Reformation Monument (Leipzig)

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The 1907 Reformation Monument in front of the Johanniskirche

The Reformation Monument in Leipzig (often referred to as the Luther Monument ) was a monument to commemorate the introduction of the Reformation in Leipzig, which stood on Johannisplatz in front of the Johanniskirche from 1883 to 1943 . It was the work of the Dresden sculptor Johannes Schilling (1828–1910).

layout

The memorial showed Martin Luther seated on a red granite pedestal over three meters high in conversation with Philipp Melanchthon . Luther held an open Bible on his knees and Melanchthon held the Augsburg denomination in his left hand . The bronze figures were larger than life, the standing Melanchthon 2.70 meters, so that the monument reached a total height of six meters.

The strongly structured pedestal carried large bronze plaques on all four sides with depictions of Protestant religious life. Underneath each was an oval emblem with a rising sun and an important historical date for the Reformation. The bronze plaques showed the following: The front one showed the "Introduction of the Reformation in Leipzig" by handing over the church key to the first Lutheran pastor and superintendent of the city, Johann Pfeffinger . On the right side were "Church going, baptism and confirmation " and on the left "House prayer, sermon and marriage". The reverse showed the "Dispensing of the Lord's Supper under both forms".

history

As early as 1839, on the 300th anniversary of the introduction of the Reformation in Leipzig, the idea of ​​a memorial came up and a private memorial committee was founded. A realization did not come about due to a lack of appropriate funds. From 1869 the city council got involved in the efforts. Finally, in 1880, the Dresden sculptor Johannes Schilling was won over to the work. He turned to the Leipzig monument after he had completed the Niederwald monument . The casting took place in the art and bell foundry Lauchhammer , the base was designed by the Leipzig master stone mason FG Damm. A very large part of the total cost of 91,935 marks had been donated by the citizens of Leipzig.

On November 10, 1883, Luther's 400th birthday, the monument was inaugurated with great solemnity. With the expansion of the Johanniskirche between 1894 and 1897, the monument was given a new background with which it harmonized very well.

In 1942, the memorial was scheduled for demolition as part of the “metal donation for the Führer” and in early 1943 it was dismantled and melted down. It resulted in a bronze scrap amount of 11,340 kilograms. After 1950 the base was also removed.

On July 8, 2005, an association was founded in Leipzig, the Luther-Melanchthon-Denkmal eV Leipzig, which has set itself the goal of having the monument rebuilt in its old location and which is campaigning for material and ideal support in numerous places .

In its meeting on March 19, 2014, the Leipzig City Council decided, together with the Luther Melanchthon Monument Association, to put the Luther Melanchthon Monument “in a suitable form on one” by June 2019 on the 500th anniversary of Luther's disputation at the Pleißenburg suitable inner-city location ”.

Others

According to oral tradition, the people of Leipzig liked to put the following words in their mouths in front of the Melanchthon monument: "Come on, Martin, get up, you've sat long enough!"

A monumental composition similar to the one in Leipzig, with the more important figure sitting and the other standing, only without facing each other, was repeated a hundred years later with the Berlin Marx-Engels sculpture . And finally, the emblem of the GDR youth organization FDJ is astonishingly reminiscent of the memorial medallions with the rising sun.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Leipzig Official Journal No. 7, March 29, 2014, p. 9 ( PDF )
  2. ^ Stefan Voerkel: Reformers among themselves. For the 500th birthday of Philipp Melanchthon. The Leipzig Reformation Monument. In: Leipziger Blätter, booklet 30, p. 51
  3. ^ Stefan Voerkel: Reformers among themselves. For the 500th birthday of Philipp Melanchthon. The Leipzig Reformation Monument. In: Leipziger Blätter, issue 30, p. 49

literature

  • Horst Riedel: Stadtlexikon Leipzig from A to Z . PRO LEIPZIG, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-936508-03-8 , p. 491
  • Claus Uhlrich. Disappeared. Fate of Leipzig monuments, memorial stones and sculptures. Leipzig: Bachmann publishing house, 1994.
  • Stefan Voerkel: Reformers among themselves. For the 500th birthday of Philipp Melanchthon. The Leipzig Reformation Monument . In: Leipziger Blätter, Heft 30, pp. 48–51, 1997

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 20 '16.8 "  N , 12 ° 23' 8.4"  E