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“Here I Stand … Martin Luther’s Home” – Minister of State Cornelia Pieper presents plans for a major international exhibition to mark the anniversary of the Reformation
A Luther Year is being planned for 2017 which will see the Reformation commemorated not only in Germany but around the world. The Luther Memorials Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt, the Halle State Museum of Prehistory and the German Historical Museum in Berlin are planning a joint special exhibition entitled “Here I Stand … Martin Luther’s Home”. The project is receiving Federal Foreign Office funding. Early showings of the exhibition in the United States and South Korea are to be scheduled for 2016.
The concept behind the exhibition was presented today (Wednesday, 3 July 2013) by Minister of State Cornelia Pieper MP alongside the heads of the three institutions named above, Dr. Stefan Rhein, Prof. Harald Meller and Prof. Alexander Koch, at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle.
Minister of State Pieper said,
“This exhibition is intended to bring Martin Luther’s work and the achievements of the Reformation around the world to a wider audience. The Luther Decade leading up to the Reformation anniversary in 2017 gives us an opportunity to reflect on a shared cultural history, particularly together with countries that are important partners to Germany.”
Background:
The special exhibition “Here I Stand … Martin Luther’s Home” is to be designed as a touring exhibition for the second half of 2016. The plan is to bring together the permanent exhibition on display at the Luther House in Wittenberg and the state exhibition “Finding Luther” held in Halle and Mannheim by the State Museum of Prehistory. Next to the life and work of Martin Luther, one major focus will be the way the Reformation spread from its beginnings in Wittenberg. The exhibits provided by the German Historical Museum will concentrate particularly on America.
The Halle Museum of Prehistory will be making available the spectacular archaeological finds of recent years which have come out of the digs at Luther’s parental home in Mansfeld, the Luther House in Wittenberg and the house in Eisleben where he died. The Luther Memorials will be contributing a large number of authentic items which Luther owned or has otherwise been linked to. The one-off loan from the Luther House is made possible by the fact that the building will be revamped during 2016 in time for the 2017 anniversary celebrations. The German Historical Museum in particular will be supplying its extensive collections to illustrate the effect that Martin Luther and the Reformation have had around the world. Special emphasis will be placed on the varied history of relations between Germany, as the starting point of the Reformation, and the British colonies which became the United States of America, stretching from the 16th century right up until the present day.
Assisted by the Federal Foreign Office, the joint organizers will now be approaching partners in various US cities to support the exhibition.
