Bugenhagen House (003QR2)

Bugenhagen House

From the Reformation until 1997, the building known as Bugenhagen House was the parsonage and hence the seat of Wittenberg’s pastors and ecclesiastical superintendents. Being the town’s first parish pastor, Johannes Bugenhagen lived and worked here from 1523 to 1557.
Between 1604 and 1606, the parsonage was extensively rebuilt and financed by the church. It was probably only then that three or four smaller houses were joined together to create the long building. The mansard roof was added in 1732, and additional major renovation was carried out from 1907 to 1910 and again from 2004 to 2007.
The combination of a residence and official seat (a typical feature of the Protestant parsonage) was only introduced in the 17th century. An inventory dated 1686 lists not just living rooms, bedrooms, animal stalls and servants’ quarters but also a summerhouse in the garden as well as a bathroom with a ‘sweating bench’ and a bathtub. In Bugenhagen’s day, by contrast, the only rooms mentioned in written records are the reading room with the study and library above it, which have largely been preserved.
These days, Bugenhagen House is used as a venue by the Town Church Protestant community and the Paul Gerhardt Academy. It also contains an exhibition open to the public about Johannes Bugenhagen and his successors.