As the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s Reformation draws closer (he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517), Germany is already offering many diverse Luther-related products in the towns and cities where the reformer lived and worked. Luther hid from prosecution in 1530 for six months in the fortress Veste of the small Franconian town of Coburg. It was in the fortress that he also started to translate the Bible from Latin into German.
Today, the Luther memorial rooms and the Luther chapel give a vivid impression of the Reformation era and display many artifacts and paintings, including a full-length portrait of Luther by Lucas Cranach the Younger and the famous "Hedwigsbecher," a precious goblet made from topas-colored glass that was presented to Luther by Elector Johann Friedrich. In the vault of the fortress, visitors can see a 15-minute-film in English about the reformer himself. Luther’s original letters are housed in the Veste and in Coburg’s Public Records Office, The State library of Coburg possesses about 700 of Luther’s documents from the 16th century as well as valuable Lutheran Bibles. The Veste Coburg itself is an impressive fortress from the 15th century overlooking the town Coburg. It houses an distinguished art collection with famous paintings by Albrecht Duerer.
