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WITTENBERG

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 764 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WITTENBERG , a See also:

town of See also:Germany, in the Prussian See also:province of See also:Saxony, situated on the See also:Elbe, 59 M. by See also:rail S.W. of See also:Berlin, on the See also:main See also:line to See also:Halle and at the junction of See also:railways to Falkenberg, See also:Torgau and See also:Rosslau. Pop. (1905) 20,332. The three suburbs which adjoin the town are not older than 1817. See also:Witten-See also:berg is interesting chiefly on See also:account of its See also:close connexion with See also:Luther and the dawh of the See also:Reformation; and several of its buildings are associated with the events of that See also:time. See also:Part of the Augustinian monastery in which Luther dwelt, at first as a See also:monk and in later See also:life as owner with his wife and See also:family, is still preserved, and has been fitted up as a Luther museum. It contains numerous See also:relics of Luther and portraits and other paintings by the Cranachs. The Augusteum, built in 1564—1583 on the site of the monastery, is now a theological See also:seminary. The Schlosskirche, to the doors of which Luther nailed his famous ninety-five theses in 1517, See also:dates from 1439—1499; it was, however, seriously damaged by See also:fire during the See also:bombardment of 176o, was practically rebuilt, and has since (1885—1892) been restored. The old wooden doors, burnt in 176o, were replaced in 1858 by See also:bronze doors, bearing the Latin See also:text of the theses. In the interior of the See also:church are the tombs of Luther and See also:Melanchthon, and of the See also:electors See also:Frederick the See also:Wise, by See also:Peter See also:Vischer the See also:elder (1527), and See also:John the See also:Constant, by Hans Vischer; also portraits of the reformers by See also:Lucas See also:Cranach the younger. The See also:parish church, in which Luther often preached, was built in the 14th See also:century, but has been much altered since Luther's time.

It contains a magnificent See also:

painting by Lucas Cranach the elder, representing the See also:Lord's Supper, See also:Baptism and See also:Confession, also a See also:font by See also:Hermann Vischer (1457)• The See also:present See also:infantry See also:barracks were at one time occupied by the university of Witten-berg, .founded in 1502, but merged in the university of Halle in 1815. Luther was appointed See also:professor of See also:philosophy here in 1508; and the new university rapidly acquired a considerable reputation from its connexion with the See also:early Reformers. In opposition to the strict Lutheran orthodoxy of See also:Jean it represented the more moderate doctrines of Melanchthon. In the 'Wittenberg See also:Concord (1536) the reformers agreed to a See also:settlement of the eucharistic controversy. See also:Shakespeare makes See also:Hamlet and Horatio study at Wittenberg. The See also:ancient electoral See also:palace is another of the buildings that suffered severely in 176o; it now contains archives. Melanchthon's See also:house and the house of Lucas Cranach. the elder (1472—1553), who was burgomaster of Wittenberg, are also pointed out. Statues of Luther (by See also:Schadow), Melanchthon and See also:Bugenhagen embellish the town. The spot, outside the See also:Elster See also:Gate, where Luther publicly burned the papal See also:bull in 1520, is marked by an See also:oak See also:tree. Floriculture, See also:iron-See also:founding, distilling and See also:brewing are carried on.. The formerly considerable manufacture of the heavier kinds of See also:cloth has died out. Wittenberg is mentioned as early as 1180.

It was the See also:

capital of the little duchy of See also:Saxe-Wittenberg, the rulers of which after-wards became electors of Saxony; and it continued to be a Saxon See also:residence under the Ernestine electors. The See also:Capitulation of Wittenberg (1547) is the name given to the treaty by which John Frederick the Magnanimous was compelled to resign the electoral dignity and most of his territory to the Albertine See also:branch of the Saxon family. In 176o the town was bombarded by the Austrians. It was occupied by the See also:French in 18o6, and refortified in 1813 by command of See also:Napoleon; but in 1814 it was stormed by the Prussians under Tauentzien, who received the See also:title of " von Wittenberg " as a See also:reward. Wittenberg continued to be a fortress of the third class until the reorganization of the See also:German defences after the See also:foundation of the new See also:empire led to its being dismantled in 1873. See Meynert, Geschichte der Stadi Wittenberg (See also:Dessau, 1845); See also:Stier, See also:Die Schlosskirche zu Wittenberg (Wittenberg, 186o); Zitzlaff, Die Begrabnissstatten Witten bergs and ihre Denkmdler (Wittenberg, 1897); and Gurlitt, " Die Lutherstadt Wittenberg," in Muther's Die Kunst (Berlin, 1902).

End of Article: WITTENBERG

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