The International Monument to the Reformation (French: ''Monument international de la Réformation''; German: ''Internationales Reformationsdenkmal''), usually known as the Reformation Wall (French: ''Mur des réformateurs''), was inaugurated in 1909 in

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Switzerland. It honours many of the main individuals, events, and documents of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

by depicting them in statues and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s. The Wall is in the grounds of the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

, 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, and the monument's location there is designed to represent the integral importance of the fortifications, and therefore of the city of Geneva, to the Reformation. The monument was the culmination of a contest launched to transform that part of the park. The contest involved 71 proposals from around the world, and 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 Paul Maximilien Landowski (1 June 1875 – 31 March 1961) was a French monument sculptor of Polish descent. His best-known work is '' Christ the Redeemer'' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biography Landowski was born in Paris, France, of a Polish re ...

and

Henri Bouchard Henri Bouchard (13 December 1875 – 30 November 1960), was a French sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1924 Summer Olympics. Biography The son of a carpenter, Bouchard was born in Dijon. He w ...

.Chancellerie de l'Etat de Genève:
Le parc des Bastions
'. URL last accessed 2008-04-28.McWilliam, Neil:

, ''The Art Bulletin'', June 1, 1995. URL last accessed 2008-04-28. During the Reformation, Geneva was the centre of

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, and its history and heritage since the sixteenth century has been closely linked to that of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

. 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 metre-tall statues of Calvinism's main proponents are depicted: * William Farel (1489–1565) * John Calvin (1509–1564) *

Theodore Beza Theodore Beza ( la, Theodorus Beza; french: Théodore de Bèze or ''de Besze''; June 24, 1519 – October 13, 1605) was a French Calvinist Protestant theologian, reformer and scholar who played an important role in the Protestant Reformation ...

(1519–1605) * John Knox (c.1513–1572) To the left (facing the Wall, ordered from left to right) of the central statues are 3 metre-tall statues of: *

Frederick William of Brandenburg Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...

(1620–1688) *

William the Silent William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Re ...

(1533–1584) * Gaspard de Coligny (1519–1572) To the right (ordered from left to right) are 3 metre-tall statues of: * Roger Williams (1603–1684) *

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

(1599–1658) *

Stephen Bocskai Stephen Bocskai or Bocskay ( hu, Bocskai István; 1 January 155729 December 1606) was Prince of Transylvania and Hungary from 1605 to 1606. He was born to a Hungarian noble family. His father's estates were located in the eastern regions of th ...

(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'' (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''.

References

{{Coord, 46, 12, 01, N, 6, 08, 44, E, display=title, source:dewiki 1909 sculptures Buildings and structures in Geneva Culture in Geneva Monuments and memorials in Switzerland Protestant Reformation Reformation in Switzerland University of Geneva Tourist attractions in Geneva Walls Colossal statues