A strong history of women - 500 years of the Reformation

Rochlitz Castle, view from the southeast

A strong women's story - 500 years of Reformation (spelling: Eine STRKE FRAUENgeschichte ) is the title of a special exhibition by the State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony gGmbH at Rochlitz Castle and took place as part of the Luther Decade 2007-2017.

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The special exhibition focused on women committed to the Reformation and with them the often forgotten female side in the world event Reformation . The Rochlitz exhibition is the first to document the life paths and worlds of women in the Reformation era. This is intended to break up the current image of the Reformation as a primarily male event. The focus is on the struggles for female and religious self-assertion as well as the female part in the struggle of time. The individual fates of selected women exemplify the existential changes of those years. From the " woman's room " to the new marriage law , the worlds of women are discussed. At the end of the Reformation phase, new role models of men and women solidified, and the exhibition traces their power to the present day . At the same time, one of the most noticeable women of the Reformation period lived and worked in Rochlitz between 1537 and 1547 : Duchess Elisabeth von Hessen (called Elisabeth von Rochlitz), who started the Reformation in her Wittum Rochlitz in 1537/38 against the will of the sovereign, Duke George the Bearded prevailed, joined the Schmalkaldic League and established itself as a switchboard of the Evangelical Prince League . Following on from this historical event, the dazzling personality of Duchess Elisabeth becomes the anchor of the exhibition.

Exhibition dates

The exhibition A STRONG WOMEN'S STORY - 500 Years of Reformation took place from May 1 to October 31, 2014 a. a. in the showrooms: board room , office, Duchess office, Palas or chapel of the castle instead. The concept comes from the art historians Simona Schellenberger and Dirk Welich.

Exhibits

In total, the exhibition showed over 300 exhibits . Including top-class documents from the time of the Reformation, such as E.g. the marriage certificate of 1505 by Duke Georg for his son Johann and Landgrave Wilhelm II of Hesse for his daughter Elisabeth of Saxony from the Saxon State Archives - Main State Archives Dresden , or by Felicitas von Selmenitz with illustrative marginal notes listed Luther Bibles from the Marienbibliothek in Halle . In addition, u. a. Paintings and graphics by Lucas Cranach the Elder Ä. and the Cranach workshop as well as by Israhel van Meckenem, and Georg Pencz , which were loaned from national and international art collections , such as B. from the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Munich , the Huis Bergh Castle in s'Heerenberg in the Netherlands . The Bemberg Foundation in Toulouse . In addition to exhibits from the time of the Reformation, the exhibition made it with the help of contemporary works of art , e.g. B. a tapestry "Five Virtues " by Margret Eicher and the use of media techniques such as animated cartoons and augmented reality to keep up with the current social debates about gender roles and gender relations .

Accompanying publication

At the same time as the exhibition, a richly illustrated, 120-page accompanying publication was published on behalf of the State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony gGmbH (see literature). In addition to forewords and an introductory essay by the curators Schellenberger and Welich, it contains 15 essays, which u. a. inside, from art historians / historians inside / , church historian inside / were written and illustrated with pictures from the exhibition.

Web links

literature

Simona Schellenberger, André Thieme and Dirk Welich (Red. Andreas Gosch, Franziska Kuschel and Robert Noack): A STRONG WOMEN story-500 years of the Reformation. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition on behalf of the State Palaces, Castles and Gardens of Saxony gGmbH, SAX-Verlag 2014, ISBN 978-3-86729-132-3 .