The exhibition “Luther. The Turning Point” at the National Library of Latvia will be on view from 1 November 2017 until 4 February 2018.
Commemorating 500 years since the beginning of the Reformation and reflecting on the influence of Luther and his followers on the Latvian language and culture, the National Library of Latvia (NLL), in cooperation with the National and University Library of Strasbourg (BNU) and the Wuerttemberg State Library (WLB, in Stuttgart), is holding the exhibition “Luther. The Turning Point.”
The ideas of Martin Luther (1483-1546) changed not only the relationship between humanity and God, but also secular life, creating a world in which sin has less significance than grace and the word has greater value than tradition. Lutheranism also strongly influenced the culture of Livonia (present-day Latvia and Estonia), fostering the emergence of the Latvian and Estonian written languages and textual culture in the first decades of the Reformation and influencing further development over several centuries. The exhibition will draw attention to the most significant phenomena of European spiritual culture of the Reformation era. On display will be art objects – cult items of the Catholic church and statues of saints, books from the collections of the NLL, the Rundale Palace Museum and the National History Museum of Latvia. The core of the exhibition will be formed by books from the collections of the NLL, the BNU, the WLB, the Academic Library of the University of Latvia, the Bavarian State Library and the Uppsala University Library. The duration of one session is 90 minutes, with a maximum number of participants of 30. More information and registration – starting from 18 September by telephone at 67716242. The exhibition is held as part of the programme of the centenary of the Latvian state.
Source: National Library of Latvia (booklet)