Melanchthon House

The Melanchthon House from the street side, on the right the museum, on the left the historic building

View of the Melanchthon House. Philipp Melanchthon lived here with his family from 1539 and also died here on April 19, 1560.

On the recommendation of Johannes Reuchlin, Philip Melanchthon was appointed professor of Greek at Wittenberg University by Frederick the Wise in 1518. To bind him to the city, the Elector had this house built and gave it to him in 1536.

View of the Melanchthon Garden behind the Melanchthon House.

The wood engraving shows a meeting of the young Melanchthon with Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg in 1525. It is one of the few testimonies from Melanchthon's biography in a single scene typical for the 19th century.

A highlight of the exhibition is the larger-than-life full-length portrait of Philipp Melanchthon. It is one of the best works from the workshop of the younger Cranach. It was intended as a counterpart to a Luther painting, which, however, has not survived.

Portrait before restoration in 2013

Portrait after restoration in 2013

In Melanchthon's study and death room is the resting bed that is attested by sources from the 16th century. The art professor Friedrich Oswald Kuhn designed the interior of the entire room according to these specifications.

The study and death room still forms the center of the house today. On the occasion of Melanchthon's 400th birthday in 1897, the idea arose to furnish at least this room of the house in such a way that it reminded of the first inhabitant.

Two small "bookcases" came to light during the building-historical investigations of the house. In the wall niches, which were later bricked up, the original shelves were still found, on which writings and files used to lie.

Philipp Melanchthon considered intellectual property to be wealth. This original manuscript on the history of the city of Wittenberg, written by Melanchthon in Latin, is one of them.

Even then, precious souvenirs of Melanchthon were very popular. Thus, 16 medals with his portrait have survived from the 16th century. The oldest portrait of Melanchthon on medals in the exhibition is the cast silver medal from 1540.

The top of a stone table, which originally stood in the garden, is now in the hallway of the house. It is made of slate, which was rarely used in this size. It is assumed that Melanchthon received the table as a gift.

In 1821, the Luther Monument was inaugurated on the Wittenberg market square. The people of Eisleben received the busts of Luther and Melanchthon created by Johann Gottfried Schadow. They were placed in St. Andrew's Church.

In 1821, the Luther Monument was inaugurated on the Wittenberg market square. The people of Eisleben received the busts of Luther and Melanchthon created by Johann Gottfried Schadow. They were placed in St. Andrew's Church.

This flag is one of three preserved flags of the Wittenberg University, which can be admired in the museum in the "Schatzkammer". This flag of the entire university shows the coat of arms of the Electorate of Saxony as well as the imperial eagle as a reference to the imperial privilege of the Wittenberg High School.

Insight into the administrative procedures of the university: The receipt of the teachers of the Faculty of Arts clarifies the modalities of the salary. The money was paid quarterly, and the recipients had to sign a receipt. Melanchthon was one of the university's top earners, receiving 75 gulden per quarter.

After Nuremberg and Bretten, Wittenberg also received a Melanchthon monument. The foundation stone was laid on April 19, 1860, on the market square next to that of Martin Luther; it was completed in 1865.

Among Melanchthon's favorite topics was history. This unstructured manuscript on world history came from his student friend Johannes Carion. He revised it entirely, but allowed it to appear under the name of the original author.

The Pope's Donkey and the Monk's Calf are among the most popular caricatures of the Reformation. They illustrated a satirical pamphlet edited by Luther and Melanchthon in 1523 against the papal regiment and the excesses of monasticism. Melanchthon related a monster allegedly found dead in the Tiber River in 1496 to the pope, while Luther interpreted the Saxon calf miscarriage with tonsure-like head deformity as a religious order representative. Countless reprints and copies of the woodcuts prove the effectiveness of these image designs.

His experiences with students, most of whom were still very young, led Melanchthon to devote more attention to establishing and improving schools. He also wrote a "Handbüchlein, wie man Kinder zur Schrift und Lehre halten soll," which deals with elementary education.

The engraving shows Melanchthon at work. The flat desk, the inkwell, and the small pen in his hand provide a realistic view of how science was done in practice in Melanchthon's day.

The memory of a person is also shaped by his or her pictorial representation. This great work of art by Albrecht Dürer marked the beginning of a series of portraits of Melanchthon made for public, private use as well as commercial purposes. Dürer's engraving was made in Nuremberg, where Melanchthon sat for him.

Another of the few testimonies from Melanchthon's biography: the picture shows the scholar with his mother. He visited her in 1529 on his way back from the Imperial Diet in Speyer.

When Friedrich Oswald Kuhn was commissioned at the end of the 19th century to refurnish Melanchthon's study and death chamber according to old models, he found holes at regular intervals on the wall during the survey. He interpreted them as remnants of a textile wall covering and had corresponding textiles made. During restoration in 2012, these were found to be in poor condition, so only one panel was restored. For a second, this copy was made.