Trailing Martin Luther in Thuringia

Martin Luther, the great religious reformer who lived from 1483 to 1546, is one of the most famous figures in German history. In 1517, Luther—a Catholic priest and theologian—publically challenged the teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, setting in motion a chain of events that came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. In 2017, several cities in Germany will commemorate the 500^th anniversary of that important event, with dozens of special activities honoring Martin Luther and his influence not only on religion but also on music, art, literature, and the German language itself.

Luther’s life reads like a scenario for a historical action-adventure film:  Boy grows up in a middle-class German family, gets a good education, starts to study law at university, then suddenly drops out to become a monk—after nearly being struck by a bolt of lightning during a thunderstorm. He’s ordained a Catholic priest and becomes a respected professor of theology, then develops views on Christianity that set him on a collision course with the pope in Rome. Luther is excommunicated from the Catholic Church, branded a heretic, escapes capture (and probable death), and hides undercover in a castle-fortress, under the protection of a wealthy nobleman. And that’s just part of the story.  Anyone wanting to follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther can visit many of the most important places associated with his life in the German federal state of Thuringia, located in the heart of the country.

Following the chronology of Luther’s life would lead you back and forth many times across this area—albeit on today’s high-speed Autobahns and well-paved country lanes instead of by horse or on foot along the rutted roads of Luther’s time. A better approach for today’s traveler is to follow the Luther Trail in Thuringia, along a more than 1000-kilometer route (over 621 miles) through this picturesque part of Germany, connecting more than 30 locations associated with Luther’s life and the Reformation. The trail includes hiking and biking routes, as well as places easily accessible by car or train, and all have signboards or plaques explaining the significance of the Luther sites along the route.

Start in Luther City, Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia and the largest city in this region. Luther entered the university at Erfurt in 1501, earned a master’s degree, and went on to enroll at the university’s law school in 1505. But that summer, on his way back to Erfurt from visiting his parents, he was nearly struck by a bolt of lightning during a sudden thunderstorm on the road in nearby Stotternheim. And that experience changed the course of his life. Fifteen days later, he entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, determined to become a monk.

An engraved stone near Stotternheim, just outside of Erfurt, marks the spot of that dramatic incident. In Erfurt itself, you can visit the Georgenburse, the student quarters where Luther lived when he was in the university, and the Augustinian monastery where he later took his religious vows. A permanent exhibition at the monastery includes the monk’s cells, a historical library, and several artifacts from Luther’s time. You can even stay at the monastery yourself, in rooms that now have lodging standards. Also see the adjacent St. Augustine Church, with its beautiful stained-glass windows dating from the 1300s, and St. Mary’s Cathedral on the Domplatz (the city’s central square) where Luther was ordained a Catholic priest in 1507. The spires of St. Mary’s and the neighboring Church of St. Severi dominate the skyline of Erfurt, which was once called the “Thuringian Rome” because of its many churches and chapels.

Legend says that in 1517 Luther nailed to a church door his “Ninety-Five Theses” criticizing certain doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church—the spark that set off the Protestant Reformation. After unsuccessfully trying to defend his beliefs before church councils in Germany, Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1521, and his life was in danger. But by then, his writings had already been circulated widely in Europe, and religious revolution was in the air. The City Museum of Erfurt has an interesting permanent exhibition, “Amazing Years: Rebellion, Reformation, Revolution,” that focuses on the social, political, and religious impact of the Protestant Reformation and its influence on the course of modern history.

The Thuringian town of Eisenach is another important Luther City. When Luther was still a teenager, his family sent him to Eisenach to study at St. George’s Latin School, where he also became a choir boy at St. George’s Church. The pretty half-timbered house where Luther boarded with the Cotta family during that time, from 1498 to 1501, is known today as the Luther House. It’s now a brand new museum featuring exhibits about those formative years of his life and about the history of the religious Reformation.

Today thousands of people from all over the world travel to Eisenach to visit Wartburg Castle, now an impressive UNESCO World Heritage Site overlooking the town. Luther found refuge in that mighty fortress from 1521 to 1522, hiding under the assumed name Squire George to avoid arrest and trial as a heretic after his public challenge to the powerful Catholic Church. During his stay, he translated the New Testament from Greek into German in 10 weeks time, a translation that made the scriptures accessible to ordinary people and ultimately had a lasting impact on the German language and German culture. At Wartburg Castle, you can still see the simple room where Luther stayed and worked on that important document. The castle’s national special exhibition 2017, about “Luther and the Germans,” focuses on the cultural, intellectual, and political effects of his doctrines, presented through displays of more than 300 paintings, prints, books, sculptures, and historical objects from everyday life.

Several other places in Thuringia are also associated with Luther’s life. Along the Luther Trail you can visit Möhra, where Luther’s parents lived until shortly before he was born (and where many descendants of the Luther family still live today). Nearby Schmalkalden is where the Schmalkaldic League was formed in 1531, an alliance of Protestant princes and territories to defend against the religious policies of the Catholic Emperor Charles V. The imperial city of Mühlhausen is also worth a visit, as it was a center of the so-called radical reformation and has one of the largest medieval city centers in Germany.

And between 1518 and 1540, Luther was also a regular visitor to the city of Weimar, which today features many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. See the town’s Church of Sts. Peter and Paul with the famous Cranach Altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Younger and the Elder. Luther preached there several times and one of his original Bibles is part of the stunning historical Anna Amalia Library.

Luther was also well known for his love of food and beer. On one of his visits to Weimar he wrote to his wife: “I am doing well here. I eat like a Bohemian and drink like a German, thanks be to God for this.” No doubt there was music at those meals in Weimar, too. All his life Luther was a lover of music. In addition to being a prolific composer, he was an accomplished singer who also played the flute and the lute.

Many other Luther sites line the Luther Trail in Thuringia, from memorial statues to churches, cloisters, and other places important in Reformation history. And many of them are planning special events in 2017 to commemorate the 500^th anniversary of the birth of the Protestant Reformation. Traveling to these historical Luther sites in Thuringia will take you back to a time, five centuries ago, that still has a lasting influence on our modern world today.