Phone +41 22 909 70 00 | Architect Alphonse Laverrière | |
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Address Prom. des Bastions 1, 1204 Genève, Switzerland Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSuggest an edit Similar Parc des Bastions, St Pierre Cathedral, Jet d'Eau, Maison Tavel, Place du Bourg‑de‑Four | ||
Geneva reformation wall
The International Monument to the Reformation (French: Monument international de la Réformation, German: Internationales Reformationsdenkmal), usually known as the Reformation Wall, is a monument in Geneva, Switzerland. It honours many of the main individuals, events, and documents of the Protestant Reformation by depicting them in statues and bas-reliefs.
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The Wall is in the grounds of the University of Geneva, which was founded by John Calvin, 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 involved 71 proposals from around the world, but was won by four Swiss architects: Charles Dubois, Alphonse Laverrière, Eugène Monod, and Jean Taillens (whose other design came third). The sculptures were then created by two French sculptors: Paul Landowski and Henri Bouchard.
During the Reformation, Geneva was the centre of Calvinism, and its history and heritage since the sixteenth century has been closely linked to that of Protestantism. 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:
To the left (facing the Wall, ordered from left to right) of the central statues are 3 m-tall statues of:
To the right (ordered from left to right) are 3 m-tall statues of:
Along the wall, to either side of the central statues, is engraved the motto of both the Reformation and Geneva: Post Tenebras Lux (Latin for After darkness, light). On the central statues' pedestal is engraved a Christogram: ΙΗΣ.
The monument gave inspiration to one of the most important 20th century Hungarian poems, written by Gyula Illyés in 1946 under the title Before the Monument of Reformation in Geneva.