Martin Luther and the Jews (exhibition)

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Title board of the exhibition

“We can't endure it” - Martin Luther and the Jews is a traveling exhibition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Northern Church), which on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in October 2017 deals with Martin Luther's relationship to Jews and Judaism . This is made clear by the additional title exhibition on the Reformation anniversary 2017 .

The exhibition was shown in Hamburg for the first time at the end of 2013 and has been available for loan from the North Church as well as five other Protestant regional churches in Germany since the beginning of 2014 . It has since been shown in numerous locations in Germany.

The exhibition

background

Portrait of Martin Luther (by Lucas Cranach the Younger, 1555)

The reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) left a difficult legacy. While in the early days of the Reformation he spoke out in favor of treating the Jews humanely - albeit with the aim of proselytizing them  - he later "vilified them unbearably" and ultimately demanded the use of force against them. His “ Jewish writings” and the rest of his literature leave no room for Judaism and the Jewish faith. Luther's negative view of Judaism has been effective through word and image over the centuries. In contrast, the Jewish self-image remained meaningless.

It was only after the Holocaust that the Protestant churches began “to face the burdensome legacy of Luther's hostility to Jews ”. Since the 1960s, many Protestant churches have publicly distanced themselves from Luther's anti-Jewish statements. In the course of the Luther Decade and the anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, a critical reappraisal of Luther's hostility to Jews came increasingly into focus.

“The reformer was a brilliant theological thinker, song poet and courageous reformer of the church, but also a vehemently anti-Jewish cleric. He considered the Jewish faith to be blinded and the Jews to be the greatest enemy of Christianity. "

- Hanna Lehming : Commissioner for Christian-Jewish Dialogue of the Northern Church, 2013

"The anniversary of the Reformation should be an occasion to distance ourselves from Luther's interpretation of the Bible in his Judaic writings by virtue of the Reformation understanding of scriptures with Luther."

- Nikolaus Schneider : then Chairman of the Council of the EKD, 2014

Meanwhile, several Protestant regional churches in Germany, including the Northern Church, as well as the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) distance themselves from the anti-Jewish statements of Luther and other reformers and call for a comprehensive discussion with them.

Occasion and concept

The reason for the preparation of the traveling exhibition by the north church was the Reformation anniversary in 2017. The exhibition was developed in 2013 in the department for Christian-Jewish dialogue of the north church by the speaker, Pastor Hanna Lehming, and designed by the graphic artist Christiane Wenn. Both work at the Center for Mission and Ecumenism of the North Church in Hamburg. The project was financially supported by the Reformation Anniversary 2017 Office of the North Church. The exhibition, especially designed for church communities and schools, provides information about Martin Luther's relationship to the Jews and to Judaism in a historical and theological context.

"The question of the relationship to Judaism runs like a red thread through the theology of Martin Luther", so the Evangelical Lutheran. Regional church of Hanover as one of the borrowers with a view to the exhibition: If Luther still had an “allegedly Jewish-friendly attitude” in the 1520s, then in the 1540s there would be “sentences full of hatred and contempt”.

Martin Luther: About the Jews and their lies ; Title page, Wittenberg 1543

In his "most evil anti-Jewish book" From the Jews and their Lies from 1543, the reformer explicitly called for violence against the Jews and called for them to be "suppressed, their synagogues and houses to be destroyed and their prayer books and Talmudim to be burned," according to the Initiator of the exhibition Hanna Lehming. "The celebration of the Reformation must also face the open discussion of Luther's hostility to Jews," continues Hanna Lehming. "So the question must be examined whether such statements are to be regarded as derailments or whether they are more deeply anchored in Reformation theology."

Based on the life and work of Martin Luther, the exhibition presents central statements in Martin Luther's writings on Jews and Judaism. In addition, visitors to the exhibition receive information about Jewish life in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period . The exhibition, however, is not satisfied with the “presentation of historical content”, but at the same time calls upon “the audience to find a position independently”.

The main title of the exhibition, “We Can't Endure It” , was borrowed from a quote from Martin Luther's book Von den Juden und Their Lies from January 1543.

Exhibition boards, leaflet and other information

The exhibition is conceived as a traveling exhibition and consists of a total of 18 panels, 17 information panels and 1 title panel. The boards are designed as banner displays in the form of so-called roll ups , which “can be set up free-standing in the room with just a few movements”. They each have a height of 210  cm and a width of 85 cm.

A 55-page booklet has been published for the exhibition (also available for download ), which is structured thematically like this and contains all the texts and images from the exhibition:

The booklet also contains recommendations for further reading as well as the conditions of the loan and information on ordering and costs of the booklets. The Northern Church also offers other accompanying materials, such as texts and images for promoting the exhibition, as well as teaching materials and church statements on the subject of "Luther and the Jews", each for download. There are also lectures.

In addition to the exhibition, the respective exhibitors usually organize a mostly individual accompanying program with, for example, an exhibition opening, lectures , guided tours, seminars or workshops .

Exhibition themes

Part of the exhibition, here at the German Evangelical Church Congress 2015 in Stuttgart
At the 2015 Kirchentag in Stuttgart (panels 15 and 12)
At the 2015 Kirchentag in Stuttgart (panel 15)

The 17 panels (banner displays) deal with the following topics:

  1.    Martin Luther, the reformer
  2.    Who Was Martin Luther?
  3.    Germany at the time of Martin Luther
  4.    Peasant Wars and the Lutheran Confession
  5.    Martin Luther's hymns
  6.    "Downside (s)" of the reformer
  7.    Luther recommends violence against Jews
  8.    Luther's “Jewish writings” 1513–1526
  9.    Luther's “Jewish writings” 1537–1543
  10.    Anti-Jewish polemics among the church fathers
  11.    The heyday of Judaism
  12.    Crusades and bondage
  13.    Anti-Jewish legends
  14.    Expulsions of the Jews
  15.    Josel von Rosheim (1476–1554)
  16.    Sola Scriptura - Solus Christ
  17.    Luther and the Jews - and we?

Borrower

The exhibition is on loan from the following regional churches:

Exhibition locations

The exhibition was shown for the first time in November 2013 in the Ansgarkirche in Hamburg - Othmarschen . Since January 2014, the traveling exhibition, which is available in several copies, has been on view in numerous locations across Germany. For example, in 2017 it was shown at the following stations:

The exhibition also went abroad in 2017 and was shown in Denmark in St. Peter's Church in Copenhagen and in Løgumkloster (near Tønder ).

Others

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Reformation, the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) has created a traveling exhibition on the same topic, entitled Martin Luther and Judaism - Looking Back and Awakening . The exhibition, co-financed by the EKD, was developed by a joint working group of the EKBO and the Jewish Touro College Berlin and presented for the first time in autumn 2015 in the Sophienkirche in Berlin . Since then it has been shown in various locations in Germany. Jewish and Christian perspectives are presented on the exhibition panels.

literature

Non-fiction

Reviews

  • Silvia Kölbel: Show shows Luther's view of Jews. In: Freie Presse , October 7, 2017 ( online ).
  • (pm): "Martin Luther and the Jews" - exhibition opened in Konvikt. In: Neue Rottweiler Zeitung , September 26, 2017 ( online ).
  • Simone Flörke: Lauenförde: Exhibition about "Luther and the Jews". In: Neue Westfälische , September 12, 2017 ( online ).
  • Heike Linde-Lembke: "We can't stand it ...". An exhibition about Martin Luther in the Jewish Museum. In: Jüdische Allgemeine , July 13, 2017 ( online ).
  • (RP): Wesel: "Martin Luther and the Jews": Exhibition in the Lutherhaus. In: Rheinische Post , March 8, 2017 ( online ).

Web links

Commons : Exhibition “We Can't Endure It”  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Traveling exhibition Luther and Judaism . In: formation.ekbo.de . Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO); accessed on October 18, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Ursula Rudnick: Martin Luther and the Jews . In: kirchliche-dienste.de . Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church of Hanover ; accessed on October 18, 2017.
  3. ^ Nikolaus Schneider : The anniversary of the Reformation in the light of the Christian-Jewish relationship. Monthly magazine encounter , issue 1/2014.
  4. ↑ ( epd ): The EKD Synod distances itself from Luther's hostility towards Jews . In: ekd.de . Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), November 11, 2015; accessed on October 18, 2017.
  5. ↑ To the exhibition “We Can't Endure It” . In: nordkirche-weltweit.de . Center for Mission and Ecumenism - Northern Church Worldwide ; accessed on October 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ a b (ce): Traveling exhibition on the anniversary of the Reformation: “We cannot endure it” - Martin Luther and the Jews . In: christen-juden.de . Presentation for Christian-Jewish dialogue of the Northern Church, 2013 (PDF; accessed on October 18, 2017).
  7. ↑ Cf. quote in the original: "It is not us to suffer after they are with us, and we know such lying, reading and cursing from them, so that we do not participate in all of the lies, curses and blessings." In: Martin Luther : About the Jews and their lies. 1543 ( Weimar edition , WA 53, p. 522).
  8. ↑ Hanna Lehming: “We cannot bear it”. Martin Luther and the Jews. Booklet accompanying the exhibition. 2014, p. 54.
  9. ↑ Exhibition to lend: “We cannot bear it” . In: christen-juden.de . Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Northern Church); accessed on October 18, 2017.
  10. ↑ Loan sheet . In: nordkirche-weltweit.de . Center for Mission and Ecumenism of the Northern Church, 2013 (PDF, 65 kB; accessed on October 18, 2017).
  11. ↑ Hanna Lehming: “We cannot bear it”. Martin Luther and the Jews. Booklet accompanying the exhibition. 2014, pp. 54–55.