Press Release
Melanchthonhaus Bretten / Europäische Melanchthon-Akademie
Melanchthonstr. 1-3, 75015 Bretten
Tel. (07252) 9441-0, Mail: info@melanchthon.com
The City of Bretten’s International Melanchthon Prize will be awarded to Dr Ann-Kathrin Armbruster in February 2027. She studied Protestant Religious Education and Latin, worked in the Department of Church History at the University of Paderborn, and served as academic coordinator of the research group ‘Resilience in Religion and Spirituality’ at the Faculty of Protestant Theology at the University of Bonn. She is currently working in this field as part of another research project in Bonn.
Ann-Kathrin Armbruster is receiving the Bretten award for her systematic-theological doctoral thesis entitled: ‘Figuration and Appropriation: On the Hermeneutics of Narrativity and Image in Philipp Melanchthon’ (Paderborn 2024).
Armbruster explores the question of how complex theological statements can take on individual meaning for people. To this end – as the award winner explains – Philipp Melanchthon has proved a useful point of reference, as in his work piety and the practice of faith are closely linked to theological and scholarly reflection. Furthermore, in his theological, philosophical and rhetorical works, Melanchthon developed a comprehensive theory aimed at making theological statements intellectually comprehensible and emotionally engaging for his readers.
Building on Melanchthon’s work, the award winner develops a concept of ‘figuration’ in her doctoral thesis for the individual appropriation of theological content, which also takes into account modern approaches from narrative and image theory.
Mayor Nico Morast will present Ann-Kathrin Armbruster with the award, worth 7,500 euros, on 20 February 2027 at the Melanchthonhaus in Bretten. The town of Bretten has been awarding the International Melanchthon Prize every three years since 1988. The honour is bestowed upon a published work that makes an outstanding contribution to deepening our understanding of Melanchthon’s life and work, or of the intellectual-historical context, the environment and the consequences of his work. The circle of Melanchthon Prize laureates includes internationally renowned scholars such as Günter Wartenberg, Heinz Scheible and Timothy Wengert, who have rendered outstanding services to Melanchthon’s legacy.