Global InformationWittenberg information
Wittenberg
Lutherstadt Wittenberg | |
|---|---|
Town | |
       From top: Skyline of Wittenberg, Wittenberg old town with view to the Castle church, Market square with town hall and Stadtkirche Wittenberg, inside Wittenberg castle church and Lutherhaus, Leucorea university, former monastery church of the Franciscans – Historic Town Information Center, the Stadthaus | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Wittenberg within Wittenberg district  | |
  Wittenberg  Wittenberg | |
| Coordinates: 51°52′02″N 12°38′54″E / 51.8671°N 12.6484°E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Saxony-Anhalt |
| District | Wittenberg |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2022–29) | Torsten Zugehör[1] (Ind.) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 240.32 km2 (92.79 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 67 m (220 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
| • Total | 45,535 |
| • Density | 190/km2 (490/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 06886 |
| Dialling codes | 03491 |
| Vehicle registration | WB |
| Website | wittenberg.de |
Wittenberg (/ˈwɪtənbɜːrɡ, ˈvɪt-/ WIT-ən-burg, VIT-, German: [ˈvɪtn̩bɛʁk] ⓘ; Low Saxon: Wittenbarg; meaning White Mountain;[a] officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Luther City Wittenberg)), is the fourth-largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, 60 kilometers (37 mi) north of Leipzig and 90 kilometers (56 mi) south-west of Berlin, and has a population of 46,008 (2018).
Wittenberg is famous for its close connection with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, for which it received the honorific Lutherstadt and is being called the "cradle of the Reformation"[3] and "cradle of Protestantism".[4] Several of Wittenberg's buildings are associated with the events, including a preserved part of the Augustinian monastery in which Luther lived, first as a monk and later as owner with his wife Katharina von Bora and family, considered to be the world's premier museum dedicated to Luther. Wittenberg was also the seat of the Elector of Saxony, a dignity held by the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg, making it one of the most powerful cities in the Holy Roman Empire.
Today Wittenberg is an industrial centre and popular tourist destination, best known for its intact historic centre and various memorial sites dedicated to Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. The buildings associated with those two figures were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1996, along with other sites in Eisleben, because of their religious significance and testimony to one of the most influential movements of medieval Europe.[5]
- ^ Bürgermeisterwahlen in den Gemeinden, Endgültige Ergebnisse, Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt, accessed 9 July 2022.
- ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden – Stand: 31. Dezember 2022" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Sachsen-Anhalt. June 2023.
- ^ "Lutherstadt Wittenberg - the Cradle of the Reformation - Discover Germany". 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Wittenberg, Cradle of Protestantism, 500 Years Down the Line". 24 December 2002.
- ^ "Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
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