The Lutherhaus in Wittenberg was built in 1504 as part of the University of Wittenberg. Martin Luther took up residence in a cell in its southwest corner in 1507, and he lived and worked here for most of his adult life. In 1524 the Electorate of Saxony gave the residence halls to the Luther family, and Luther began his Table Talks here in 1531.
His heirs sold the building back to the university in 1564. Remodeling then added an exterior spiral staircase and a vaulted refectory. Friedrich August Stüler restored it between 1853 and 1856, and a modern entrance by Pitz and Hoh opened in 2002 and won the Architectural Prize of Saxony-Anhalt.
The museum, described as the world's largest on the Reformation, holds Luther's pulpit and friar's habit and paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder. It is part of a UNESCO listing inscribed in 1996. The building is closed for renovation until spring 2027.
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