Martin Luther - Washington, DC
N 38° 54.389 W 077° 01.902
18S E 323832 N 4308361
This bronze statue of Martin Luther stands in front of the historic Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, DC.
Waymark Code: WMQDC3
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 02/09/2016
Views: 5
ABOUT THE STATUE:
The 11.5 ft. tall bronze statue of Martin Luther stands on a granite base: that is 168 in. tall and 138 in. wide. The statue has a place of honor in front of the historic Luther Place Memorial Church, which was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
"Martin Luther stands dressed in long robes with his proper right leg moving slightly forward. The sculpture, which shows an excommunicated Luther defending himself during his trial before the Diet of Worms in 1521, features Luther resting his proper right hand on top of a large Bible that he holds in his proper left hand. His hair curls around his face and he looks outwards, looking slightly upwards. The sculpture stands on a three-tiered granite base (H 168 in. x W. 138 in.) and is surrounded by sunflowers and overlooks Thomas Circle.
The back of the sculpture, near the base, is engraved:
E. RIETSCHEL FACIT. GEGOSSEN LAUCHHAMMER 1884
In raised letters on the front of the base along with the founder's mark:
MARTIN LUTHER
Martin Luther is cast from an original mold of the portrait by Rietschel which stands in Worms, Germany and was installed there in 1868. The version in Washington inspired the installation of eleven other castings across the United States."
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ABOUT THE MAN:
"Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.
Works and editions
- The Erlangen Edition (Erlangener Ausgabe: "EA"), comprising the Exegetica opera latina – Latin exegetical works of Luther.
- The Weimar Edition (Weimarer Ausgabe) is the exhaustive, standard German edition of Luther's Latin and German works, indicated by the abbreviation "WA". This is continued into "WA Br" Weimarer Ausgabe, Briefwechsel (correspondence), "WA Tr" Weimarer Ausgabe, Tischreden (tabletalk) and "WA DB" Weimarer Ausgabe, Deutsche Bibel (German Bible).
- The American Edition (Luther's Works) is the most extensive English translation of Luther's writings, indicated either by the abbreviation "LW" or "AE". The first 55 volumes were published 1955-1986, and a twenty volume extension (vols. 56-75) is planned of which volumes 58, 60, and 68 have appeared thus far."
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