Originally built as part of the University of Wittenberg in 1504, the Lutherhaus is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed writer’s house museum that served as the home of Martin Luther for much of his adult life. It was here that he wrote his 95 Theses and it’s considered a significant location in the history of the Protestant Reformation.
After the University of Wittenberg was opened in 1903, the monks of the Order of Saint Augustine began building a cloister that became known as the Black Monastery. It served as a residence hall and academy for the Augustinians studying in Wittenberg, with Martin Luther taking up residence in a cell in the south-west corner following his ordination as a priest. He lived with the Augustinians in the Black Monastery until 1521, at which time the political tensions surrounding the Protestant Reformation forced him to hide out at Wartburg Castle.
When he returned to Wittenberg in 1524, Martin Luther lived at the Black Monastery until his death in 1546 and it was here that he held his influential Table Talks and revised his Bible translation. It was during this time that the Lutherhaus was expanded and the Katharinenportal carved entryway was built as a birthday present for his wife.
Following the death of Martin Luther, it was further redecorated and modernized as a boarding school, although Martin Luther’s living room, the Lutherstube, was left in its original condition. The Augusteum was also added to house a Protestant seminary and library, which still exist to this day.
The Lutherhaus now functions as a museum detailing Luther’s life and his histor-ical influence, exhibiting original objects belonging to him, such as his monk’s habit and his pulpit from the Stadtkirche. It’s also the largest museum in the world relating to the Reformation, which lasted until the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648. In addition to exploring the Lutherhaus, Wittenberg is also home to the 13th-century Stadtkirche where Luther once preached and has become known as the Mother Church of the Reformation.