Bible smugglers route
The Biblical Smugglers Route existed between the 16th and 18th centuries during the Counter Reformation and secret Protestantism . It led from Passau to the Slovenian border to Arnoldstein (Agoritschach). Cattle dealers delivered cattle from the Alpine valleys to Germany and from there brought German-language Bibles and Protestant hymn books and prayer books to Austria . Other merchants, traders and carters also transported the books to Austria.
Historical background
The Reformation triggered massive counter-movements on the Catholic side: Kaspar Tauber (Vienna), Georg Scherer (Radstadt) and Leonhard Kayser (Schärding) were executed for their Protestant beliefs in what is now Austria .
According to the Protestant view, Luther's translation of the Bible into German enabled Christians to have direct access to this message of salvation without the mediation and interpretation of priests. Literacy was therefore the prerequisite for the right exercise of faith for every believer. The Catholic authorities therefore saw the Bible in the hands of the "common man" as a danger. Possession of the Luther Bible or Protestant prayer books was subject to drastic penalties in the Catholic-Habsburg countries; The background was the principle " Cuius regio, eius religio " formulated in the Augsburg Imperial and Religious Peace of 1555 . Anyone who did not want to or could not leave the country (“ius emigrandi”) and wanted to remain a supporter of the Reformation had to practice their faith in secret (“ cryptoprotestantism ”). In the absence of Protestant pastors or priests, Protestant laypeople had to carry out the teaching of the faith themselves ( home devotions , reading out sermons), so they were dependent on Protestant books. The Urach Bible Institute in Württemberg printed more than 30,000 Bibles between 1561 and 1565. All reached their readers by secret channels.
The authorities reacted with coercive measures, house searches, the confiscation of suspicious books or the demand for the approval of every religious book by the local Catholic pastor. In order to avoid persecution by the authorities, the Protestants for their part had to use techniques of deception: the books were hidden inside or outside the house, the front pages of the books were torn out to make it difficult to identify them, or some books were given to the majority in the To be able to keep the house.
The persecution and disadvantage of Protestants in Austria came to an end with the tolerance patent of Joseph II from 1781 and only finally with the Protestant patent of 1861 by Emperor Franz Josef .
Bible smuggler route today
Today the places with a Protestant reference on the Biblical Smuggler Route from Upper Austria to Carinthia and on to Slovenia are well documented. As the path of the book , the Biblical Smuggler's Path is a Protestant pilgrimage route. In addition, hiking and cycling trips organized by tourists with a cultural or spiritual background are offered for parts of the path or the whole path through Austria. In times of declining piety, the two major Christian denominations also join forces for so-called “ ecumenical mountain hikes ”, which follow the stations of the old Bible smugglers' route.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bible smuggling
- ↑ 3 days "Trial Pilgrimage" ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 422 kB)
- ^ March for ecumenism. ( Memento from May 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Kleine Zeitung, April 15, 2010
literature
- Michael Bünker , Margit Leuthold (ed.): The way of the book. On the routes of the book smugglers through Austria . 2nd Edition. Edition Tandem, Salzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-902606-08-2 .
- Rudolf Leeb ; Astrid Schweighofer; Dietmar Weikl (Ed.): The book on the way. Church, art and cultural history on the “way of the book” . 2nd revised edition. Edition Tandem, Salzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-902606-09-9 .
- Jutta Henner (Ed.): Bible reading plan for the way of the book. Impulses for thought . 2nd Edition. Edition Tandem, Salzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-902606-08-2 .