Matthias von Jagow

Matthias von Jagow (* 1490 in Aulosen, Altmark, † 1544) was from 1527 to 1544 Bishop of Brandenburg and reformer of Brandenburg.

Life and work

He came from the old noble family of von Jagow from the Altmark region, studied theology and jurisprudence and was, among other things provost of the Benedictine monastery at Spandau. Jagow as successor staunch opponent of Martin Luther ( Jerome Schulz and V. Dietrich von Hardenberg ) to the bishop of Brandenburg in 1527 was elected. The papal confirmation of the election was granted in 1532 with the requirement to make up for the lack of orders. This requirement did not Jagow, who had only received the ordination to the subdeacon, but after.

Although convinced of the necessity of ecclesiastical reform, he contented himself but during the lifetime of anti-reform Elector Joachim I. with the redress of abuses and the improvement of the clergy. As most influential adviser Joachim II, he moved this to the conversion to the Lutheran Reformation, handed him on 1 November, the Berlin municipal authorities on November 2, 1539 Holy Communion in both kinds and directed in 1541 the first church visitation in the marrow, from which the Reformation was carried out; also he married 1541st The donjon his residence castle Ziesar he had to put 1535 as a sign of the Church's use of the castle called the bishop's miter. He died in 1544 in Ziesar.

Memorial bust in the Siegesallee

For the Berlin Siegesallee the sculptor Harro Magnussen designed a bust of Jagow as a minor character to the monument of Joachim II monument in the group 20 whose central theme was the representation of the Reformation. Magnussen put the bishop as an older bearded man with a decorative raised collars dar. Since no portrait was available, Magnussen asked the principal of Victory Boulevard, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Martin Luther to be able to model instead of Jagow as a minor character; For Luther, the bronze medallion pictured in the center was provided with a relief portrait.

The Emperor summoned the request refused.