Philipp Melanchthon (1497 - 1560) is the most famous son of the town of Bretten. He was a humanist, universal scholar, reformer and the closest collaborator of Martin Luther. The Melanchthon House was built in the years 1897 – 1903 on the site of the reformer's birthplace.
The Melanchthon House is a unique gesamtkunstwerk and accommodates a museum, a library and a research centre. There is a memorial hall adorned with frescoes, and further rooms with an extensive collection of books, autographs, prints and medallions, which grant insight into the Reformation and Melanchthon's life and work. Thus the entire cosmos of an outstanding personality and an enthralling epoch is displayed behind the mighty sandstone walls looming above the market square in Bretten.
The Melanchthon House is a unique gesamtkunstwerk and accommodates a museum, a library and a research centre. There is a memorial hall adorned with frescoes, and further rooms with an extensive collection of books, autographs, prints and medallions, which grant insight into the Reformation and Melanchthon's life and work. Thus the entire cosmos of an outstanding personality and an enthralling epoch is displayed behind the mighty sandstone walls looming above the market square in Bretten.