Image: Here he stood

Plaque in the Heylshof Garden in Worms, marking the general spot where Martin Luther appeared before the Imperial Diet ("dee-it") in April 1521. The imperial palace was destroyed in 1689.

After Luther refused to retract his views (with the legendary words, "Here I stand, I can do no other"), Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declared him an outlaw. That may have been the end of Luther's life had he not been rescued by Frederick of Saxony during the night and sheltered in Wartburg Castle. There he passed the time by translating the New Testament into German, among other things.