MOTHERLAND of the REFORMATION. on the Trail of a W Orld Event
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MOTHERLAND OF THE REFORMATION. ON THE trail OF A w ORLD EvENT. 1 MOTHERLAND OF THE REFORMATION When Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483, Saxony was at the height of its power. Since 1464, Elector Ernst and his brother Albert had together been ruling the most powerful country in the center of the Holy German Empire. In 1471 they started the construction of what we now call Albrechtsburg Castle, their new residence in Meissen and the first “Schloss” in Germany – not a military fortress but a residential palace and a visible sign of their power and wealth. But just two years after Luther’s birth, Ernest and Albert made the big- gest mistake in Saxony’s history: they split up the land. The ruling Wettin dy- nasty was divided into two lines, the Ernestine and Albertine. Now there were two countries with the name Saxony, the Electorate and the Duchy, and it was the sons of Ernst and Albert who played the most important, albeit different, roles in the life of Martin Luther and for the course of the Reformation. When Martin Luther sent his 95 Theses to Albert of Mainz, the most powerful cleric in the Holy German Empire, and possibly nailed them to the main door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517, the world was changed. Luther only wanted to reform the church, but after the Leipzig Disputation of 1519 at the latest, a split was inevitable. The Reformation, however, was not just an event that started in Saxony and affected the whole world, but also a long process that found its culmination only after many decades of wrangling. After many changes, historical Saxony is now divided into the federal states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. Brandenburg, Bavaria and even the Czech Republic have also inherited parts of it. It pays to follow in the footsteps of the Reformer, his supporters and his opponents – and these are more than abundant. At the end of the 16th century Saxony had already been given the honorary title “Mother of the Reformation”, a legacy to which also the current federal state declares itself. Learn more about this rich heritage! Castle hill in Meissen with Albrechtsburg Castle and cathedral TABLE OF CONTENTS IN THE SPONSORS EFFECTS OF THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE OF THE REFORMATION ON TURBULENT HISTORY . 76 REFORMER NEW FAITH ARCHITECTURE, ART The municipal museum of Zittau AND MUSIC CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH . 9 THE PROTECTING HAND . 29 TETZEL’S POOR BROTHERS . 77 From Eisleben to Eisenach Elector Frederick the Wise THE FIRST NEW PROTESTANT CHURCH BUILDING . 51 Pirna City Museum and St Henry’s Church Torgau Castle Church STUDIES AND RELIGIOUS LIFE . 9 STEADfasTNESS AND MAGNANIMITY . 30 LEGENDARY BACKDROP . 78 Luther as an Augustinian monk The last Ernestine Electors MANIFESTO OF faITH . 51 Monastery and castle ruins in Oybin Dresden Castle Chapel IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES . 10 THE UNwaNTED INHERITANCE . 31 The Leipzig Disputation Henry the Pious introduces the Reformation PROTESTANTISM IN PERFECTION . 52 REFUGEES The Dresden Frauenkirche AND MESSENGERS MOTHER OF THE REFORMATION . 14 UNRESOLVED CONTRADICTIONS . 35 OF FAITH Luther’s Wittenberg years Maurice of Saxony and the transition of the Electorate WORLD-famOUS COLLECTIONS . 56 The Dresden State Art Collections NEW SOUNDS . 83 WET-NURSE OF THE REFORMATION . 14 PROTESTANTISM AS THE LEADING POWER . 36 Musical instruments in the Vogtland The royal residence of Torgau Elector Augustus and his reforms PAINTERS OF THE REFORMATION . 56 Masterpieces of the Cranach workshop UNLOVED BROTHERS . 87 NEW ROUTES .16 The Calvinists in Saxony Stays in Grimma THE THE BIBLE AS A PICTURE BOOK . 59 CATHOLIC Biblical image cycles in Saxony THE FIRST MISSIONARY . 87 TRUSTING IN GOD . 17 SIDE Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Pulsnitz The Ash Wednesday letter from Borna FIRST CANTOR AND DIRECTOR OF THE A SCOURGE ON SOCIETY . 41 COURT ORCHESTRA . 61 TO THE STARS . 88 FIGHTING THE RELIGIOUS faNATICS . 17 John Tetzel and indulgences From Johann Walter to the Staatskapelle Dresden The Moravians The Zwickau Prophets CHAMPION OF UNITY . 43 THE faTHER OF GERMAN MUSIC . 65 OLDEST SOCIAL DOCUMENT IN THE WORLD . 19 Duke George the Bearded and Luther Heinrich Schütz in Dresden WAYS The Leisnig box ordinance TO FROM DIOCESE TO DIOCESE . 44 THE PEAK OF LUTHERAN CHURCH MUSIC . 65 FAITH The Diocese of Dresden-Meissen Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig THE WOMAN ON THE TRACK OF THE REFORMATION . 93 AT LUTHER’S MONASTIC LIFE . 44 HEAVENLY VOICES . 66 The Luther trail in Saxony SIDE Catholic monasteries in Saxony St Thomas Boys Choir, Holy Cross Boys Choir and Kapellknaben Dresden THE HOLY ROUTE . 94 UNCLEAR ORIGINS . 23 BETRAYAL OF THE PEOPLE . 45 The Via Sacra in the triangle Lost traces The conversion of the court to Catholicism WITNESSES ON ANCIENT TRADE ROUTES . 95 THE CONVENT YEARS . 23 OF The Way of St James in Saxony Vows and the nuns’ escape CHANGE FROM REFUGEE TO MRS. LUTHER . 24 EXTRAORDINARY ART . 71 MAP OF SAXONY . 102 Marrying the Reformer Schlossberg Museum and Chemnitz Castle Church THE NEW KINGDOM . 25 A RICH SOURCE . 72 CONTACT INFORMATION . 104 An estate in the old country Altzella Monastery ESCAPE AND DEATH . 25 PIECE BY PIECE . 72 The end in Torgau Buch Monastery 6 7 In the Footprints of the Reformator IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF THE REFORMER 31 October is celebrated every year not only in Saxony, but also in the rest of Germany and around the world: Reformation Day marks Martin Luther posting his theses in 1517 and has been a day of commemoration since 1667, when it was announced by John George II, Elector of Saxony. But for Protestant church services, the central point is not the theses but much more Luther’s doctrine of justification of the sinner by faith alone. This realization was the trigger and focal point of the Reformation. And it was a long and often difficult path that the Reformer had to take. Childhood and youth parish school in Eisenach to improve his knowl- Martin Luther’s life began on 10 November edge of Latin. It was there, in today’s Luther 1483, where it also ended: in Eisleben. As early House, a memorial since 1956, that he is said as 1693 his birthplace was made into a memorial to have lived with the Cotta family. Twenty and in this way into one of the oldest museums years later he returned incognito after the Diet of in German-speaking countries. One day after Worms as “Junker Jörg”. At Wartburg Castle, he his birth, Luther was baptized at St Peter and found time to translate the New Testament into St Paul’s Church, which since 2012 has been used German. In this way, the Saxon dialect, “Meissen as a “baptism center” for baptism renewal services, chancery language”, became the standard written faith seminars and theme weeks. After arbitrating language for all Germans. a dispute of the Counts of Mansfeld, the Refor- mer died aged 62 in the night of 18 February Studies and religious life 1564 in a house above Eisleben marketplace, which has been a memorial since 1862. Luther In the spring of 1501, Martin Luther began stud- grew up in Mansfeld, where he attended the ying the “septem artes liberales”, the seven liberal town school. Later he spent a year at Magdeburg arts, in Erfurt. He lived in the Georgenburse, of Cathedral School before moving to St George’s which one building is still standing and which is Previous pages: Hartenfels Castle, Torgau 068 From left: Martin Luther | Wartburg Castle | Luther bible | Luther House, Eisenach 9 In the Footprints of the Reformator now used for education, meetings, and also by New Town Hall, the tower of which can be traced pilgrims. During a severe thunderstorm on 2 July back to the original castle building. In the dispu- 1505 in the present-day Stotternheim district of tation with Johann Eck, Luther formulated the Erfurt, Luther was in fear of his life. A few days differences between his own views and the doc- later, he entered the monastery of the Augustinian trine of the Catholic Church, which led to the Hermits, which is now a conference, meeting and final schism. A year later, the Pope issued the bull accommodation facility of the Protestant Church. of excommunication. Duke George the Bearded, In 1507 Luther was ordained to the priesthood who had previously been open towards reform, in Erfurt. A year later he went to Wittenberg now also turned against Luther and suppressed to study at the university, founded in 1502 by aspirations of Reformation in the Duchy of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, the eldest Saxony. It was not until 1539 that Luther could son of Elector Ernst and later defender of Luther: return to the chapel of Pleissenburg Castle to preach this was because after the Treaty of Leipzig, the at the introduction of the Reformation in Leipzig. University of Leipzig had come under the control A day later, he preached in St Thomas Church of his cousin, Duke George the Bearded of the in front of a large congregation, an event that is Albertine line of the Wettin family. Luther lived commemorated by a plaque and the “Luther win- in the newly built Augustinian monastery and dow”. Martin Luther was a frequent guest at the earned two academic degrees. After another stay Thüringer Hof, the oldest restaurant in Leipzig, in Erfurt and his journey to Rome, a key expe- and visitors can follow his traces today. Heinrich rience on the way to the Reformation, he ret- Stromer von Auerbach, founder of the world- urned to Wittenberg, where in 1512 he obtained famous Auerbachs Keller, was a friend of Martin his doctorate in theology.