freiheyt 1525. 500 years of the Peasants' War
Thuringian State Exhibition 2025
The reformer Martin Luther saw freedom rather as a spiritual good. The preacher Thomas Müntzer was concerned with more. He showed solidarity with the rebellious peasants in 1524 and ultimately became a leading figure in the German Peasants' War. The dramatic events culminated in a major battle near Frankenhausen on May 15, 1525. Around 8,000 peasants armed with scythes and flails faced a well-organised army of lansquenets. They lost the battle, and most of them lost their lives too. This included Müntzer, who was captured, tortured and beheaded a fortnight after the battle outside the gates of Mühlhausen.
In 2025, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt are bringing events back to light. At a time when freedom and justice are still being fought over around the world.
Thuringia
Thuringia's state exhibition "freiheyt 1525. 500 years of the Peasants' War" focuses primarily on the concept of "freedom" and the historical sites in Mühlhausen and Bad Frankenhausen.
An exhibition in the Müntzer Memorial St. Marien in Mühlhausen will show society in transition at the beginning of the 16th century. Visitors can immerse themselves in historical worlds and learn what life was like back then. What constraints, opportunities and daily challenges were confronted with. In the Peasants' War Museum in Mühlhausen's Kornmarktkirche church, the protagonists have their say. The Museum of Cultural History in Mühlhausen allows artists to take a look at the events and deals with the political instrumentalization in later times. An ‘open history laboratory’ is being created at the Museum Allerheiligenkirche in Mühlhausen. It offers space for discussion groups, cultural events and modern formats of history education.
In Bad Frankenhausen, the Panorama Museum is the central exhibition venue. Its location: the historic battlefield of 1525. The exhibition is centred around the monumental 360-degree painting by Werner Tübke. The title: ‘Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany’. The content: a lavish panorama of the 16th century, a gigantic hidden object picture of the Renaissance period. Early humanists, reformers and rebels, great artists and little people are part of it. And the intellectual world of the time comes alive in powerful images. An accompanying exhibition will refer to this and focuses on the historical models of the central panorama painting.
Read more about Thuringia's state exhibition 2025.
Saxony-Anhalt
Gerechtigkeyt 1525: Decentralised state exhibition on “Thomas Müntzer and 500 years of the Peasants' War”
Stolberg, Allstedt and Mansfeld Castle – all of them in Saxony-Anhalt – are three crucial and authentic sites relating to Thomas Müntzer.
Stolberg in the southern Harz region is his birthplace. In Allstedt, Müntzer worked and preached his famous Sermon to the Princes. At Mansfeld Castle Müntzer's opponents were at home. These three places mark important stages in Müntzer's life and emphasise the importance of the region for his career. The district is honouring Müntzer's work in the area with various events. In addition, there will be exhibitions in Halle (Saale) and Lutherstadt Eisleben.
One highlight is the interactive exhibition ‘1525! Uprising for Justice’ at the Luther Museums in Eisleben and Mansfeld: a large walk-in game board allows visitors to slip into the roles of those involved at the time and experience the period just before the uprising from different perspectives.
This is also possible in the second part of the exhibition in Mansfeld: Here, visitors can immerse themselves in the world of the 16th century and get a very close idea of what the lives of the protagonists of the time were like. In addition, the extensive accompanying programme offers the opportunity to learn even more about the historical background. Lectures, concerts, workshops and many other hands-on activities complement the exhibition experience and allow visitors to delve even deeper into the time of the Peasants' War.
More information on Saxony-Anhalt's state exhibition can be found here.
