Today Wittenberg is an industrial centre and popular tourist destination, best known for its intact historic centre and various memorial sites dedicated to Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon.

When Martin Luther, on October 31, 1517, posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, his action helped begin the Reformation, with its remarkable people, ideas and events that decisively affected Christianity and, ultimately, world history.

Although Brandes does not suggest that Shakespeare sent his young prince to Wittenberg on the recommendation of these friends, he does state that "It is probable, on the other hand, that Shakespeare made Hamlet study at Wittenberg because he knew that many Danes went to this University, which, being Lutheran, was not ...

When his father died Hamlet was away studying at the University of Wittenberg in northern Germany, an intellectual center famous for enlightened thinking.