Veste Coburg

The Veste covers a hilltop above Coburg behind a triple ring of walls, one of the largest surviving fortresses in Germany. Martin Luther stayed here from April to October 1530, unable to attend the Diet of Augsburg himself, and worked on his translation and correspondence in rooms that are shown as the Lutherzimmer. The collections are unusually strong for a provincial museum: a large holding of prints and drawings including Dürer and Cranach, one of the most important collections of historic glass in Europe, and an armoury with tournament armour and a collection of Venetian and German glass. A carriage museum occupies the outbuildings.

History

The hill was inhabited from the Neolithic to the early Middle Ages, and Coburg is first recorded in 1056 in a gift by Richeza of Lotharingia; in 1075 a chapel of Saints Peter and Paul is mentioned on the fortified hill, and a document of 1225 first calls it a palace. Held by the Dukes of Merania and from 1248 by the Counts of Henneberg, Coburg passed in 1353 to the Wettins, its defences were enlarged in 1430 during the Hussite Wars, and in the partition of 1485 it went to the Ernestine line; Lucas Cranach the Elder lived and worked here in 1506/07, and Luther sheltered here from April to October 1530 during the Diet of Augsburg. Duke Johann Casimir modernised the fortifications, and in 1632 Wallenstein's imperial and Bavarian forces besieged it for seven days without success (Wikipedia, Veste Coburg).

What you'll find

• The Lutherzimmer - rooms used during his six-month stay in 1530.
• The triple walls - a large fortress circuit around the hilltop.
• The print collection - Dürer, Cranach and a substantial graphic holding.
• The armoury - tournament armour and historic weapons.

When to go

April to October; the museums close Mondays and reduce hours in winter. The walk up from the town takes about half an hour through the Hofgarten.

Practical notes

Parts of the fortress have been under long-running restoration with sections closed. The climb is steep. The collections are large and need time.

Nearby

Coburg town lies below; Vierzehnheiligen is south.

Key facts