The market square in Wittenberg, Germany, features an ancient town hall and a statue of Martin Luther. The town is where Luther, a priest and theology professor, began the Protestant Reformation in 1517 by posting his 95 theses, written in Latin, on the town's church door. The writings were an open challenge to the power and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
An oil-on-wood portrait of Luther, circa 1529, from the workshop of Wittenberg's Lucas Cranach the Elder, who was known as the "photographer of the Reformation." The workshop produced numerous double portraits of Luther and his wife, Katharina von Bora. Luther discarded the Roman Catholic Church's tradition of priestly celibacy when he wed von Bora, a former nun.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
Wittenberg Castle Church, where Luther posted his 95 theses. The church celebrated its first Protestant worship in 1524. Its famous wooden door burned in 1760 and was replaced with a heavy dark metal entryway, engraved with the text of Luther's theses in Old German.
By Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
Luther's tomb in Wittenberg Castle Church. Twenty-five years ago, Wittenberg was a gray, heavily polluted place in Cold War-era East Germany. Since then, the city has been transformed into the focal point of "Luther tourism."
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
A view of Wittenberg from Castle Church's stained-glass windows. The town's revitalization is coming to a head in what Germans have dubbed "the Luther Decade." The 10-year jubilee began last year, marking 500 years since Luther's arrival in Wittenberg to teach theology at the town's university, and will culminate in 2017, with the 500th anniversary of Luther's church door proclamation.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
To the Black Bear (Zum Schwarzen Bar) is a Wittenberg potato house where waitresses, dressed in the costumes of Luther's day, serve dark beer, creamy asparagus dishes and other heavy fare. The restaurant sits in the space once occupied by Luther's favorite pub, the Black Eagle. The reformer visited the Black Eagle nearly every evening for many rounds of beer and camaraderie. It was here that he said: "He who drinks much beer sleeps well; he who sleeps well does not sin; and he who does not sin goes to heaven."
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
Luther souvenirs abound in shops on the Collegienstrasse, a long, cobblestoned street in downtown Wittenberg.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
Wartburg Castle, situated on a 1,230-foot precipice, overlooks the town of Eisenach, Germany. It was at Wartburg that Luther lived incognito as "Knight George," hiding out after the Diet of Worms in 1521. He translated the New Testament from Greek to German in a mere 10 weeks at this refuge.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
An arched walkway leads to the Lutherstube, or Luther's Room -- the dwelling at Wartburg Castle in which Luther spent months hiding out and translating the New Testament. The castle is hosting an exhibition through the fall that features special editions of Luther's translation. The display includes a first edition of the translation, from September 1521, and genuine manuscript pages with extensive corrections and revisions scrawled by Luther himself.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
Wartburg Castle in Eisenach, Germany. Luther retreated to the castle after his famous confrontation with Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Luther defended himself against the Roman Catholic Church's charge of heresy, supposedly ending his defense with the immortal line, "Here I stand. I can do no other." His listeners were unconvinced, but Luther's actions against the church would change the course of Western civilization.
Ralph Andreas Suchert-For The Washington Post
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher
Text Editor Sarah Marston
