page_title: Gedächtniskirche, Speyer
section_title: Memorial Hall
hierarchical_section_title: Gedächtniskirche, Speyer / Architecture / Memorial Hall
caption_attribution_description: English: Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church) in Speyer, Germany
context_page_description: The Gedächtniskirche der Protestation is a United Protestant church of both Lutheran and Reformed confessions in Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany that commemorates the Protestation at Speyer in defense of the evangelical faith, specifically Lutheranism. Built between 1893 and 1904, the church was constructed in memory of the protest that took place at the Diet of Speyer by the Protestant rulers of the Holy Roman Empire in 1529. The tower is the tallest bell tower in the whole Palatinate at 100 metres.
context_section_description: The Memorial Hall is situated in the ground floor of the tower. Like the tower, this has a hexagonal layout. It was a deliberate choice to situate the Memorial Hall in front of the main entrance, as that was the only place where visitors to the church can see the witnesses of the Protest, as their statues were not allowed to be situated in the interior of the church.
  A bronze likeness of Martin Luther stands on a pedestal made of Swedish granite in the centre of the Memorial Hall. This was a donation from the German-American Lutherans. In his left hand Luther is holding an open Bible, and his right hand is formed into a fist. With his right foot he is stamping on the papal bull of excommunication. Sunk into the ground are the words to remind of Luther's appearance at the Diet of Worms in 1521 ("Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders, Gott helfe mir. Amen!", which mean "Here I stand. I can do nothing else, God help me. Amen.")
  Statues of the six princes who protested at the Diet of Speyer on 19 April 1529 are situated on six further pedestals:
  Elector of Saxony, John the Constant
  Ernest I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
  Duke Franz of Braunschweig-Lüneburg
  Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt
  George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
  Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse
  At the intersections of the archway ridges in the archway are the coats of arms of the subscribers. In the haunches of the neighbouring portals are the coats of arms of the 14 Imperial cities which affiliated themselves with the Speyer Protest (Strassburg, Augsburg, Ulm, Constance, Lindau, Memmingen, Kempten, Nördlingen, Heilbronn, Reutlingen, Isny, St. Gallen, Weißenburg and Windsheim).
caption: "Hier stehe ich..."
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