German leaders gathered in Wittenberg to mark 500 years since Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation. Alongside ceremonies in the eastern city, events were held across Germany.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
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Germany celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation on Tuesday with a national holiday and ceremonies in the eastern city of Wittenberg, where Martin Luther began a split in the Catholic Church that transformed Christianity and Europe.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Saxony-Anhalt state Premier Reiner Haseloff attended several ceremonies in Wittenberg that started with an afternoon church service in the city's Castle Church and concluded with a ceremony in the city hall in the evening.
Other German politicians and numerous international guests also attended ceremonies in the city.
Speaking at an event in Wittenberg's All Saints' Church Tuesday evening, Merkel said Luther "got a ball rolling that could not be stopped and that changed the world forever."
She also took the opportunity to stress the importance of religious and political tolerance in Europe, saying "whoever believes in diversity must also practice tolerance; that has been the experience of our continent over the years. It's been painstakingly learned that the basis for peaceful co-existence in Europe is tolerance."
Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Wittenberg celebrationsImage: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Schmidt
Luther (1483-1546), a theology professor and priest, questioned the Catholic Church's teachings and challenged the Vatican's authority through his "95 Theses." He is believed to have nailed the theses to the door of Wittenberg's Castle Church on October 31, 1517.
Performances by musicians and comedians took place in Wittenberg's historic city center throughout the day. Several other events, exhibits and church services were also held across Germany to mark the anniversary.
On Monday, members of Berlin's protestant youth organization nailed their own theses to the doors of around 300 churches in the German capital. Berlin state youth pastor Sarah Oltmanns told protestant news agency EPD that the youths prepared their church reform suggestions for two years in workshops and other events.
The Reformation: The Luther effect goes global
To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Berlin's German Historical Museum presents the special exhibition, "The Luther Effect."
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum
All roads led to Rome
In this painting (1625-1650) dating from around 100 years after the Reformation, Martin Luther (center) is among a circle of reformers. Portraying the renewal of the church and the battle of wills among religious scholars as secular rulers watch on in the foreground, the painting signifies the interwoven nature of religion and politics at the time.
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum
A child reforms the Church of England
Edward VI (1537-1553), whose father Henry VIII had separated the English church from Rome, was the first English king with a Protestant education. Edward held religious services in the English language, abolished celibacy for priests and introduced the Book of Common Prayer before dying as a 15-year-old. The painting is "King Edward VI and the Pope" by an unknown artist from circa 1575.
Image: National Portrait Gallery, London
Korean translation of the Ten Commandments,1911
Korea and then later South Korea were considered boom countries for Protestantism as it spread east. An important part of the mission was to make use of the phonemic Korean alphabetic, Hangul, for Bible translations. Today, nearly one fifth of the South Korean population follows the Protestant doctrine, which is a record in East Asia.
Image: The Korean Christian Museum at Soongsil University Seoul
The Protestant empire
"Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way," a mural by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze on display in the United States Capitol Building, shows American pioneers reaching the Rocky Mountains as they head West. Below them is a panorama of the pristine San Francisco Bay is the distance. Many such pilgrims were Protestants who had been persecuted in Europe, but left and spread their faith across America.
Image: Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Going back to Luther
Morning prayer in the Lutheran Kariakoo church in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Evangelical church in the East African nation is the largest Lutheran parish on the continent. Their charismatic leaders see themselves as representatives of the original Lutheran ideals.
Image: Deutsches Historisches Museum/Karsten Hein
From Bohemia to Tanzania
The Moravian Brotherhood, a Christian faith movement originating from the Bohemian Reformation that is not bound by any denomination, played a major role in the spread of Protestantism throughout Africa. Their charismatic preachers spread from Tanzania across the entire African continent doing missionary work. Johann Valentin Haidt portrays this Luther effect in his "Erstlingsbild" from 1748.
Image: Unitätsarchiv der Evang. Brüder-Unität, Herrnhut, Unitätsarchiv: GS 463
Protestantism in 17th-century Lapland
Protestantism penetrated the remotest corners of Northern Europe. The church abruptly changed the life of the indigenous residents as their local rites and customs had to give way to Christianization and the church. An unknown painter captured this theme sometimes prior to 1668 in far northern Lapland using both summer and winter landscapes.
Image: Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen, gemeinnützige GmbH, Burg Kriebstein/Punctum/Bertram Kobe
The deification of the Swedish king
When Sweden’s King Gustavus II Adolphus attacked parts of what is now Germany during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and prevented a victory for the Habsburg-Catholic coalition, he inadvertently secured the future of German Protestantism. The act was glorifed in this painting titled “Apotheosis of King Gustavus II Adolphus” from around 1650.
Image: Nationalmuseum Stockholm, Schweden
A new oath on wool and silk
This tapestry embroidered with silk and wool shows the interweaving of Lutheran faith into the state. The Swedish parliament adopted a new law in 1686 that sealed the unity of the church and state, and Lutheranism became the state religion. The textile from around 1690 shows the swearing-in of the representatives of the estates on both the Bible and the Swedish Book of Law.
