The Protestant Vicarage has always wanted to be an open house for other people.

Therefore the open door is used as a crucial symbol that will guide you through a „time journey“ through the history of the Protestant Vicarage, beginning at the vicarage of Martin Luther in Wittenberg and going on to date.
The historical change of the vicarage during the 450 years of its existence is documented by reflecting the role of women. Life-sized figures give an insight into the life in the vicarage in the course of time.
In each of the six periods of time, into which the exhibition is divided, people are represented who come from the vicarage. The development of social life in Germany owes numerous impulses to the to the Protestant vicarage.

The emergence of the Protestant Vicarage during the reformation

From Celibacy to the Extended Family

The first part of the exhibition represents, by means of the example of Martin Luther, how the first vicarages came into being. A woman’s figure with a key in her hand symbolizes the crucial power of the vicar’s wife who was managing the household. A kitchen scene and pictures of Luther’s „table circle“ show how the hospitality was cultivated by Luther’s family.

Shelter from War and Poverty

A lot of pastor’s families were very committed to social issues during the Thirty Years War in Germany. They played a decisive role in the reconstruction of the parishes that had been destroyed during the war.

Homes and schools for orphans were founded, as well as Bible studies and devotional services were offered which often took place in the vicarages.

Six „doll’s houses“ show different models of vicarages at that time.

Art, Culture and Education

The living conditions in the Protestant vicarage have improved since the Age of Enlightenment. The family life, the education and the fine arts played a significant role.
Members of the vicars families successfully devoted themselves to the study of philosophy and the sciences. Yet it were also others who profited from the wealth of knowledge.

Increasing industrialisation in Germany brought about pronounced differences between life in a vicarage in the country and in a vicarage in town.

A bookcase and a lectern that represents the study room of the pastor are located here, as well as a harmonium on which a minister’s wife plays. She is accompanied by her daughter on the flute.

Free and Subservient

After the decline of monarchy and the resignation of the German sovereigns who had executed the powers of the Protestant Church since the Reformation the German Protestantism found itself in a big crisis. The separation of Church and State became inevitable.

The Protestant vicarage was in the centre of these tensions. The close interconnection between „Throne and Altar“ was often preserved. Hoping to restore the national and social consciousness, many vicars sympathized with National Socialism - at least in its early stages.

The Vicarage in the two German States

An Open House in a Secular Society

The division of Germany led to two separate developments of the vicarage. In the GDR the vicarage was attacked by the state, but at the same time it preserved the freedom to criticize. In the Federal Republic of Germany, on the other hand, the vicarage was held in high esteem by a wide public. The pastor was more and more supported and the Protestant vicarage gained in importance.

The biggest change in the postwar vicarage is due to the ordination of women. When women were called to be vicars, the roles in the vicarage changed fundamentally and new ways of life were put to the test.
A multi media pillar shows TV scenes of famous vicarage series and an album tells the development of the vicarage in the GDR.

Between Dwelling House and Service Agency

Today we have to question the future of the Protestant vicarage.
Will it loose its meaning within a society in which church is increasingly out of place?
Can new models of the vicarage put life into it?

Nine different models of the vicarage are presented in the exhibition and the visitor can „construct“ the vicarage of the future in a computer game on a multi media pillar.