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Luther’s Room

1 - This modest little room is in Wartburg Castle near Eisenach. The man who once lived here went by the name “Junker Jörg”. That wasn’t his real name—he had to hide. In fact, he was Martin Luther. He stayed here from 5 May 1521 to 1 March 1522. 2 - What happened in this room changed Germany more than wars and the deeds of powerful princes. During his time here, he translated the New Testament of the Bible from Greek. In just eleven weeks, he produced a version that soon sold like hot cakes. He used language that ordinary people could understand. 3 - He later said that he had “looked people in the mouth” to learn how they spoke. The printing press, invented just a few years earlier, helped spread his work and make Martin Luther famous. His work would have a major impact on the German language and on the way we speak it today. 4 - He coined expressions such as “casting pearls before swine”, “a book with seven seals”, “grit your teeth”, “trumpet something abroad”, “grope in the dark”, “two peas in a pod”, “build on sand”, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and “the great unknown”—phrases we still use often today. 5 - But Luther was not concerned with language; he wanted a new understanding of what it meant to live a truly Christian life. He was born in Eisleben in 1483, joined a monastery in Erfurt as a monk and eventually became a professor of theology. He understood the Bible this way: people live by the grace of God alone, and their faith, too, is a gift from God. Above all, they should look to the Bible for guidance. 6 - In his writings, Luther opposed the sale of indulgences, which was widespread at the time. According to this practice, after death a person would go to heaven if, while alive, they had paid money and said prayers to reduce the punishment for their sins. 7 - The posting of 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517 is considered the start of the “Reformation” sparked by Luther. After Luther defended his teachings before Emperor Charles V and faced the threat of persecution, his ruler, the Saxon Elector Frederick, hid him at Wartburg Castle. 8 - Luther’s teachings led to a split in the Christian Church. The Evangelical Lutheran Church came into being, followed later by other denominations, such as the Reformed Church. Martin Luther, who probably had not wanted the Church to split, died in Eisleben in 1546. 9 - Wartburg Castle has been standing for almost 1,000 years. At the northwestern edge of the Thuringian Forest, it towers over the city of Eisenach and the surrounding area. Elizabeth of Thuringia lived here from 1211 to 1227. She is still honoured as a benefactor and was declared a saint by the Catholic Church.