Martin Luther

Of course, we don’t know what the world would look like today if this man had never lived. But a lot would certainly be different. The man’s name was Martin Luther. He lived from 1483 to 1546. He spent most of his life in the town of Wittenberg, which is now called Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

Martin Luther founded the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Before Luther, there was only one Christian church in western Europe: the Catholic Church. After Luther, other Christian churches split away from it.

Luther is often called a reformer, and the Reformation began with him. Both terms derive from the Latin word "reformatio", meaning "restoration" or "renewal". His teachings sparked a movement we call Protestantism.

Martin Luther also helped shape the German language into the form we speak and write today, known as “Standard German.” People could read and understand his writings. Before Luther, religious and scholarly works were usually published only in Latin. He wrote hymns that everyone could sing along to, and he changed church services.

Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben (Saxony-Anhalt). He grew up in Mansfeld, where his father worked as a mining supervisor. He attended schools in Mansfeld, Magdeburg and Eisenach. Among other things, he learned to speak and write Latin fluently. At the age of 17, he began studying at the University of Erfurt. At the time, students were usually taught the “Seven Liberal Arts.” After studying the liberal arts for four years, he switched to law, as his father wished. But in July 1505, he was caught in a thunderstorm on the way from Mansfeld to Erfurt. Fearing for his life, he called on Saint Anne and vowed to become a monk. Against his father’s wishes, he joined the Augustinian order and entered a monastery in Erfurt, where he strictly observed the order’s rules.

In 1507, he was ordained as a Catholic priest at Erfurt Cathedral. In 1508, he began studying at the University of Wittenberg. Probably in late summer 1511, he set off on a five-month pilgrimage to Rome, the centre of Catholic Christendom.

The Catholic Church is headed by the Pope. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and regards himself as the successor to the Apostle Peter. He claims the right to determine important Church teachings.

In Luther’s time, popes were not only the spiritual leaders of the Church. They were also rulers of a state. They ruled over the city of Rome and a large area in central Italy called the Papal States.

It is reported that during his pilgrimage to Rome, Luther visited all seven of the major churches, as well as the Scala Santa, or “Holy Stairs.” These stairs are said to have come from Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem, and drops of the blood of Jesus Christ can supposedly still be seen on them. Luther prayed the Lord’s Prayer on each of the 28 steps. But he was shocked by the conditions he saw in the Catholic Church. Only someone from a wealthy noble family could become pope. Many cardinals also obtained their positions by paying large sums of money or through other deals. Cardinals are ordained bishops who have the right to elect a pope.

Priests, bishops and cardinals were expected to observe celibacy. They were required to remain unmarried, but the Church’s leading figures in particular did not abide by this rule. Pope Julius II, who was pope when Luther visited Rome, had three daughters. His predecessor Alexander VI had several mistresses, who bore him eight sons and daughters.

Construction of a new St Peter’s Basilica began in 1506 under Pope Julius, as the old one had fallen into disrepair after 1,200 years. The new cathedral was to be the largest and most magnificent church in Christendom. Construction took almost 140 years. The famous sculptor Michelangelo Buonarotti was among its architects.

Building this magnificent church was very expensive. The pope and his advisers therefore came up with a special way to raise the money: selling indulgences.

According to Christian teachings, there is life after death. People used to believe that the souls of the deceased who had led a good life would go to heaven, where they would live with God and enjoy His glory. The souls of those who had committed grave sins, however, would be banished to hell, where devils would torment them in eternal fire.

According to this teaching, there was another state called Purgatory. There, souls had to suffer punishments, but once they had been purified after some time, they too were allowed to ascend to Heaven.

The Catholic Church still teaches today that time in purgatory can be shortened by obtaining an indulgence for yourself or for others. Today, for example, this involves saying certain prayers. In Luther’s time, preachers travelled around selling indulgences to people for money. The income was managed by the Fugger bank in Augsburg. Half was sent on to Rome, while the other half went to Archbishop Albrecht of Brandenburg. He used it to pay off his debts to the Fugger bank.

A saying spread: “When the money in the box rings, the soul to heaven springs.” After returning from Rome, Luther learned about this sale of indulgences, which was carried out in the area around Wittenberg mainly by the indulgence preacher Johannes Tetzel.

In 1512, Martin Luther earned his doctorate in theology at the University of Wittenberg. He then worked as a professor at the university until his death.

At some point, he came to believe that people were saved not through the Church, but by God’s grace alone, if they believed in Him. He also believed that the only authority for Christian life was the exact wording of the Bible, not traditions from other sources. This gave him important arguments for criticizing the sale of indulgences.

The largest church in the city of Wittenberg was the Castle Church. It was customary for university professors to post all kinds of notices on a wooden door of the church so everyone could read them.

Martin Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses to a door of this church on October 31, 1517. They criticized the sale of indulgences and other practices in the Church. Theses are short statements about important issues. October 31, 1517 has since been regarded as the beginning of the Reformation. Every year, Protestant churches celebrate October 31 as Reformation Day.

The door on which Luther is said to have nailed his theses no longer exists. Instead, a new “Theses Door” was installed, donated to the city of Wittenberg by the Prussian King Frederick William IV.

Martin Luther’s theses received a mixed response: some learned theologians agreed with them, including Philipp Melanchthon, who later became Luther’s friend and closest collaborator. Others rejected his teachings and reported the matter to Rome.

Luther was now supposed to defend himself at a trial in Rome, but refused to make the long journey. Eventually, Cardinal Cajetan questioned him in Augsburg. Luther did not recant his theses. When he was threatened with arrest, he fled the city.

His criticism of conditions in the Catholic Church was subsequently declared heresy, and Luther was excommunicated. This meant that he was expelled from the Church. It also meant that he was placed under the Imperial Ban. This punishment was usually imposed on criminals who had fled. Anyone could capture or kill such a person and seize their possessions. However, Luther had a powerful advocate in Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.

He managed to have Luther summoned by Emperor Charles V to a Diet in Worms, where, in April 1521, Luther was questioned once again and asked to recant his theses. Luther refused again. The emperor then issued the Edict of Worms against him. This made it illegal to support Luther, shelter him, print his writings, or read them.

Luther was an outlaw. Anyone could capture and kill him. Luther had already left Worms when the edict was issued. On the way back, Elector Frederick arranged for him to be apparently attacked near Steinbach in Thuringia and secretly taken to Wartburg Castle near Eisenach.

From 5 May 1521 to 1 March 1522, Luther hid at Wartburg Castle. To avoid being recognised, he now called himself "Junker Jörg". He lived in a modest room, which is still preserved today as the "Luther Room".

During his time at Wartburg Castle, Martin Luther translated the New Testament of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into German. In just eleven weeks, he wrote a version that soon became a bestseller. He used language that people could understand. He later said that he had "looked the people in the mouth."

He coined expressions such as “casting pearls before swine,” “a book with seven seals,” “grit your teeth,” “broadcast something,” “be in the dark,” “one heart and one soul,” “build on sand,” “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and “the great unknown,” which we still use often today.

A few years earlier, Johannes Gutenberg had invented the printing press. This helped spread Luther’s works. His writings were affordable and their content easy to understand. His translation of the Bible had a major impact on the German language and on how we speak it today.

In the centuries that followed, it became the most important book in many schools. Children learned to read with it, and it is still the basis for services in Protestant churches today.

Luther’s teachings and the Luther Bible spread quickly. More and more princes broke away from the Catholic Church and became “Lutherans”. In most cases, their subjects followed suit. Monks and nuns left the monasteries and got married.

Luther returned to Wittenberg. In several sermons, he spoke out against overly radical changes. In 1525, he held a “German Mass” for the first time. The service was conducted in German instead of Latin, and bread and wine were distributed to the congregation during Communion.

In 1530, several princes presented Emperor Charles V with the “Augsburg Confession”, which set out the key beliefs of the new faith. From then on, Germany had Protestant and Catholic principalities. In 1546, the emperor went to war against several Protestant princes.

The terrible Thirty Years’ War, which raged from 1618 to 1648, was also partly caused by the conflict between Catholic and Protestant princes.

Alongside Lutheranism, the teachings of John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli spread from Switzerland, eventually leading to the founding of the Reformed Church. In England, King Henry VIII had also broken with the Catholic Church and founded the Anglican Church. Since then, Christianity in Europe has been divided into several churches.

Martin Luther himself spent most of the rest of his life in Wittenberg. By then, he had become a professor at the university there and had married the former nun Katharina von Bora.

Luther became a wealthy man through his professor’s salary, the sale of his writings and many gifts of honor, while his wife was especially skilled at managing their wealth. The family lived in a former monastery, now known as the Luther House. They ran a large household there, which included not only six children but also numerous students, male servants and maids.

There was a garden and a farm with numerous animals. In 1542, for example, the Luthers owned a total of 10 pigs, 3 piglets, 5 cows, 9 calves, 1 goat and 2 kids, several horses and chickens, as well as a dog they called “Tölpel”. The portraits of Martin Luther that have come down to us show a well-fed man. He evidently enjoyed eating and drinking, and loved good company and discussion. Students recorded numerous conversations.

However, his lifestyle also seems to have led to repeated illnesses, including a serious heart condition. Martin Luther died on February 18, 1546, while visiting his birthplace, Eisleben. He was buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

In Luther’s time, most farmers lived in poverty and had no rights. Almost all the land belonged to the princes. Farmers were allowed to work the land, but they were serfs and, for example, could not marry or move away without their lords’ permission.

Peasant leaders demanded more rights and cited the Bible, which Luther had translated. Between 1524 and 1526, the German Peasants' War broke out, particularly in southern Germany. It was a series of violent uprisings by peasants against their lords.

At first, Luther tried to bring about a peaceful settlement between the peasants and the princes. But after a massacre in which a count and his companions were killed by rebellious peasants near the town of Weinsberg, he wrote the pamphlet: Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants. In it, he declared the uprisings to be the work of the devil.

He urged the princes to crush the peasants by any means necessary. And that is what happened. In the end, thousands of defeated peasants were dead, and nothing had changed: the princes still ruled, and the peasants remained poor and dependent. Lutheran pastors helped the princes by preaching that earthly powers were appointed by God and that people had to accept them.

At one corner of Wittenberg’s town church, about 8 meters above the ground, is a depiction of a “Judensau” (Jew-pig). It is made of sandstone and was installed here as early as 1303. It shows a pig, a man lifting its tail and looking underneath, and several children suckling at its teats.

These depictions were used at the time to mock and ridicule Jews. They were often placed on Christian churches, and around 30 such sculptures can still be found in Germany today, including one at Cologne Cathedral. Christians considered Jews to be killers of God and repeatedly blamed and persecuted them for diseases, poor harvests and other misfortunes.

Martin Luther was initially quite tolerant towards Judaism. Although it did not fit with his Christian worldview, he hoped to convert Jewish people to Christianity through his writings. When that hope was not fulfilled, the widespread anti-Jewish hatred of the time surfaced in him.

He wrote: The Jews have been ... our plague, pestilence, and every misfortune for 1400 years … We have real devils in them…. Their synagogues and schools should be set on fire, … their houses likewise smashed and destroyed.“

400 years later, exactly this happened. During the time Adolf Hitler and the Nazis ruled Germany, Jewish synagogues were set on fire, and the homes and property of Jewish citizens were destroyed and looted. And around 6 million people were murdered—because they were Jewish.