The RFB stores around 60,000 books that are owned by the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt (SLG). Of these, the historical collection comprises approx. 27,000 volumes. The historical holdings include prints that span the period from the beginning of book printing to 1800. The remaining 33,000 volumes are books published from 1801 onwards. This segment is constantly being expanded, with consistent acquisitions of the current research literature. This secondary literature is primarily acquired in order to make the historical holdings accessible and to support research on the history of the Reformation.
The historical stock represents the history and effects of the Reformation in particular. The focus is on the life and work of Martin Luther. His work is comprehensively documented, as is a selection of the works of his contemporaries. Special areas of collection, such incunabula, Bible prints and hymnals, supplement the holdings.
The holdings are made up of various collections that found their way into the library in a variety of ways. These are the Augustin Collection, Knaake Collection, Library of the Royal Government of Merseburg, Kawerau Collection, Princely Library Stolberg-Wernigerode, Ficker Collection, dissertation collection and new acquisitions, as well as the C. G. Holtzhausen Collection. However, this latter collection is held in the Luther House rather than in the castle due to the provisions set out in the donation contract by Carl-Gustav Holtzhausen. The volumes are fully catalogued and can be searched via the Research Library for Reformation Studies Opac system. It can be used in the Luther House by prior arrangement.
Incunabula
The incunabula holdings reflect the intellectual and cultural currents of the late 15th century and impress with their thematic diversity and the rarity of some prints. The Augustinian Collection contains one incunabula, the Knaake Collection lists 14 prints from the period before 1501 and the Ficker estate includes five such titles.
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The physician and humanist Hartmann Schedel compiled the World Chronicle named after him. He had the largest private library in Nuremberg of his time. In the tradition of medieval chronicles, he presented world history in seven ages, beginning with the Creation. The sixth world age deals with the time after Christ up to the year 1493. An eschatological final age beginning with the reign of the Antichrist concludes the chronicle. Like many of his contemporaries, Luther believed that he was living in this age.
The “Mirabilia Romae” have been passed down, handwritten, since the 12th century. They served as pilgrim guides for Rome and its Christian sanctuaries. The Holy Year 1500 led to a massive increase in pilgrims in Rome and at the same time the guide was printed in large numbers in many languages. Luther would certainly have used a similar specimen on his trip to Rome in 1510.
Bible prints
The collection of Bible prints includes valuable Latin and pre-Lutheran German editions. The forty-eight-line Bible by Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer (Mainz 1462) deserves particular attention. However, there is only one sheet of this edition in the collection. Of 18 German-language Bible translations before Martin Luther, three editions are in the collection. The library holds largely complete full and partial editions of Luther’s Bible translation published during his lifetime. In total, the inventories list 127 Bibles from the 16th century, 49 from the 17th century, 68 Bible prints from the 18th century and a large number from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Due to the great demand for the “September Testament” and in order to prevent unauthorised reprinting, printing of an improved new edition began immediately. It was published also in 1522 as the “December Testament”.
Hymnals
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Klug’s hymnal was purchased in 1932. The entire first edition of this hymnal is considered lost to research and this volume, a unique specimen, comes from the second edition of this important collection of church hymns by Luther.
Augustin Collection
Dieser Sammlungsbestand wird durch die Buchstaben „Ag“ als Signatur erkennbar. Benannt ist die Sammlung nach Christian Friedrich Bernhard Augustin (28.11.1771 Gröningen – 01.09.1856 Halberstadt). Er studierte in Halle Evangelische Theologie und Geschichte, war seit 1797 Lehrer der Domschule zu Halberstadt, dann Domprediger und seit 1824 Oberdomprediger zu Halberstadt. Er baute sich eine der größten Privatbibliotheken auf. Sein Hauptsammelgebiet waren theologische und geschichtskundliche Schriften. Heinrich Eduard Schmieder (1794-1893), Direktor des Königlichen Predigerseminars Wittenberg, wurde 1860 auf Augustins Sammlung aufmerksam. Er erreichte, dass der preußische König Friedrich Wilhelm IV. für den „käuflichen Erwerb für das Lutherhaus“ 3.000 Taler zur Verfügung stellte. Die Bücher kamen 1860 nach Wittenberg und wurden im Predigerseminar Wittenberg in Kisten aufbewahrt. Die Aufstellung im Lutherhaus erfolgte erst im Jahr 1880. Es handelt sich dabei um annähernd 5.000 Drucke aus der Zeit der Reformation. Bei ca. 1.200 Drucken handelt es sich um Lutherdrucke vom 15. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert. Etwa die gleiche Anzahl von Drucken lutherischer Zeitgenossen gehören ebenfalls zur Sammlung. Die verbleibenden ca. 2.000 Drucke sind anonyme Flugschriften. Überaus wertvolle Einzelstücke, wie z. B. eine Inkunabel, sowie eine Vielzahl von Erstausgaben finden sich im Bestand.
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Luther betrachtete die Bibelübersetzung nie als abgeschlossen. Immer wieder kamen er und seine Mitarbeiter zu Verbesserungen der Texte zusammen. Dazu sind Protokolle überliefert, meist von der Hand Georg Rörers. Der letzte von Luther autorisierte Text des Neuen Testaments entstand im Herbst 1544 und wird nach Luthers Tod veröffentlicht.
Die Übersetzungsarbeit erfolgte in einem universitären Arbeitskreis. Dazu gehörten neben Theologen wie Johannes Bugenhagen und Justus Jonas auch der Gräzist Philipp Melanchthon und der Hebraist Matthäus Aurogallus. 1534 erschien die erste lutherische Vollbibel, Altes und Neues Testament in einem Band.
Knaake Collection
The books in this collection have shelfmarks beginning with “Kn”.
Joachim Karl Friedrich Knaake (02.10.1835 Werben/Elbe – 06.04.1905 Naumburg/Saale) was a Protestant theologian, Luther researcher and founder of the Weimar Luther Edition. With his bibliophilic passion for collecting, he founded one of the most valuable private collections relating to Luther and the Reformation. In 1893, a major part of his collection was purchased from the Royal Library in Berlin for 25,000 marks. Of the 4,168 titles that were purchased, 3,027 titles were transferred to the Luther House’s holdings. The remaining 1,141 volumes remained in Berlin. These are mainly rare Luther prints, anthologies and editions of the complete works of humanists, especially Erasmus of Rotterdam. The collection also houses fourteen incunabula.
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By 1525, 19 prints of this work had been published in Wittenberg, Leipzig, Augsburg, Strasbourg, Speyer, Basel, Zwickau and Nuremberg. However, it was printed for the first time in Wittenberg by Johann Rhau-Grunenberg, making Rhau-Grunenberg the first printer of Luther’s writings.
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Luther translated the New Testament within about 11 weeks during his stay at Wartburg Castle in the autumn of 1521. His translation is not literal – rather, he translated the content into the German way of expression and thought. After his return to Wittenberg, he began to edit his manuscript together with Philipp Melanchthon and prepare it for printing. At the beginning of May 1522, Melchior Lotter the Younger began printing in the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Wittenberg goldsmith Christian Döring. The volume was published in mid-September 1522 in an edition of about 3,000 copies.
Merseburg Collection
Library of the Royal Government of Merseburg
Part of the collection from the Merseburg Palace Library came to the Lutherhalle Wittenberg, today’s Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt, between 1917 and 1922. This constituted 221 titles published in 117 volumes. At that time, the collections of the Luther House were being expanded and the Merseburg prints were presented along with other exhibits in the exhibition “Book Art” in the refectory of the Luther House. The shelfmarks for this collection begin with “MB”.
Kawerau Collection
Gustav Kawerau (25.02.1847 Bolesławiec/Lower Silesia – 01.12.1918 Berlin) studied Protestant theology at the Friedrichs-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin from 1863. He was also a high school teacher in Magdeburg, a university lecturer in Kiel and Breslau, and a long-standing member of the board of trustees of the Lutherhalle in Wittenberg. From 1905 onwards, he was also head of the commission for the publication of the Weimar edition of Luther’s works (the “Lutherausgabe”). After his death, his Luther Library, which comprised about 100 Reformation-period prints and about 450 volumes, became part of the library of the Luther House. The historical holdings were included in the new acquisitions, where they were also recorded and catalogued. The shelfmark begins with “ss”. His Luther Library was given a separate category and shelfmark sequence, beginning with “Kaw”.
Princely Library Stolberg-Wernigerode
The Princely Library goes back to its founding by Count Wolf Ernst zu Stolberg (1546-1606) and is still considered an important private library in Germany today. The collection focused on theology and ecclesiastical history as well as publications concerning the Harz region and the former county of Wernigerode. In the 1920s and 1930s, a large part of the holdings were sold through antiquarian bookshops to cover debts. In 1931 and 1933, a total of 142 prints were acquired for the Luther House in Wittenberg from the Berlin antiquarian Breslauer. They have been inventoried and catalogued in the new acquisitions segment and their shelfmark begins with “ss”.
Passional Christi und Antichristi Wittenberg (Wittenberg Passion of Christ and Antichrist): Johann Rhau-Grunenberg 1521 First edition Shelfmark: ss 40
The “Passional” was one of the sharpest pictorial satires of the Reformation period. The woodcuts were created by Lucas Cranach the Elder, with Luther influencing the creation of the print in his letters from Wartburg Castle. Philipp Melanchthon and the Wittenberg lawyer Johann Schwertfeger are considered to be the authors. In 13 pairs of images and texts, the life and work of Christ is juxtaposed with the life and conduct of the popes.
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The so-called “Reiffenstein drawing” shows Luther in the last year of his life. The portrait of Luther in old age is drawn on the inside of the back cover of a Bible edition from 1541. The previous pages contain handwritten texts about Luther’s death, such as his last words.
Ficker Collection
Johannes Ficker (12.11.1861 Leipzig – 19.06.1944 Halle/Saale) was a German Protestant theologian, ecclesiastical historian, Christian archaeologist and Luther researcher. His library contained more than 6,100 titles when the estate was transferred to the Lutherhalle in Wittenberg in 1948. Only a few prints from the 16th to 18th centuries are documented in this collection, including five incunabula. Due to its small size, the historical holdings were assigned to the new acquisitions segment and have the shelfmark starting with “ss”. The main part of the collection is made up of publications from the 19th and 20th centuries. This sub-collection was also given a separate category with shelfmarks starting with “F”.
Collection of dissertations/disputations
The collection was assembled by the city of Wittenberg, assigned to the city council archive and stored in the Melanchthon House in Wittenberg. In 1994, the Wittenberg Melanchthon House was institutionally assigned to the Lutherhalle (after 2003, Luther House Wittenberg). Lutherstadt Wittenberg and the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt agreed that the foundation would take over the extensive holdings of 14,622 titles in 430 volumes of dissertations and disputations.
All dissertations published before 1800 are referred to as “older dissertations”. The dissertation is a scientific work for obtaining a doctoral degree and represents the core achievement of the doctorate. The dissertation contains a thesis paper, which is supplemented by an oral examination (rigorosum) or an oral defence of the dissertation (disputation). In terms of content, the publications deal with many different topics such as theology, law, medicine, etc. Around 100 titles in the collection were printed in the 16th century, but most of the prints appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. Wittenberg is disproportionately represented as a printing location. The shelfmark starts with “MHD”.
New acquisitions
On 1 November 1906, the Board of Trustees decided to charge admission fees for visiting the Lutherhalle and to allocate the proceeds to the collections for the expansion of the holdings. In addition, from 1908 onwards, the sum of 500 Reichsmarks was made available annually for the purchase of new publications. The “new acquisitions” segment thus includes both planned extensions of the old historical holdings and the holdings of modern research literature.
This volume came to the Lutherhalle in 1911 as a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II. It is one of the oldest dated album amicorum books and contains a total of 58 entries in Latin, Greek and German. French and Italian. The owner of our volume was Christoph von Teuffenbach, a nobleman from Styria. He was enrolled at the University of Wittenberg in September 1546. He used the album amicorum in the period from 1548 to 1568. The handwritten entries were made by Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, Jonas, Major, Örtel and others.
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The Heiltumsbuch (relic book) as a list of relics was created in 1509, and in 1510 a slightly modified second edition was published, to which this copy can be assigned. In addition to prints on paper, there were special editions on parchment intended for the Elector. Today, only five copies of the relic books printed on parchment are known. The texts were written by Georg Spalatin, the secretary of the Elector. The 117 woodcuts were created by the electoral court painter Lucas Cranach the Elder. They show reliquaries or images of saints on these.
Purchase of the printed 2nd edition of the inaugural lecture held by Philipp Melanchthon on 29 August 1518 in Wittenberg. In his speech, Melanchthon sets out a comprehensive programme that was intended to radically reform traditional education.
C. G. Holtzhausen Collection
Carl-Gustav Holtzhausen from Landshut donated his private Reformation history collection to the Luther House in Wittenberg in 1999. Carl-Gustav Holtzhausen, who was deeply connected to his hometown of Wittenberg, gifted 446 prints, mostly from the 16th century. The focus of his passion for collecting was early prints by Martin Luther, which had been published in the Wittenberg printing works of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Christian Döring. The collection has the shelfmark “CGH”.
Adoption of modern scholarly libraries
Helmar Junghans Library (shelfmark Ju)
Helmar Junghans (19.10.1931 Geyer – 16.05.2010 Wiesenthal bei Leisnig)
Protestant theologian and church historian
1971 lecturer in ecclesiastical history at the University of Leipzig
1990 full professor at the University of Leipzig
5,150 titles (plus approx. 1,400 special prints, copies, etc.)
Bernd Moeller Library (shelfmark BM)
Bernd Moeller (19.05.1931 Berlin – 29.10.2020 Göttingen)
Protestant ecclesiastical historian with a focus on the Late Middle Ages and the Reformation period
from 1964, Chair of the University of Göttingen
2,184 titles
Martin Brecht Library (shelfmark MB)
Martin Brecht (06.03.1932 Nagold – 23.07.2021 Münster)
Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian
1971 adjunct professorship at the University of Tübingen
1975 Professor at the Chair of Ecclesiastical History with a focus on the Reformation and the Early Modern Period
University of Münster
1,339 titles
Heimo Reinitzer Library (shelfmark HR)
Heimo Reinitzer (24.09.1943 Graz)
Germanist
1982 to 2008 Professor of Early German Literature, University of Hamburg
until 2005 Scientific Director of the German Bible Archive
294 titles