International Museum of Reformation Reveals the History of Protestantism

A very special museum opened in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday 15th April which provides a place for all people in the world to review the history of Protestantism, according to the Ecumenical News International (ENI).

The International Museum of Reformation is located on the ground floor of Maison Mallet. Through 12 thematic exhibition spaces, "the Reformation from 1536 to the present day" is accessible to everyone. The Maison Mallet is a highly symbolic location: built in 1723 on the site of the former cloisters of Saint-Pierre Cathedral, the very place where the citizens of Geneva adopted the Reformation on 21st May 1536.

The permanent exhibition includes over four hundred objects of every kind such as paintings, books, manuscripts, gold and silver, medals and more, according to Laurence Vial, Curator of the International Museum of the Reformation. The first French Bible of 1535 and Calvin's manuscripts are examples of the prestigious collection.

To address the evolution of Protestantism, the museum focuses on the most significant events for Geneva, France and the Piedmontese Waldensians in the 16th to 18th century, but also addresses Protestant theology such as the predestination. The issues faced by Protestantism nowadays, for instance, missions, women in ministry, ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue, are also presented and offered original answers to in the exhibition.

"The museum is a place for history but above all history that is alive," says the museum's director, the Rev. Isabelle Graesslé.

Olivier Fatio, Chairman of the International Museum of the Reformation Foundation and Project leader said that since the Reformation preferred the audio arts (choral and instrumental music) to the visual arts (painting and sculpture), part of the exhibition features state-of-the-art audiovisual techniques to make the themes both engaging and attractive.

In one of the exhibition halls decorated like an 18th-century sitting room, the story of the Reformation is retraced in a 15-minute audiovisual show. Visitors take their place around a stylish table, in plexiglas chairs, and watch as Martin Luther and John Calvin appear in the salon’s stately mirrors.

Visitors can use an audio guide in French, English or German to accompany them through the exhibits. There are also plans to produce information in other languages, such as Korean, testifying to the worldwide interest in Protestantism.

The idea of the International Museum of Reformation was first initiated by Pastor Max Dominicé during the Calvin Jubilee, in 1959. The project was revived and carried to completion by Prof. Olivier Fatio, the project leader and Chairman of the International Museum of the Reformation Foundation.

The museum cost 4 million Swiss francs (about £1,767,000) to build and launch. The fund came from private sources, the principal donation coming from Pictet & Cie, one of the biggest private banks in Switzerland, whose founders included descendants of persecuted French Protestants who fled to Geneva and who started the bank 200 years ago.

Charles Pictet, an associate of the bank, noted that Protestantism had been the primary factor in the development of Geneva. "It is hard to imagine what would have been the influence of Geneva if the Reformation had never taken place," Pictet was quoted by ENI.

Geneva is known as the birthplace of the Calvinist Reformation, and is sometimes called the "Protestant Rome".

The Father of Reformation Martin Luther started the challenge to the Roman Church with his posting of his Ninety-five theses on the Wittenberg Church door on 31st October 1517. That document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials.

Martin Luther defended the core of the Gospel, which sees Christ as the sole mediator between God and man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are by God's Grace alone and are received by faith alone on the part of man. Luther’s doctrines on justification by faith and the final authority of the Bible are adopted by all Protestant denominations across all continents. Luther’s movement is carried on by John Calvin in Geneva in 1536.

Please visit www.musee-reforme.ch for further details about the museum.