Restitution marks the start of cooperation between the Luther Memorials Foundation and the Berlin State Library of the SPK
Press release from 01/17/2022
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation recently returned a friendship album from the Reformation period with an entry by Philipp Melanchthon to the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt. In the Luther House in Wittenberg, where it was stolen in 1976, it will once again be part of the permanent exhibitions.
The family register comprises 25 leaves in the very rare duodecimal format (9.5 cm high and 7 cm wide). It belonged to the pastor Valentin Winsheim (1521-1591). The 34 entries date from the years 1557 to 1591 and are mainly in Latin, but also in Greek and German. After Philipp Melanchthon, the reformer Justus Menius, the humanist Joachim Camerarius and - particularly noteworthy - a woman entered their names: Lucrezia von Berlepsch.
The family register has been in the possession of the Lutherhalle since 1913. The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz acquired it at an auction in 2002, unaware that it was stolen property.
With the restitution to the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt, the two institutions began a cooperation in which the Foundation will provide the State Library with prints from the early 16th century, which it will digitise and present to the public via its digital collections. These include the Klug hymnal from 1533, in which Martin Luther's chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" first appeared. This can already be viewed online at sbb.berlin/1cnblj.
Press images at
wolke.martinluther.de/index.php/s/DCrMws5DatbqQdL
Picture credits: © Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt / Photo: Uwe Schulze
Press contact Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt:
Nina Mütze
presse@martinluther.de
Tel.: +49 (0)3491-4203127