The Reformer:
Martin Luther

1483-1546

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was born on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben to Hans and Margarete Luder. On the day after his birth, he was baptised at the Church of St. Peter and Paul and given the name Martin. When Martin was just one year old, the family moved to Mansfeld just a few kilometres away, where his father worked in mining and metallurgy. As a boy, Martin Luther attended school first in Eisleben, then in Magdeburg and Eisenach. In 1501, he went on to the university of Erfurt to study law. While travelling, the young student was caught in a thunderstorm which put him  in such a state of mortal fear that he vowed to become a monk. Two weeks later, he joined the mendicant order of the Augustinians, entering into their monastery in Erfurt. Luther was ordained as a priest in 1507 and began studying theology in Erfurt the same year.

After receiving his doctorate in theology, Luther was awarded a professorship in Bible studies at the University of Wittenberg in 1512 and was appointed as preacher at the Parish Church two years later. On 31 October 1517, Luther published his famous 95 Theses denouncing the sale of indulgences, a practice which was common at the time. According to legend, he nailed his 95 Theses to the portal of the Wittenberg Castle Church. In response, the Roman Catholic Church initiated proceedings to have him declared a heretic. Luther refused to recant his writings however, choosing instead to cast into doubt the doctrine of papal infallibility during a dispute held at the University of Leipzig. Pope Leo X countered in June 1520 by issuing a papal bull warning him that he risked being excommunicated; after reading it, the Wittenberg professor set it on fire. In January 1521, Luther was excommunicated.

Later that year, Luther upheld his position at the Imperial Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his writings even to Emperor Charles V; this led to the Emperor issuing the Edict of Worms, placing Martin Luther under imperial ban. To protect Luther, Frederick the Wise, the Elector of Saxony, had Luther abducted and taken to Wartburg castle where he hid for the next ten months, assuming the alias Junker Jörg and translating the Bible into German. In March 1522, Luther returned to Wittenberg and married the former nun Katharina von Bora, with whom he would go on to have six children. On 18 February 1546, Luther died at the age of 62 while visiting Eisleben. Three days later, Martin Luther was interred in the Wittenberg Castle Church.

Overview

Born on 10 November 1483 in Lutherstadt Eisleben
Died on 18 February 1546 in Lutherstadt Eisleben
Buried on 22 February 1546 in Castle Church, Lutherstadt Wittenberg 

World Heritage Luther Memorial Sites

In December 1996, the "Luther Memorial Sites in Eisleben and Wittenberg" were included in the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. A total of six sites in the town of Luther's birth Eisleben, and the place where Luther worked for the most part, Wittenberg, were recognized as part of mankind's cultural heritage:

• Luther's Birthplace
• The House where Luther passed away
• Lutherhaus
• Melanchthon's House
• Parish Church of St. Mary
• Castle Church

Since 1996, Reformation research has shown more and more that the Reformation encompasses more than "only" Luther. To illustrate this, an application for extension was submitted to UNESCO in February 2016.

To read on

www.luther.de