Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Day Four: Wittenberg, Germany

Aaaaah, Wittenberg. Luther’s town and the place he spent most of his life. We have two full days here. I only took about 200 pictures per day in this delightful city, so the dilemma is…what to share? Today we will focus on his personal life, family and friends. Tomorrow we will look more at his professional life and the two main churches of the town.
     Luther was first sent to the small, sleepy, rural town of Wittenberg of 2,000 people while he was studying in the big city of Erfurt with a 20,000 population. He was not excited about going and said, “Wittenberg is the end of civilization and behind it is nothing.” He lectured at the University for the 1508-09 school year before returning to Wittenberg.
     But first a little background on the University. When Frederick the Wise came to power as the Prince Elector, he wanted to put Wittenberg on the map and make a name for himself. He did that by founding a University in 1502. He proclaimed, “Under my reign, we will educate.” So the University was brand new when Luther was there. Frederick wanted the best scholars to teach at his school so he was willing to pay professors a little more to get the best. Luther and Frederick had a great respect for each other although they never spoke directly to each other since Frederick was nobility.

So after Luther WALKED to Rome, sent by his superiors, and came back completely disillusioned with the church, he was enticed to go to Wittenberg where he could study and teach. He was transferred in 1511 to the Wittenberg Monastery (remember he was still a monk) and became a full professor with his doctorate degree awarded in 1512. He lectured one book of the Bible per year and in 1515 his focus on Romans. While no one can pinpoint a date for the AHA! Moment of his revelation of justification by grace and not works, most believe it was during this studying time when he was preparing his lecture on Romans that this understanding slowly developed. In 1516 his focus was Galatians and in 1517 he posted his 95 thesis. The timing makes sense. He would do his studying in this Augustinian Monastery, where he had his revelation.

But after the Reformation took hold, Luther preached that monastic vows were optional and encouraged monks to get married. Most gladly did which meant they left the monastery. Luther was one of the last ones left. He was a scholar, not a homemaker. His friends convinced to practice what he preached and get a wife.
     Katharina von Bora was sent at the age of five to a convent because her mother had died and her stepmother didn’t really want to take care of her. She was raised by nuns and in a country where 95% of the population was illiterate, she learned to read and write. After reading some material Luther had published, 12 nuns decided to escape the convent. After all they were prisoners there, never wanting to be there in the first place. They wrote to Luther in 1522 who had a friend who delivered food to that convent. They hid in a barrel of herring and made it to Luther’s house. But women couldn’t live on their own, so they needed either their father or a husband. 4 went back to their parents. 7 were married off. Katharina was engaged but since she didn’t have a dowry, her future in-laws said no. She refused to marry another suitor and said, “If I am to marry, it will be Luther himself.” For two years she cooked meals for him and brought them to the monastery. She ran a pharmacy and was an intelligent, independent, business minded woman. After Luther’s friends encouraged him, he said, “Yes, maybe she can help me.” And boy, did she ever. In some ways she became his manager, making sure he got paid by the printers so they didn’t keep all the money, financially running the household, growing the crops, entertaining all the people that were constantly in the house. He grew to respect her greatly and affectionately called her “Mr. Luther” putting her equal to a man. He left everything to her in his will even though she had no rights as a woman to inherit it.
 Katharina was Luther’s “right hand man” and many say without her, he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did.

A statue commemorates her today in the courtyard of the monastery. She has one foot forward, always on the move, and walking through a doorway, opening doors for other women. It is said to be good luck to rub her wedding ring so that it remains a gold color.

I saw her real wedding ring on display in Leipzig.

She created a special portal for Luther for their anniversary which still stands today. How romantic!

They were married June 13, 1525 which is a date that is still greatly celebrated in Wittenberg to this day. They had 6 children together, 4 of whom made it to adulthood. And where did they live? Yep, the former monastery now became the Luther home. The happy couple shared 21 years together. Oh, and did I mentioned she brewed 4,000 liters of beer per year. No wonder it was a happy marriage!

In the house there is the hall where Luther gave many of his lectures which lasted 3-4 hours long with 300 students packed in this room.

So when Luther said his sermons were short because the common person couldn’t take in too much information, that meant he only preached an hour. Mmmm, maybe I should try that. In his bedroom, in which only the cupboards are original, there is a couple of his clocks (which he loved).



Luther loved having people over. Students, friends, professors, anyone who wanted to talk theology or other matter of life. The book Table Talk summarizes many of these conversations. This is the place where the table talks happened and lots of beer drinking.

Here is one of Luther’s mugs that he used and a large cup from the King of Sweden.


 And yes, they even found Luther’s bathroom.

The University that brought Luther to Wittenberg gained more and more fame. In fact this school gains so much prestige it is known throughout Europe. The University’s reputation was, “If you want to have fun, go somewhere else. If you want to study, go to Wittenberg.” Even Shakespeare mentions it. On the first page in Hamlet, you will notice that the prince studied at Wittenberg. In fact a real  Danish Prince did study in Wittenberg and stayed in this place.

When the University was at its height, it had over 2,000 students, more than the population of the town. The students brought business and restaurants, new constructions, and of course taverns all flourished. But in order to become such a prestigious school, it needed more prestigious faculty. When he school was looking for a Greek professor, Luther had the perfect suggestion.

Philip Melanchthon was a true genius and many scholars believe the Reformation would not have happened if it wasn’t for him. Luther and Melanchthon were fascinated by each other and as opposite as you could get. Luther was taller, heavier, outgoing, with a larger than life personality. Melanchthon was scrawny, nerdy, a peacemaker, and behind-the-scenes kind of guy. They were a perfect match.

Philip received his Bachelor degree at 14 and 17 he got his masters. He was teaching kids who were his own age! Because of his youth and his looks, many in Wittenberg doubted when he arrived in town at 21 years of age. But as soon as he gave his inaugural address in the Castle Church, everyone was stunned. One person remarked, “One reckoned he was just a boy, but he was of giant mind.” He knew 11 languages and was a whiz at Greek.

Philip didn’t like Wittenberg. It was too cold, too dirty, and he didn’t like the wine. How to get him to stay? Marry him off, of course. So with great reservation, Luther and others talked him into getting married. On each wedding invitation he wrote in Greek (so that his wife couldn’t read it) “This is the saddest day of my life.” The professors got a kick out of it. They did learn to truly love each other after several years.
He was about to leave another time and when asked what would keep him in Wittenberg he said a large house. He was gifted a house by Frederick the Wise that had 86 rooms and 12 kitchens and a large backyard where he could do his botany work. That should be big enough.
Philip was the most popular teacher in town with Luther second. Philip was a work-aholic, getting up at 4:00 am to write letters, teaching in his house from 6:00-9:00 am and then going to the University to lecture, and then working until past midnight. Kings, noblemen, and people all over the world asked him for his advice. It was Philip that suggested to Luther that he translate the Bible into German when he was at Wartburg Castle, which Luther did with Phillip’s help. When Luther couldn’t go to a conference at Augsburg, it was Melanchthon who represented the Lutherans and wrote the Augsburg Confession approved without any changes by Luther and still used to this day.

This is his house but everything inside were simply replicas. The only original piece is a stone tablet that Melanchthon carved his name into in 1551.

Philip’s greatest achievement was reforming the educating system and including girls to be educated. He is known as the “Teacher of Germany.” In Germany he is almost as popular as Luther and was a determining factor in the advancement of the Reformation.

With our brains full of all this information (and then some), we decided to enjoy a little German culture and go to a Beir Garden. I ordered the schnitzel and the local brewed Wittenberger craft beer.



I’ll end with the famous saying Luther often quoted about beer, “He who drinks beer sleeps well. He  who sleeps well doesn’t sin. He who doesn’t sin goes to heaven. But in heaven there’s no beer, so we must drink it down here.” Here’s the Luther!
 

1 comment:

  1. Love the words and the pictures! Looks like the weather is good, too!

    ReplyDelete