Reformation Day

In Germany, 31 October is a public holiday in several federal states. Shops are closed and children have the day off school. This day is called Reformation Day. It commemorates an event that took place in the city of Wittenberg more than 500 years ago. At the time, people in Germany, like most people in other European countries, belonged to the Catholic Church. This changed because one man disagreed with many of the abuses of the time. His name was Martin Luther. On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther is said to have posted a long document on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.  Martin Luther was born in Eisleben in 1483. At the age of 21, he became a monk and was later ordained as a Catholic priest. He studied theology at the University of Erfurt, earned a doctorate and eventually became a professor at the University of Wittenberg. Luther increasingly came into conflict with some important teachings of the Catholic Church. In his view, Christian faith should be based only on the Bible, not on other writings or traditions. He found passages in the Bible suggesting that salvation and faith in God are gifts from God alone, and that people can do nothing to earn them. This insight brought him into conflict above all with a practice that was widespread at the time. According to Catholic teaching, people could obtain an indulgence through prayers and certain actions. An indulgence remitted punishments for a person’s sins after death. In Luther’s time, itinerant preachers travelled around the country. People could buy indulgence letters from them, not only through prayers but also by making donations. It was said: “As soon as the money in the coffer rings, the soul to heaven springs.” Luther strongly opposed this. He criticised the sale of indulgences, through which people could buy their way into eternal salvation. He set out his teachings in 95 theses and called on other scholars to debate them. Luther wrote a great deal, and the newly invented printing press helped spread his ideas. In 1521, he had to defend himself before the emperor in Worms. When ordered to recant his views, he is said to have replied: “Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen!” In the following months, he hid at Wartburg Castle near Eisenach. He lived there incognito under the name “Junker Jörg”. During this time, he translated the Bible into German. Previously, the Bible had only been available in Latin and could be read only by educated people. Luther coined many new words that people could understand and that are still used in German today. Luther’s original aim was reform—that is, the renewal of the Catholic Church. But his teachings eventually led to a split in Christianity. The new Protestant Church gained many followers, especially in Germany. Several princes of the time also declared their support for Luther. Eventually, the principle “Cuius regio, eius religio” was introduced. This meant that princes decided which religious community people in their lands belonged to. Some regions remained Catholic, while the Protestant Church spread in others. The effects can still be felt today. In Switzerland, Johannes Calvin founded the Reformed Protestant Church a few years after Luther. Reformation Day is also celebrated in Switzerland every year on the first Sunday in November.