Personalities & Contemporary Witnesses
Read interesting reports and biographies written by Luther's confidantes and adversaries.
Personalities & contemporary witnesses
1507-1553
"Martin Luther’s translation of the New Testament first appeared at the Leipzig Autumn Fair in 1522. The first edition consisted of 3,000 copies and sold out right away. By the end of the first year of publication alone, the twelfth edition was being issued. Incidentally, Luther refused to take any financial benefit and did not make a single Guilder from his translation. The Luther Bible also marked the introduction of some new vocabulary into the German language: "Herzenslust" ("the heart’s content"), "Machtwort" ("the absolutely authoritative final word") and "Lückenbüßer" ("the stopgap") are just three examples. After Martin passed away, I bought as many of his manuscripts as I could find, his Bible Translation among them. When it came to Martin’s writings, he was always rather modest. When someone once suggested to him that he should publish his complete works, Martin replied that he would rather eat them."
Born on 15 August 1507 in Dessau
Died on 17 October 1553 Dessau
Called "the Godly one"
