Luther Beech (Altenstein)

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The so-called Luther beech near Altenstein , Thuringia , today the Steinbach district of the city of Bad Liebenstein , was a beech tree that is associated with both the life of Martin Luther and the Luther cult of the 19th century. Luther is said to have been kidnapped in this book after his appearance at the Worms Reichstag in 1521 and brought into the protection of the Wartburg . As a result, especially in the 19th century, the tree became a place of Luther memoria . The wood of the beech, which fell victim to a storm in 1841, was processed into Luther souvenirs and distributed like relics .

The works of the village pastor Johann Conrad Ortmann (a speech from 1841 and a monograph from 1844) are considered authoritative sources for the history of the Luther beech near Altenstein .

History of the tree

Luther's abduction near the beech

Martin Luther was called to Worms by Emperor Karl V in 1521 to revoke his heretical remarks before the Reichstag . After the negotiations, which ended with Luther's refusal to withdraw, he started his journey home on April 26, 1521, with the assurance of 21 days of safe conduct . A sham kidnapping of Luther and his transfer to the Wartburg for the protection of life and limb was already planned, initiated by the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich the Wise , an action of the highest secrecy.

The kidnapping near the later Luther beech of Altenstein is described in more detail in the sources of the village pastor Johann Conrad Ortmann from the 19th century, who tries to sufficiently prove the authenticity of the kidnapping site and thus the legitimation of the Luther beech. Ortmann, who marks the location of the beech between Altenstein, Steinbach and Bad Liebenstein, even gives a time in addition to the date of Luther's stay, May 4, 1521; Luther probably traveled "in the afternoon between 4 and 5 o'clock, through this valley or this reason, coming from Möhra via Schweina and Altenstein", past the beech. According to Ortmann, she gave him shade and the nearby fountain gave him something to drink. Ortmann describes the kidnapping itself rather unspectacularly. The castle captain of the Wartburg, Hans von Berlepsch , and the knight Burkhard Hund von Altenstein surprised Luther, changed his monk's habit for civilian clothes and brought him safely to the Wartburg. For further verification, Ortmann refers to Luther's wording from his letters, in which he refers to the capture: "Ego prope post arcem Altenstein captus sum" - "Soon afterwards I was taken prisoner near Altenstein Castle."

Ortmann's monograph on Möhra does indeed provide several variants and details of the kidnapping story. His sources give information about other knights at the side of the kidnappers as well as information about Luther's escort. However, there is apparently no consensus as to which companion left or joined the entourage and when . Despite the partial inconsistencies in the reconstruction of the “witness statements” and the lack of final evidence of Luther's direct relationship to the book, the rough geographic location can be regarded as reliable.

The location in the following centuries

Steinbach Luther Memorial, inaugurated in 1857.
Luther monument near Steinbach, historical illustration from the "Luthernummer" of the Illustrirten Zeitung, 1883.

According to Johann Conrad Ortmann, the history of the tree did not continue until around 1770, when the beech was threatened with felling by the ignorant forester Schubart, who had already struck the roots; a Steinbacher could still prevent the disaster.

Despite other evidence and representations at the beginning of the 19th century and earlier, Ortmann rates August 18, 1817 as actually the first big date in the history of the memorial site . To mark the anniversary of the Reformation , the area and the adjoining spring around the beech were converted into "Luthergrund". Ortmann speaks of celebrations with thousands of people in attendance. A second celebration was celebrated on November 1st of the same year.

The pastor can tell of a less pleasant incident from 1825: the beech was on fire. The cause was uncertain and "even if the presumption that Catholic pilgrims " should have been responsible for the fire, "one will never be able to attribute this hostile act against the beech to the Catholic pilgrims with certainty". Nevertheless, the beech was saved from destruction again by the descendants of the man who prevented the felling as early as 1770. As a contrast, Ortmann reports on another celebration that is said to have taken place at the foot of the beech. For example, for the anniversary of the Confessio Augustana on June 26, 1830, “among a crowd of 7,000, 8,000 people”, the Luther family from Möhra is also present to celebrate the holiday.

On July 18, 1841, the “fateful day” of the Luther beech finally came. It "broke the terrible, hurricane-like storm" and left nothing except for a hollow stump. Ortmann also cites a simultaneous solar eclipse ; this entire apocalyptic scenario made one or the other Steinbacher “even interpret the fall of the beech as a sign of the weak period of faith […]”. There is talk of sadness and melancholy, but after brief consideration, the broken wood was transported to the nearby Steinbach factory on July 27th.

Since the tree no longer existed and was therefore no longer used as a place of worship, Bernhard II of Saxony-Meiningen had a Luther memorial in the shape of an obelisk built in its place . It was inaugurated in 1857.

An offshoot of the Luther beech was planted in Lübeck's cathedral cemetery in 1873 on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the cathedral , where it has developed into a large beech to this day. A copper beech planted in 1983 is reminiscent of the historic Luther beech from Altenstein that existed here before.

The "things" made from the wood of the Luther beech

Procedure, objects and dissemination

Already on August 4, 1841, Johann Conrad Ortmann was able to foresee the further path of the wood out of the Luther beech, “like many friends [...] when she was still standing, took a souvenir of her, a leaf, a twig or a chip and kept it ". Among other things, "[...] sticks, mugs, goblets , needle boxes, salt vessels, ink kegs, napkin ribbons, rulers, knitted barrels, knitted pants, boxes, ladies' boxes, etc." were made from the wood. Larger, more massive objects also seem to have been made from the Luther beech; in the "well-known Martinstift in Erfurt [...] one finds an altar made of Luther beech wood" or "some high, noble and honorable women sew and embroider from this wood on an expensive desk ". Furthermore, some preserved objects can be named, such as chairs, altar candlesticks , chalices, relief stands and statuettes .

As different as the objects are, according to Ortmann, their distribution “through half of Europe ” is also widespread . The devotional objects found their way not only to every important city in Northern Germany, but also “to England , Sweden , Denmark , Hungary , Holland , Prussia , Saxony , Hesse , Braunschweig , Hanover , Mecklenburg , Baiern , Würtemberg , Nassau etc.” . It is difficult to understand to what extent the objects reached the common citizen . Ortmann likes to talk about the more prominent owners of the objects and their display in "some royal and princely splendid rooms ", which is certainly also related to the remuneration of the individual buyers, the "friendly gifts". Because in addition to gifts in kind , such as copperplate engravings , Luther books or pageants, the village pastor was able to calculate a total value of three-digit guilders for the Steinbach church with the current and expected income from the residual wood . The demand seems to have been great. Not only friends of Luther and his doctrine coveted a workpiece made of the Luther beech wood, but Johann Conrad Ortmann reports that “even some Catholics have asked for and received souvenirs from the Luther beech wood”.

Devotional items or relics?

Johann Conrad Ortmann responded to the criticism that the Steinbacher Luther souvenirs were nothing more than the sale of relics, which was forbidden in Protestantism, as follows: “The workpieces made from the wood of the Luther beech are different from the Catholic ones Relic, only intended to commemorate a loved one and not to worship them, or even to expect magical miracles when touched. A statuette, for example, should only remember a mortal who once lived on earth, but should not be venerated as a saint or divine. "

Here "the memory [...]" appears as "the secularized relic", which is compatible with Protestant teaching.

See also

References

literature

  • Angenendt Arnold: Saints and Relics. The history of their cult from early Christianity to the present , Munich 1994.
  • Brockmann, Thomas: "This most worthy of all Luther monuments ...". The Coburg Luther Library as a project and type of reformation-related culture of remembrance, in: Bosbach, Franz / Davis, John R. (eds.), Windsor, Coburg. Shared estate, common heritage. A dynasty and its collections. Divided Estate, Common Heritage. The Collections of a Dynasty, Prinz-Albert-Studien, Vol. 25, Munich 2007, pp. 85,114.
  • Eissenhauer, Michael (ed.): With Luther through the art collections. A guide to Luther, testimonies in the art collections of Veste Coburg , Coburg 1996.
  • Joestel, Volkmar: Legends about Martin Luther and other stories from Wittenberg , Berlin 1992.
  • Kammer, Otto: Reformation monuments of the 19th and 20th centuries. An inventory (Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt, Catalog 9), Leipzig 2004.
  • Netzer, Susanne / Schorr, Roland: Martin Luther on the Veste Coburg. A guide through the Luther rooms and the special exhibition on the Luther year 1983 , Coburg 1983.
  • Scharfe, Martin: Post-Luther. On the form and meaning of the veneration of Luther in the 19th century , in: Eidam, Hardy / Seib, Gerhard (ed.), "He feels the tremendous rupture of the times and he clings tightly to his Bible book ...". On the Luther cult in the 19th century, Berlin 1996, pp. 11,21.
  • Seib, Gerhard: The Luther book near Altenstein and the "Luther devotional items" obtained from it , in: Eidam, Hardy / Seib, Gerhard (ed.), "He feels the tremendous rupture of the times and he clings tightly to his Bible book ...". On the Luther cult in the 19th century, Berlin 1996, pp. 123,131.
  • Stadie, Babette: Luther room monuments of the 19th century , in: Eidam, Hardy / Seib, Gerhard (ed.), "He feels the tremendous rupture of the times and he clings tightly to his Bible book ...". On the Luther cult in the 19th century, Berlin 1996, pp. 89,100.
  • Steffens, Martin: Luther memorials in the 19th century. Memoria, Representation, Monument Preservation , Regensburg 2008.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ortmann, Johann Conrad: Speech on the broken Luther beech on July 27, 1841, poems in relation to the same and its history , Eisenach 1841.
  2. ↑ Ortmann, Johann Conrad: Möhra, the ancestral home of Doctor Martin Luther and the Luther beech at Altenstein and Steinbach. A contribution to the life story of Dr. Martin Luther and his relatives , Salzungen 1844.
  3. ↑ Ortmann, Johann Conrad: Speech at the broken Luther beech on July 27, 1841, poems in relation to the same and its history , Eisenach 1841, p. 17.
  4. ↑ Ibid. For the German translation see: Hintzenstern, Herbert von: Martin Luther. Letters from the Wartburg 1521/22 , Eisenach 1991², p. 20.
  5. ↑ a b Ortmann, Johann Conrad: Möhra, the home of Doctor Martin Luther and the Luther beech at Altenstein and Steinbach. A contribution to the life story of Dr. Martin Luther and his relatives , Salzungen 1844, p. 261.
  6. ↑ Ortmann, Johann Conrad: Speech at the broken Luther beech on July 27, 1841, poems in relation to the same and its history , Eisenach 1841, p. 20.
  7. ↑ Ibid., P. 262.
  8. ^ Schäfer, Gerd: The Luther beech near Steinbach , in: Altensteiner Blätter. 1995 yearbook, p. 69.
  9. ↑ a b Ibid., P. 267.
  10. ↑ Ibid.
  11. ↑ a b Ibid., P. 268.
  12. ↑ Ibid., P. 269.
  13. ↑ Ibid., P. 270f.
  14. ↑ Ibid., Pp. 272f.
  15. ↑ Holm, Christian / Oesterle, Günter: Andacht und Andenken. On the relationship between two cult practices around 1800 , in: Oesterle, Günter (ed.), Remembrance, Memory, Knowledge. Studies on cultural-scientific memory research, forms of memory, vol. 26, Göttingen 2005, p. 441.

Web links

Commons : Luthergrund Altenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 50 ° 51 ′ 3 "  N , 10 ° 22 ′ 39.1"  E