Derde eeuwfeest op de vertaling van de Bijbel door Martin Luther

This silver medal was created by Gottfried Bernhard Loos to commemorate the third centenary of Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible. The image is rich with cultural references. On one side we see a profile of Luther himself, while the other side depicts Luther bestowing the Bible to Germania, the allegorical personification of the German nation. The medal was produced in 1834, a time of growing nationalism in Germany, and Luther was seen as a national hero who had broken the power of the Catholic Church, thus freeing the German people. But this was also a time of growing political repression, and the authorities feared that the celebrations of the anniversary of Luther’s translation would lead to unrest. The medal therefore represents the complex politics of imagery. Understanding its full significance requires us to look at archival records and other historical sources.