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28/07/2003In Martin Luther's footsteps

He didn't like the Pope, the Turks or the Jews - and didn't think much of the rest of us. Catriona Lyons charts the misanthropic path of Europe's religious revolutionary.

On hitting the Martin Luther trail, I discovered that the man who launched the Protestant Reformation when he nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg was not without blemish.

 
In particular, I learned that the Great Reformer, who translated the New Testament from Greek into particularly eloquent German and helped shape today's language, had an anti-Semitic streak. He felt the greatest threats to Christianity were the Pope (understandable, given the corruption in Rome at the time), a Turkish invasion (they made it to Vienna twice) and Judaism (perhaps a little narrow-minded). Luther's anti-semitism reflected the general feeling of the Middle Ages. However his writings were used four centuries later by the Nazis to try and justify their own ideology. I also found that for all his anti-authoritarian rhetoric, Luther was no friend of the common man. The social unrest that emerged in Germany in the 16th century, due partly to Luther's defiance of the Church, led to the Peasants War of 1524-25. But a document by Luther entitled Against the Rapacious, Murderous Peasant Hordes helped to defend the existing social order and put down the revolt. By criticising the Church, Luther wanted to strengthen it rather than see it disintegrate. Luther also heralded the media age. Due to the printing press, Luther's writings got a fast and widespread distribution, particularly as Wittenberg was for a short time at the heart of the printing industry. Hitting the Martin Luther trail One of the most important things to know before you start on the Luther trail is that there are two Wittenbergs. Wittenberge (silent 'e') is a grey little town wholly unconnected to Luther, but with friendly tourist office staff who try not to laugh too hard when they tell you you're in the wrong town and you've just completely wasted your day.


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