Behind the Curtain

From our recent travels through Eastern Europe we happened to visit the towns of Torgau and Wittenberg.  Both figured significantly in spread of the reformation and one of my favorite  subjects - beer.

Resting place of Katharina Luther in Torgau

Five centuries ago a German monk named Martin Luther published 95 criticisms challenging the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church – notably the sale of indulgences.   

The reform movement began in Germany in 1517 but soon spread throughout much of northern Europe.  Although he intended to reform Catholicism and not break it apart the result led to the creation of Protestant churches separate from the Roman Catholic Church.  The Church of England broke from the Roman Catholic Church later in the 16th Century. 

 

It was Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon who were the driving force behind the long-overdue reformation of the Catholic Church's practices of the era.  Constructed in 1340 upon the palace grounds of the Duke it was All Saint's Church that became the official church of the University of Wittenberg and provided a pulpit for Luther and Melanchthon to preach. 

 

The original door to which Luther nailed his 95 Theses was destroyed by fire in 1750; with a magnificent bronze replacement installed in 1858.  Luther and Melanchthon are both entombed within this church.

 

 

The town church of St. Mary is renowned as the first ti have celebrated mass in German rather than the traditional Latin.  It was here that bread and wine were first offered to worshipers for the first time, earning it a place as the Mother Church of the Reformation.

 

 

 

The Luther children were baptized in this font - remaining in continuous today

 

It was here that Luther preached his sermons and later married former nun Katharina von Bora. 

 

Lucas Cranach, The Elder, was not only a court painter he was also a printer, held a license to sell wine, was elected mayor three times, owned many properties and was the wealthiest man in Wittenberg.   All likenesses of Luther painted from life were completed by Cranach The Elder.  Who knew?

Martin and Katharina

 

Luther’s act of conscientious defiance changed the world religiously, economically, politically, socially, and intellectually.  The written German language too.  It even changed beer as we know it today.  Yup – beer. 

 

Luther family living room

During a time where water was unsafe, beer was drunk by everyone and was the nutritional and social fuel of Germany.   Coincidentally, the Catholic Church had a stranglehold on beer production, since it held the monopoly on gruit — the mixture of herbs and botanicals used to flavor and preserve beer.  Hops – on the other hand – were considered noxious weeds and were not taxed by the church.  As a consequence a Protestant brewer who might care to defy the Catholic Church used hops to preserve and flavor his brew instead of the herbs.   

Martin's beer stein

 

 

As it turns out hop-flavored beer travels well and the export of this hopped beer may have contributed to the spread of Protestantism.  To this day, many breweries sport a picture of Martin Luther on their wall.   

 

On this day we absorbed a boatload of church history, and literally walked in the footsteps of Luther and his family.  As far as history goes this was bucket list-worthy. 

A worthy read is this:  Beer and the Reformation.