This is a memorial marker on the top of Luther’s grave. Luther's body rests beneath. When Emperor Charles V captured Wittenberg in 1547 his soldiers wanted to exhume the bones of Luther and burn them, as fitting for a heretic. Standing at the grave, Charles refused saying, "I make war on the living, not the dead." Philip Melanchthon is buried in similar fashion about 20 feet to the left of Luther's grave.