Martin Luther

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Martin Luther by Ernst Rietschel & Adolf von Donndorf, 1885
Neumarkt
Dresden, September 2024

"The monument to the reformer Martin Luther, who visited Dresden in 1516 and 1517, is located on Dresden's Neumarkt, directly in front of the Frauenkirche. The monument was created by the sculptor Adolf von Donndorf (1835-1916) and cast in bronze in the Dresden art and bell foundry Christian Albert Bierling. The base is made of marble and bears Luther's name in gold lettering, among other things. The head of the monument was made from a clay model by Ernst Rietschel (1804-1861), which he had made for the Luther monument in Worms, but was not used there. Ernst Rietschel was one of the most famous sculptors of his time and a teacher of Adolf von Donndorf. On the occasion of Reformation Day in 1885, the Dresden monument, which is considered the second copy of the Luther monument in Worms after the Luther monument in Washington DC, was inaugurated after an appeal for donations for a similar statue in Dresden had been made since 1883. During the bombing of Dresden in February 1945, the monument was damaged and could not be re-erected until 1955. Until the extensive restoration between December 2003 and November 2004, the statue of Luther in front of the ruins of the destroyed Frauenkirche served as a memorial against war and destruction; today it is part of the ensemble of the newly designed Neumarkt." (Luther-Denkmal, Dresden-Lese)