Martin Luther Landmarks

[Neilio]

I’ve started a somewhat ambitious project (well, ambitious for me at least ). In 2020, my wife and I will be joining 70+ other folks from our Lutheran church in North Carolina, USA on a trip to Germany, where we will visit various sites relevant to the life of Martin Luther and the Reformation. We’ll conclude our trip by attending the famous Passion Play in Oberammergau. In honor of/preparation for this trip, I’ll be building several models of some of the landmarks we’ll visit.

It’s an interesting undertaking for me, as my architectural modeling experience has thus far been limited to Micromodels and Minibox— so much smaller buildings!

First up is All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, also known as Castle Church (Schlosskirche). On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his 95 Thesis on the door of the Castle Church, and this event is widely considered as the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. This is the 1:200 kit from Schreiber.

[Neilio]

The cylindrical tower base is the first assembly. I cut off the sawtooth tabs from the ends of the cylinder; I find that these hinder the ability to get a nice smooth circle. I also cut off the vertical connecting tab and instead used 110 lb cardstock to create an inner cylinder and allow for an end-to-end closure of the cylinder instead of the tabbed overlap.

I wanted to make sure the cylinder was sturdy and maintained a nice circular shape, so I cut three formers out of 1mm cardboard— one for each end and one in the middle. I made smaller support cylinders out of the 110 lb card. I’m pretty happy with the result. The tower base came out round and smooth, and fit perfectly onto the base.

[Vermin_King]

I'd be interested in seeing a list of models relevant to Luther. My folks live in a German community, and I have a number of friends and relatives who belong to the Lutheran church. When Todd, a minister at Trinity, took a position in missions, I was looking for something to build him before he left.

[Don Boose]

Great project! Between you, you and Thomas Davies Clay will have European cathedrals and churches covered - you will have the Lutheran set under control.

Don

[SCEtoAUX]

Seems like a nice project to start.
That is a good technique to make the cylindrical towers.

[Tomdaviesclay]

For a Lutheran, you have started at the best model. I have not made it nor do I have the kit, mainly because we have not been to Wittenberg yet but hope to someday. Then I will make it. I will interested in following your progress. It seems that you have begun to take extra steps- good luck.

Thanks Don for your comment. Neilio and I will try to cover the world with paper model cathedrals and churches. I still have many cathedral kits that I have not made.

[Neilio]

Thanks all for the encouraging words.

Thomas- it was hard to decide between this model and Wartburg as the place to start. Wartburg is where Luther hid for nearly a year after his excommunication, translating the New Testament into German to pass the time. While these two locations are the most well known to Lutherans (and non-Lutherans), I wish there was a model of the episcopal palace (Bishop's residence) in Augsburg available. This is the location of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, which is doctrinally more important to Lutherans than even the 95 thesis. BTW, I grew up Episcopalian, married a Moravian, and we ended up Lutheran.

Vermin-- Still researching and working on the list, but happy to share what I have so far. This is almost exclusively a list of Schreiber models, so assume that except where I indicate otherwise. As I indicated in note to Thomas above, if you wanted to pick one, pick one of the first two on this list.

These are the "A List" Luther landmarks available:

• Wittenberg Castle Church-- where Luther posted the 95 Thesis in 1517
• Wartburg Castle-- Luther hid here 1521-22 as a wanted man, translated New Testament into German while there
• Luther House in Eisenach--not really his house, but the house he lived in as a boarder while attending school in Eisenach
• St Mary's Church Wittenberg (download from Stahlart 404 Not Found while the Castle Church is where the 95 Thesis were posted, it wasn't Luther's "home" church. St. Mary's is where Luther worked and preached at the time of the 95 Thesis.

Here's what I'm calling "B List" Luther landmarks:

• Worms Cathedral (which Thomas just completed)-- represents the Diet of Worms (Diet = Imperial Assembly or Conference), where in 1521 Luther refused to recant his writings, leading to his excommunication. The actual meetings did not take place at the Cathedral, but the Cathedral is symbolic of the Papal power Luther was resisting.
• Speyer Cathedral--represents Imperial Diets in 1526 and 1529. The 1526 Diet eased the Edict of Worms somewhat, giving the Reformers a bit of breathing and growing room. The 1529 Diet reinstated the Edict of Worms, putting the heat back on. As with Worms, is representative of the events, not the actual site within the city.
• Ulm Minster--Currently the tallest church in the world (spire is 530 ft), became a Protestant (Lutheran Church) in 1531. Martin Luther is thought to have passed through Ulm on his journey to Rome in 1511; there are biographies that claim he gazed upon Ulm Minster's massive 530 ft spire with awe and wonder. However, in 1511, the steeple would not have been any higher than about 320 feet. The full height of 530 wasn't achieved until 1890. Ulm Minster was called out by Luther, along with St Peter's in Rome and the Cologne Cathedral, as being a size wholly unsuitable for preaching. It is not known whether he had first-hand knowledge of this or knew this by reputation.

There are other structures, both secular and sacred, that are important to Luther and the Reformation that I am trying to find models for, but the above list is what I've been able to put together so far. And I'm open to suggestions!

Finally, Schreiber also has a 1:9 kit of Martin Luther himself-- I'll be building that as part of this project too!

[Vermin_King]

My German leaned more towards engineering or tourist-speak, so is the house in Eisenach the same as Lutherhaus in Eisleben?

[Neilio]

No, they are different structures (and different towns). Luther was born, and also died, in Eisleben-- but was in many other places in between. I think the Lutherhaus in Eisleben refers to the house Luther was born in.


The Lutherhaus in Eisenach (that is offered by Schreiber as a paper model) was owned by a family named Cotta, and Luther lived there while he attended school in Eisenach as a teenager.


If there is a model of the birthplace in Eisleben, I would certainly want to build it!

[Neilio]

Walls are up! Starting to look like a church now, instead of a grain silo !


The walls are just four simple pieces, but they are big pieces. As I mentioned in my intro, this is the first "big" architectural model I've attempted, and I was a little leery about how these four pieces would go together. My main concern was the thickness of the paper; I was worried that the walls might look wavy across such a large expanse. If this was a 1:25 armor model (which I'm more used to), there would likely be a solid cardboard structure underneath the skin.


So I used the 110 lb cardstock again to laminate the backs of the walls & give them some strength. I was careful to stop my backing pieces just short of the edges where a tab from an adjoining wall would connect; I didn't want the added width to throw off the angles or create a gap.


Maybe strengthen the wall pieces was a bit of overkill, but ultimately I'm happy with the result. The fit of the walls onto the base and into each other and the existing tower base was very good, and everything looks nice and square, with no waves. I didn't feel the need to strengthen the 2 inner braces, they seemed fine as is.