Luther decade

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The thesis door of the castle church in Wittenberg

The Luther / Reformation Decade is a series of events that began on September 21, 2008 and ended on the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of the theses in 2017. In the Luther Decade, the wide range of topics of the Reformation was taken up and presented in themed years. On the one hand, some historical commemorative years (450th anniversary of Melanchthon's death in 2010 or the 500th birthday of Lucas Cranach the Younger in 2015) were linked. On the other hand, the Luther Decade picked up on impulses from the Reformation that continue to the present day.

Background and projects

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 theses in Wittenberg . They sparked a discussion that eventually led to the Reformation . In particular in the Luther cities of Wittenberg , Eisleben , Erfurt , Torgau and Eisenach / Wartburg , numerous events were held up to 2017. The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) had set up a center in Wittenberg, through which the inclusion of the member churches in the Luther Decade and the preparation for the Reformation anniversary should be ensured. This underlined the worldwide impact of the Reformation and emphasized the international importance of the Luther Decade. This finds a visible expression in the Luther Garden , which was created in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in the ramparts of Lutherstadt Wittenberg until 2017 according to the plans of the landscape architect Andreas Kipar. The project was initiated by the LWF in Geneva, with the participation of the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (DNK / LWF) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD).

On November 1st, 2009 the first trees were planted by representatives of the Christian world communities and churches from Germany , Italy and Romania .

The LWF Council decided that the LWF would participate in the international ecumenical events on October 31, 2017 in Wittenberg.

In order to underline the national importance of the Reformation anniversary, the federal government is also participating in the preparation and organization of the anniversary with a cabinet resolution of February 20, 2011. The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media was tasked with coordinating the Federal Government's measures to prepare and carry out the Reformation anniversary.

Theme years of the Luther / Reformation Decade 2008–2017

  • 2008 Opening of the Luther Decade : In the autumn of 1508, Martin Luther came to Wittenberg for the first time, the place that was to become his most important place of work. 500 years later, in September 2008, the Luther Decade was ceremoniously opened in the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
  • 2009 Reformation and Confession : Johannes Calvin is considered a "founding father" of Reformed Protestantism, with around 80 million members worldwide. In the jubilee year of his 500th birthday, the focus is on his understanding of the church and his business ethics. The confession of the Barmen Theological Declaration 75 years ago is also groundbreaking today .
  • 2010 Reformation and Education : The 450th anniversary of the death of Philipp Melanchthon , the “Praeceptor Germaniae” (“Teachers of Germany”), invited to examine the educational impulses of the Reformation: democratization of education, unity of belief and education as well as the foundation of general education.
  • 2011 Reformation and freedom : The mature Christian is the focus of the Reformation. The common priesthood of all believers is associated with baptism. The upright walk under God's word and at the same time the solidarity towards fellow human beings are the two poles of Reformation freedom.
  • 2012 Reformation and Music : The Reformation laid a cornerstone of European musical culture, from community singing to house music. This is represented by composers such as Bach , Schütz , Telemann and Handel , but also the Leipzig St. Thomas Choir , which celebrates its 800th anniversary in 2012. It is important to keep this rich tradition alive and to try new ways.
  • 2013 Reformation and tolerance : Ecumenical commonality without national or confessional boundaries is a claim of the “Luther Decade” 450 years after the conclusion of the Council of Trento (1563) and 40 years after the Leuenberg Agreement as a testimony to the inner-Protestant ecumenism. The intolerant sides of the Reformation were also discussed.
  • 2014 Reformation and politics : Authority and maturity, faith and power, freedom of conscience and human rights are topics of the Reformation and at the same time of the present, which deserve a broad discussion in church and society.
  • 2015 Reformation - Picture and Bible : On the occasion of the 500th birthday of Lucas Cranach the Elder. J. focuses on the art of the Reformation period. The Reformation was also a media revolution. A new language of words and images was created. It should be dealt with which “images” faith finds today and how this message is conveyed through media, images and language. At the beginning of the year, the toy manufacturer geobra launched a Playmobil Luther figure on the market for the 2017 anniversary year .
  • 2016 Reformation and the One World : The Reformation went from Wittenberg into the world. Over 400 million Protestants around the world associate their spiritual and religious existence with the Reformation events. In the previous year, the anniversary of the Reformation, the focus was on global shaping forces.
  • 2017 Reformation anniversary

The anniversary year “500 years of the Reformation” was celebrated worldwide as the high point of the Luther Decade with church and cultural events, conferences and large exhibitions, but this should not mean the end of the encounter with Luther's life and work.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ - ( Memento from October 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Luther as a Playmobil figure. Frankfurter Neue Presse , February 7, 2015, accessed on February 8, 2015 .