Germany · Thuringia, Wartburg near Eisenach

Wartburg is situated above Eisenach and was built in the Middle Ages as the seat of the Thuringian landgraves. One of its oldest surviving parts is the Romanesque palas from the 12th century. However, its present appearance was also shaped by extensive restorations and additions in the 19th century. The complex therefore combines medieval building fabric with the ideas of that period about the German Middle Ages.

Several historical figures and traditions are associated with the castle. Elisabeth, the daughter of the King of Hungary, lived there in the 13th century as the wife of Landgrave Ludwig IV. She was revered for her religious way of life and her care for the poor and sick, and was canonized after her death. The legendary Sängerkrieg auf der Wartburg, an alleged contest between medieval poets, was later adapted in literature and music, including in Richard Wagner’s opera “Tannhäuser”.

Wartburg is particularly closely associated with Martin Luther. After the Diet of Worms (Reichstag zu Worms), he was brought to the castle in 1521 for his protection and lived there under the name “Junker Jörg”. During his stay, he translated the New Testament from Greek into German. This translation contributed to the spread of Reformation ideas and to the development of a German written language that could be understood across regional boundaries.

The political history of the 19th century is also connected with the site. At the Wartburgfest of 1817, students and professors gathered. They commemorated the Reformation and the Wars of Liberation and called for national unity and political civil rights. The castle thus became a place of remembrance for German national and constitutional history.

The choice of the motif can therefore be explained by the unusual density of its religious, cultural and political associations. The date of issue was also connected with Thuringia’s presidency of the Bundesrat in 2021 and 2022, whose rotational sequence provided the basis for the coin series at the time.