Heinrich Bedford-Strohm thanks Queen Margrethe II.

A “heart-felt gift symbolising the bonds with all Protestant Christians in Wittenberg and the whole of Germany”  - that was how Bishop Heinrich Bedord-Strohm, chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), described the announcement that Queen Margrethe II of Denmark would donate an antependium (altar hanging) for the Castle Church in Wittenberg. “The interweaving of relations between churches, countries and people can hardly be better illustrated than through the embroidery of an altar hanging,” said Bedford-Strohm. This was a very personal contribution to restoring the church where Luther preached, he added. “Queen Margrethe II shows us how the Reformation still connects the nations.”

In a communication published to mark Reformation Day 2015, the royal palace had announced that Queen Margrethe II would endow the Castle Church in Wittenberg with a red embroidered antependium to mark its reopening on 2 October 2016. The central motif would be a Luther rose embroidered with the tiny stitches known as petit point.
According to the Danish ministry for church affairs, the gift underlines the good relations that have existed between the Danish royal family and Wittenberg since the Reformation. 31 October 1517 – traditionally marking the beginning of the Reformation – is also a significant date for Danish history.

Denmark joined the Reformation in 1536, when the Danish church became Lutheran. The Reformer Johannes Bugenhagen stayed in Copenhagen from 1527 to 1539 on the invitation of King Christian III and played a major part in spreading Lutheran teaching. Since then there has always been a close connection between Wittenberg and the Danish monarchy.

The Castle Church in Wittenberg is currently undergoing a full-scale restoration by way of preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. It will be ceremonially reopened on 2 October 2016 in the presence of Queen Margrethe II. The altar cloth will then be formally handed over.

As the name suggests, an antependium is a cloth adorning the front of the altar. Its colour depends on the season of the church year. Red antependia are traditionally used in Protestant churches at Pentecost and on Reformation Day.

EKD Press Office
Hanover

Carsten Splitt