Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann Advocates for World Heritage Site at International Conference

At the international conference “Talking about the Torgau Castle Chapel” held January 16–17, 2025, Professor Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann affirmed the significance of the chapel, currently on UNESCO’s “Tentative List” to be deemed a World Heritage Site. After addressing participants of the conference, he explained in the Sachsenspiegel MDR television news program “It is the only chapel that was consecrated by Martin Luther himself.”  Further, he explained, “The first Lutheran church choir was here.” The world’s first cantor, or “Urkantor,” Johann Walter of Torgau, composed and performed a seven-part motet with the choir at the chapel’s consecration.

Torgau Castle Chapel interior (Courtesy of tic-torgau.de)

Kaufmann joined with participants of the conference in pointing out the manifold justifications for adding Torgau Castle Chapel to the World Heritage Sites list.  In terms of its design, its architectural elements served as models for further Protestant churches, with the pulpit’s central position in the room symbolizing the centrality of the word of God. The organ’s placement above the altar signifies the importance of church music. The interior was designed by Luther’s painter and engraver, Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose pulpit design depicts scenes from the life of Jesus in the imagery of the Reformation.  

According to the submitted proposal “The chapel´s design and in-situ intact accoutrements are highly significant in art history and form characteristic attributes of Protestant parish churches worldwide.”

Integrated into Hartenfels Castle, the chapel is located on the northern rim of the old town of Torgau in Saxony, Germany, on the banks of the Elbe River. Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, counterpart to Emperor Charles V in the early years of the German Reformation, commissioned the chapel to be built in 1543/44.

“As the first and only church built directly according to the demands of the reformer Martin Luther and dedicated by him on October 5th, 1544, the still functional church building bears outstanding witness to Luther’s ideas and the importance of sermon, prayer, and congregational singing in Protestant worship (‘Torgau Formula’),” reads the submitted proposal. 

According to Luther, himself, the Torgau Castle Chapel surpassed the beauty of the Temple of Solomon and the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann addresses participants at the international conference on the Torgau castle chapel