Augustinerkloster | |
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Augustinerkloster_zu_Erfurt_von_oben.jpg) | |
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Thuringia_location_map.svg)  Location within Thuringia &sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Germany_adm_location_map.svg) St. Augustine's Monastery (Erfurt) (Germany) | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Augustinians |
| Denomination | Lutheran previously Catholic |
| Established | 13th century |
| Controlled churches | Augustinerkirche |
| People | |
| Important associated figures | |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Priory |
| Heritage designation | Kulturdenkmal in Thuringia |
| Site | |
| Location | Erfurt,  Thuringia |
| Country |  Germany |
| Coordinates | 50°58′53.25″N 11°1′48.02″E / 50.9814583°N 11.0300056°E |
| Website | augustinerkloster.de |
St. Augustine's Monastery (German: Augustinerkloster) in Erfurt, central Germany, is a former church and monastery complex dating from the 13th century. The site is almost one hectare (2.5 acres) in size. It was built by Augustinian friars, an order of the Catholic Church. It is most well known as the former home of Martin Luther (1483–1546), the father of the Reformation, who lived there as a friar from 1505 until 1511.[1][2]
About 74 ordained and 70 lay brothers lived at the monastery at its peak in the early 16th century.[3] After the Reformation, from 1525 the monastery church was used by the local Lutheran congregation. The site became the property of Erfurt city council after the last friar died in 1556. It was secularised in 1559, but was later reconsecrated in 1854. It now belongs to the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.[1]
Parts of the complex were destroyed in a British air raid in 1945, in which 267 people sheltering on the site were killed. Today the complex has a mixture of medieval and modern buildings. It is now used as a place of worship and as a meeting and conference centre. Music concerts are performed in the church, which has a Walcker organ, built in 1938. It also provides simple accommodation for travellers and for retreats.[2][4]
In February 2016, an application was made to have St. Augustine's Monastery, along with 11 other sites, added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site designated "Luther Sites in Central Germany". Because of their role in the Reformation, all of these sites are considered to "represent one of the most important events in the religious and political history of the world".[5]
- ^ a b "UNESCO World Heritage. Augustinian Monastery, Erfurt – extension application". Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- ^ a b Stade, Heinz (2010). Augustinerkloster. Luther-Ort und Stätte der Begegnung (in German). Bonn: Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz.
- ^ "Geschichte der Waidhäuser" (in German). Augustiner - Waidhäuser - Erfurt GmbH. Archived from the original on 22 December 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ Hotzel, Siegfried (1971). Luther im Augustinerkloster 1505–1511 (in German). Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt.
- ^ "On the way to UNESCO World Heritage". Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt. 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2017.