made out of alabaster from
Heldburg by the sculptor Nikolaus Bergner
from Poeßneck in Thuringia. This special
Protestant Parish
example of art shaped by Luther’s influence
St. Moriz Coburg
dispenses with saints and their legends.
Pfarramt St. Moriz
It refers only to the stories and figures in the
Pfarrgasse 7
Bible.
96450 Coburg
The splendid organ, which was reconPhone +49 9561 871424
structed
in 1989 inside the housing from
Fax +49 9561 871426
1740
(Schuke,
Berlin), is opposite on the
www.morizkirche-coburg.de
[email protected]
second gallery. The rich church music in
20
ra i ne r bra b ec
Epitaph in St. Moriz
St Moriz is in keeping with the tradition of the Protestant
church music. The Reformation also transformed ecclesiastical music. Singing means being involved in the service:
there are no Protestant services without a (singing) parish.
To this day, a lot of lyrics, but also the great works of Bach
and other masters move us deeply and personally with their
language of faith. CHRISTOPH LIEBST
21
Luther in the Morizkirche
W
hen Martin Luther repeatedly passed through
Coburg in 1510/11 and 1518, he still found
the late Romanesque nave of the ‘Morizkirche’, Church of Saint Moriz, which had already been
furnished with a new Gothic long choir in 1380/1400.
Then the foundation for a new late Gothic nave was laid
in 1520. The reconstruction was by no means finished in
1530. At least, from 1529 it probably had a pulpit in the
southern nave close to one of today’s pillars which have
been covered since the 1740s. In 1530 on Holy Saturday,
during the feast of Easter and altogether seven times
during the Holy Week, Martin Luther was said to have
preached from it in front of the Elector, his retinue and
the people of Coburg; six of his sermons have survived as
transcripts. The Reformer delivered three more sermons at
the Veste, among them one in presence of Electoral Prince
John Frederick (1503–1554) on 15 September. Luther
preached for the last time after the return of the Elector
from Augsburg, probably in the Morizkirche again, whereby he summed up the Diet of Augsburg on 2 October:
“Therefore we should [...] especially thank and praise God that
the Holy Word alone remained and we remained with it alone.
That is so much at once that it is sufficient and is more than ten
Turkish kings can achieve.”
Luther had addressed the still topical subjects ‘corruption’ and ‘abuse of authority’ in his sermon on Ash
Wednesday: “Everyone should think about how to appropriately fill their position. Are you a counsellor or trustee, so work
industriously that no ratting or treachery evolves. [...] Each
person thinks: into my sack, into my sack! OK, then may the
devil help you to fill it up. Dearest, if we act justly, then we still
can become rich.” RAINER AXMANN
22
ra i ner b ra b ec
A bust by the eminent Saxon sculptor Ernst Rietschel
(1804–1861) commemorates Luther in the Morizkirche.
23
h enni ng r os enbus ch
Luther and music
Martin Luther practically sings the praises of music:
“Music is a sovereign master of all movements within the heart.
Nothing on earth is stronger than music which can make the
sad happy, the happy sad and the despairing courageous. [...]
I wish with all my heart, that everyone would glorify and
praise God for the godly and splendid gift of music. I am so
overwhelmed by the multitude and splendour of her good qualities that I can find neither beginning nor end nor measure for
my thoughts.”
24
Schuke Organ in St Moriz
For Luther, music stands in the service of theology:
music is proclamation! Bach and Handel, Mendelssohn
and Brahms – how might they have composed without the
Reformation movement? However, music is also essential
in education: Luther demands that every ‘schoolmaster’ had
to be able to sing and the prospective pastor should also
be equipped with theoretical and practical musical skills.
Luther emphasises the educational value of music which
he calls upon the ruling class to preserve and promote.
“Children have to [...] sing and learn the whole mathematics of
music.” PETER STENGLEIN
25
The Coburg Landesbibliothek
C
oburg is the only town in Bavaria which has a
‘Landesbibliothek’, a regional state library. The
name is contractually guaranteed. It expresses that
it was the central library of the independent Coburg State
until 1920. The inventory comes from the diverse collecting
activities by Coburg’s Dukes and their ancestors from the
electoral and ducal Saxon House (Ernestine Wettins) back
to Luther’s lifetime.
In Ehrenburg Palace, where the library is accommodated to this day, there have always been books. Duke John
Ernest of Saxe-Coburg (1521–1553) was the constructor
of the town residence and the library’s founder. He is the
younger son of Elector John of Saxony (the Constant) who
had accommodated Martin Luther securely at the most
southerly castle in his land, the Veste Coburg, during the
Diet of Augsburg in 1530.
Being one of Luther’s protectors or – after Luther’s
death – an advocate of the real Lutheranism had a lasting effect on the political commitment and the dynastic
self-perception of all Ernestines. Coburg with the Veste
and Ehrenburg Palace remained one of their most im-
Regional State Library Coburg
Schlossplatz 1 (Ehrenburg Palace)
96450 Coburg
Phone +49 9561 8538-0
Fax +49 9561 8538 -201
www.landesbibliothek-coburg.de
[email protected]
26
Luther Bible
from 1550 /1;
Front Page,
coloured
woodcut
illustration
27
c ob urg lan des bi b l io th ek
portant strongholds (besides Weimar and Gotha) in the
period directly after Luther’s death, during the period of
denominational tensions. Under the rule of Duke John
Casimir (1564 –1633), who is descended directly from the
Ernestine Electoral House in Saxony – Electoral Prince
John Frederick I (the Magnanimous), who had visited
Luther at the Veste, was his grandfather – an independent
principality developed in Coburg.
John Casimir consciously built on his important ancestors. Scholarship, education and science and thus book
collections had an extremely high significance for everyone.
The regional state library is indebted to Johann Casimir,
one hand for the ‘Bibliotheca Casimirana’, about 15,000
titles which he donated to the Casimirianum when it was
established as the predecessor of an upper school. On the
other hand, there was also a castle library in the Ehrenburg
Palace in his day. From the Reformation period and the
period up to the Thirty Years War, the present regional
state library has over 50,000 volumes, of which at least
some date directly back to the Ernestine collection of the
15th to the 17th century.
Luther’s works in the regional library in Coburg
In the 16th century, Coburg was the southerly outpost of
the land of the Reformation. There were constant links
to the centre around Wittenberg. Extremely valuable and
unique books from this time are among the outstanding
treasures of the regional state library in Coburg. The
library owns more than 600 prints of Luther’s texts including the earliest printed copies of his Bible translation into
German which were published in Luther’s lifetime. The
treasures in the library include the September Testament
(Cas A 1142), a copy of the original Wittenberg Bible
(P I 3,2), a copy of the first complete Bible of 1534 (Lu
Ia 1534,6) as well as around 20 additional editions of the
Bible from the first half of the 16th century.
These Luther Bibles are furnished with renowned
illustrations from Cranach’s workshop about which we
28
Original
Wittenberg Bible
from 1523,
Front Page Part I
cob urg la nd es b i b l i ot h ek
now know that Luther himself
influenced the artistic design.
Both the 1541 (P I 1/10) and
the 1550/1 (Lu Ib 114) editions printed by Hans Lufft in
Wittenberg especially stand out
among the works with coloured
woodcut illustrations. Furthermore, the two-volume interpretation of the epistles and gospels
(P I 2,29 and 30) printed by
Melchior Lotter in Wittenberg is
also splendidly illustrated.
Coburg owes most of its prints of Luther’s works to a
later descendant of the dynasty, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), who became better-known
as Queen Victoria’s consort, and who had great influence
during her reign. He provided the impulse for an extensive
collection of Luther’s works which had been published in
the lifetime of the Reformer. In 1950 the collection, which
was originally intended to be a commemorative exhibition
for the Veste Coburg, was given to the regional state library
in Coburg for conservation reasons and superbly complements the already existing collection of historical Reformation texts. SILVIA PFISTER
29
Luther network in the German Empire
T
here was no telephone and no text messages. In
Luther’s times ‘telecommunications’ required
messengers. In this way, from the Veste the Reformer was in touch with the whole of what was then the
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation: messengers
with letters to and from Martin Luther were constantly on
the road. Thus, he wrote over 120 letters, including those
which were lost, in almost six months: 68 were sent to
Augsburg, among them 37 to Philipp Melanchthon, 14 to
Justus Jonas, eight to Georg Spalatin and four to Elector
John the Constant, 17 to Nuremberg, amongst others to
Lazarus Spengler, 17 to Wittenberg, among them nine
to his wife Kaethe, seven to Zwickau in Saxony, two to
Bremen, one to Torgau and one to Munich to the court
conductor there, Ludwig Senfl. In turn, Luther received letters from Augsburg, 27 letters from Melanchthon, 16 from
Jonas and eight from the Elector, from Wittenberg Luther
also received numerous letters from Kaethe, but none of
them have been preserved.
The bearers were messengers in the service of the
sovereign and on their way from Augsburg to Wittenberg
and back. One was called Wolf Hornung. Luther had
to cut some letters short because the messenger had to
hurry onwards to Augsburg, whereas at other times the
Reformer simply gave notice there would be a another
letter. Occasionally he rebuked his friends in Augsburg for
not informing him enough if messengers came by without
letters, while the Wittenbergers wrote three times as much.
Mounted messengers were the “postmen”, who changed
their horses several times at stations along their way. It
took them two days from Coburg to Augsburg. Moreover,
30
c ob urg land esb i b li ot h ek
he sometimes used messengers hired by friends. Even private messengers, each hired by their sender, delivered post;
Melanchthon and Luther made use of them. The messengers were persons of trust and were sworn to secrecy,
for example when a copy of the ‘Confessio Augustana’, or
Augsburg Confession, which was not allowed to be printed
on the command of Emperor Charles V, was sent from
Augsburg to Coburg on 25 June. RAINER AXMANN
Sebastian Brant
Representation of
a messenger from
the ‘Narrenschiff’,
The Ship of Fools,
1494
31
Architectural History of Callenberg Castle
C
allenberg Castle was probably built around 1100.
The first documented record of Callenberg is from
1231, when Ulrich III, Knight of Callenberg, sold
the castle to the Bishopric of Wurzburg. In the further
course of history, the Earls of Henneberg owned the whole
of Callenberg. 1317 the Knights of Sternberg received
Callenberg Castle as feudal tenure. Hans of Sternberg
was governor of Coburg and was in close contact with the
Reformer Martin Luther, who was ‘in hiding’ at the Veste
Coburg from April to October in 1530. Here Sternberg
discussed his experience during his pilgrimage to Jerusalem
with Luther. In August 1530 Luther dedicated his interpretation of psalm 117 to his friend Hans of Sternberg on
Callenberg. Coburg’s important Renaissance Prince, Duke
John Casimir of Saxe-Coburg, who owned Callenberg
from 1588, had the first sacral chamber built according to
Protestant standards erected in Callenberg. Thus setting
up the second oldest pulpit altar in a German-speaking
Callenberg Castle
Callenberg 1
96450 Coburg
Phone +49 9561 5515-0
Fax +49 9561 5515-55
www.schloss-callenberg.de
[email protected]
32
Dr . Ot mar Fug mann
country. The family of the duke has owned Callenberg Castle since then. The Castle has been accessible as a museum
since 1997 and presents itself today with three sections;
the history of the widely-branched family of Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha, with their direct family links to five European
Royal Families which still reign today; the German Shooting Museum; and changing exhibitions of contemporary
art. UDO FEILER
Callenberg Castle
Aerial photo 2008
33
hen ni ng ro se nb us ch
Epitaph for Hans von Sternberg zu Schenkenau
(d 1576), a nephew of the knight Hans von
Sternberg; Laurentiuskirche Meeder
34
Knight Hans von Sternberg at Callenberg in the
service of the Ernestine Elector
Hans von Sternberg on Callenberg was known a “statesman
and co-supporter of the Reformation” with good reason. He
was already in the service of Elector Frederick III, the Wise
(1463–1525) and was especially to make decisions on legal
matters at the end of the first decade of the 16th century.
He was also entrusted with various functions by Wurzburg’s
Prince Bishop Konrad of Thuengen (1466 –1540). Probably
born at Callenberg in the 1470s (he was already in office
at the end of the 15th century), he completed an almost
one-year long pilgrimage over land and sea together with
his cousin, the famous humanist, Sebastian of Rotenhan, in
1514. He is likely to have been knighted in Jerusalem.
Only a few years later, we find him in the vicinity of
Georg Spalatin (1484–1545), the privy secretary, counsellor and court chaplain of Elector Frederick the Wise.
Spalatin dedicated one of Luther’s sermons about double
justice rendered into German to Hans of Sternberg and, at
his request, sent him a copy of the first edition of Martin
Luther’s September Testament in autumn 1522.
The organisation of the first major church visitation
1528/29 in the territory of Coburg was to become Sternberg’s most important function under Elector John the
Constant (1468–1532). He contributed decisively to the
consolidation of the Reformation. In 1531, he was entrusted
with the sequestration, the acquisition of spiritual goods,
in particular from the abandoned monasteries. He was not
able to complete the task. He died at the end of 1531/at
the beginning of 1532. At the end of February 1532, his
legacy had already been divided between his relatives. Hans
von Sternberg was the most significant example of a layman
committed to implementing the Reformation movement in
the Coburg area. RAINER AXMANN
35
Tourist
Information
Herrngasse 4
96450 Coburg
Phone +49 9561 89-8000 Fax +49 9561 89-8029
[email protected]
www.coburg-tourist.de
op en i ng h o u r s April – Oct o ber
Monday – Friday 9:00 – 18:00
Saturday
10:00 – 14:00
Sunday and holiday closed
November – ma rch
Montag – Friday 9:00 – 17:00
Saturday 10:00 – 14:00
Sunday and holiday closed
Herrngasse 4
96450 Coburg
Phone +49 9561 89-2335
Fax +49 9561 89-62335
[email protected]
www.stadtmarketing-coburg.de
Integrated
City Marketing
1st english edition, September 2016
Translation: Students of ASCO Coburg
Leonie Ehrhardt, Lydia Günzler, Tiffany Möller,
Matheo Odubeko, Josefin Schmidt, Alex
Sintschenko, Nadine Strobel, Alisa Wohlrath;
Project management: Valerie Kögler
Design: Aaron Rößner, CO3 Office for Design
www.coburg.de/luther