Reformation Wall
Encyclopedia
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Monument international de la Réformation, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Internationales Reformationsdenkmal), usually known as the Reformation Wall, is a monument
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It honours many of the main individuals, events, and documents of the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
by depicting them in statue
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
s and bas-reliefs.
The Wall is in the grounds of the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
, which was founded by John Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
, and was built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Calvin's birth and the 350th anniversary of the university's establishment. It is built into the old city walls of Geneva, and the monument's location there is designed to represent the fortifications', and therefore the city of Geneva's, integral importance to the Reformation.
Inaugurated in 1909, it was the culmination of a contest launched to transform that part of the park. The contest, which involved 71 other proposals, received entries from across the world. The winning design was put forward by four Swiss architects: Charles Dubois, Alphonse Laverrière
Alphonse Laverrière
Alphonse Laverrière was a Swiss architect.In 1912 he won a gold medal together with Eugène-Edouard Monod in the art competitions of the Olympic Games. They created a "Building plan of a modern stadium"....
, Eugène Monod, and Jean Taillens (whose other design came third). The sculptures were then created by two French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
sculptors: Paul Landowski
Paul Landowski
Paul Maximilien Landowski , a French monument sculptor of Polish ancestry. He was born in Paris to Polish refugees of the January Uprising, and died in Boulogne-Billancourt....
and Henri Bouchard
Henri Bouchard
Henri Bouchard , was a French sculptor.The son of a carpenter, Bouchard was born in Dijon. He was educated at the Académie Julian and in the studio of Louis-Ernest Barrias before entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He took the Prix de Rome in 1901...
.
During the Reformation, Geneva was the centre of Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
, and its history and heritage since the sixteenth century has been closely linked to that of Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
. Due to the close connections to that theology, the individuals most prominently depicted on the Wall were Calvinists; nonetheless, key figures in other theologies are also included.
At the centre of the monument, four 5 m-tall statues of Calvinism's main proponents are depicted:
- Theodore BezaTheodore BezaTheodore Beza was a French Protestant Christian theologian and scholar who played an important role in the Reformation...
(1519 – 1605) - John CalvinJohn CalvinJohn Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
(1509 – 1564) - William FarelWilliam FarelWilliam Farel , né Guilhem Farel, 1489 in Gap, Dauphiné, in south-eastern France, was a French evangelist, and a founder of the Reformed Church in the cantons of Neuchâtel, Berne, Geneva, and Vaud in Switzerland...
(1489 – 1565) - John KnoxJohn KnoxJohn Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
(c.1513 – 1572)
To the left (facing the Wall, ordered from left to right) of the central statues are 3 m-tall statues of:
- William the SilentWilliam the SilentWilliam I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
(1533 – 1584) - Gaspard de ColignyGaspard de ColignyGaspard de Coligny , Seigneur de Châtillon, was a French nobleman and admiral, best remembered as a disciplined Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion.-Ancestry:...
(1519 – 1572) - Frederick William of BrandenburgFrederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|align=right|Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as the "Great Elector" because of his military and political prowess...
(1620 – 1688)
To the right (ordered from left to right) are 3 m-tall statues of:
- Roger WilliamsRoger Williams (theologian)Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
(1603 – 1684) - Oliver CromwellOliver CromwellOliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
(1599 – 1658) - Stephen BocskayStephen BocskayStephen Bocskai or István Bocskai Stephen Bocskai or István Bocskai Stephen Bocskai or István Bocskai (or Bocskay, (1 January 1557 – 29 December 1606) was a HungarianCalvinist nobleman, Prince of Transylvania (1605–06), who defended Hungarian interests when Hungary was divided into Ottoman...
(1557 – 1606)
Along the wall, to either side of the central statues, is engraved the motto of both the Reformation and Geneva: Post Tenebras Lux
Post tenebras lux
Post tenebras lux is a Latin phrase translated as Light After Darkness.It is Post tenebras spero lucem in the Vulgate version of Job 17:12...
(Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for After darkness, light). On the central statues' pedestal is engraved a Christogram
Christogram
A Christogram is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbol. Different types of Christograms are associated with the various traditions of Christianity, e.g...
: ΙΗΣ.
The monument gave inspiration to one of the most important 20th century Hungarian poems, written by Gyula Illyés
Gyula Illyés
Gyula Illyés was a Hungarian poet and novelist. He was one of the so called népi writers, named so because they aimed to show – propelled by strong sociological interest and left-wing convictions – the disadvantageous conditions of their native land.-Early life:He was born...
in 1946 under the title Before the Monument of Reformation in Geneva.