Wittenberg
Wittenberg is a town in Anhalt, Saxony, eastern Germany. Population 47,540. Martin Luther is famous for the cause of the Reformation, and is formally called Lutherstadt Wittenberg. It is located on the coast of the Elbe River, east of Dessau. It was first mentioned in the literature in 1180 and became the center of the Principality of Saxony Wittenberg in 1260. Since then, it belonged to the Saxon election. At the end of the 15th century, it became a major city in Saxony and in 1502 the University of Vitebruck opened. In 1517, Martin Luther, a professor of theology at Wittenberg University, led the reforms in earnest with 95 issues. Philip Melanchthon soon became a professor at the University of Wittenberg. The ruins of Luther's castle church, the municipal church of Luther, and the monastery where Luther lived, remain, and the ruins of these religious reforms, along with the ruins of Luther's hometown of Aesleven, are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites .