Augustinerkloster Wittenberg

The Augustinerkloster in Wittenberg was a monastery of the Augustinian hermits built in 1504 on the site of a former hospital. It stood against the town wall near the Elster Gate in the eastern part of the medieval town. Today the buildings form part of the Lutherhaus museum. The site is important because Martin Luther lived there from 1508 and it became the centre of the Reformation. In 1524 the elector gave the complex to Luther and his wife after the monastery was dissolved. Katharina von Bora ran the estate, keeping up to fifty people with her farming, brewing and hospitality. Visitors see the former refectory and dormitory of the monastery. Luther’s private rooms were added after 1525 when the couple made the house their home. The Lutherhaus displays Luther’s study and the printing workshop of Johann Gronenberg. The courtyard and garden recall the busy household that once fed scholars, guests and refugees.