Luther’s Lodgings on Coburg Fortress

On 15 April 1530, the Saxon Elector John the Steadfast (1468–1532, elector 1525–1532) arrived in Coburg with his entourage on the way to the diet in Augsburg. Martin Luther (1483–1546) was also present. The territory of Coburg was part of the electorate of Saxony and the fortress of Coburg was the southernmost castle of the principality. On April 24, Elector John and the theologians from Wittenberg continued their travels to Augsburg – without Luther.

Since Luther was under imperial ban and under excommunication and had to fear imprisonment, he was unable to participate in the diet. He remained on the fortress until 4 October 1530 and was in epistolary contact with participants of the diet to influence negotiations. During this time, an extensive correspondence and numerous programmatic works were written.

On the fortress of Coburg, Luther lived in guest rooms in the Steinerne Kemenate (stone chambers) which can still be visited today. Of the original furnishings of the living room, the wooden beam ceiling and the doorframes carved with branch-tracery are preserved.

Shortly after Luther’s death, the first visitor came to the fortress to view Luther’s lodgings. In the nineteenth century, the fortress of Coburg flourished as an important memorial centre dedicated to Luther. A richly equipped “Reformatorzimmer” (i.e. reformer’s room), added to Luther’s accommodation in 1844, was removed at the beginning of the twentieth century during construction work, although the wall decorations have largely been preserved.

The Luther Room can be viewed with a 3D Panorama Viewer. The images were taken with a 3D laser scanner. Click on the arrows to change your location. Learn more about individual objects in the Luther Room by hovering the cursor over the infopoints.