“Mühlberg 1547” Museum – The name of the town is inextricably linked with the battle at Mühlberg. The “Mühlberg 1547” Museum, which reopened in 2015, commemorates this historic event of the reformation age. It is situated in the priory, a precious edifice of the Renaissance period from the 1530s. Conrad Gundeloch, the provost of the neighbouring nunnery, had his residence and guildhall embellished with remarkable murals and late Gothic pediments. On April 25, 1547, Emperor Charles V (1500–1558) and his allies defeated the Schmalkaldic League (confederation of Protestant cities and countries against Charles V) near Mühlberg. The emperor's troops crossed the Elbe River and routed out Elector Johann Frederick I (referred to as Johann the Magnanimous) (1503–1554) and his army. On a widely scattered battlefield Protestant troops were butchered. The Elector was taken prisoner. Even though the emperor scored a significant victory, he failed to stamp out the Protestant belief and recatholicise Martin Luther's land. The first religious war on German soil rather resulted in a peaceful compromise achieved by the different religious confessions.
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The battle at Mühlberg is significant in Saxon history because Duke Maurice of Saxony, ruler of the Albertine region, sided with the Catholic emperor despite being Lutheran himself. He was awarded with the electoral dignity and received large territories of his defeated cousin Johann Frederick. Duke Maurice founded the Albertine Electorate Saxony, the most powerful and culturally leading state in the central German territory. Maurice’ brother August (1526–1586) bartered town, parish and monastery Mühlberg to the last Bishop of Meißen in 1559. The latter gave up his possessions again through another barter. Since then, Mühlberg became the seat of a Saxon parish, before falling under Prussian rule in 1815.
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