Luther Debating

from April 12, 2017
Old Town Hall, Markt 1, 04109 Leipzig

From June 27 to July 15, 1519, a debate about questions of faith took place in the courtroom of the Pleißenburg in Leipzig. The two men debating were Martin Luther and Johannes Eck, and their argument became known as the “Leipzig Disputation”, the main event of Leipzig's ecclesiastical history. It was of ground-breaking significance for the further development of Martin Luther's thinking and the future course of the Reformation itself. During the debates, the way was paved for the conclusive break with the papacy. The disputation also positively influenced the progress of the emerging printing industry in Leipzig. The city's printing presses sent Luther's new ideas out into the world and prepared the ground for the new faith.

The exhibition focuses on the debate as a milestone of the Protestant Reformation as well as on the various events up to the Schmalkaldic war of 1547, which had extensive political consequences for Saxony and the German Empire. In a multifaceted and lively way, the exhibition conveys the frequently complicated content of the Disputation to visitors.

The incunabula of the museum’s collection and the Leipzig university library concerning this topic, such as Katharina von Bora's original wedding ring and the silver Luther cup, will be showcased as key objects of the exhibition, as well as the panel paintings and epitaphs by Lucas Cranach the Elder, the Younger and others. The ring is one of the best-known devotional objects remaining from Luther and his family.