Wittenberg
University town on the Elbe in Electoral Saxony where Luther taught. The ninety-five theses were announced for debate here, and his German Bible was printed here.
Wittenberg stands on the Elbe in what was the electorate of Saxony. Martin Luther’s theses of 1517 were to be debated “at Wittenberg”, where he lectured in theology (Luther, Ninety-Five Theses heading); Philip Melanchthon wrote that he posted them on the church next to the castle (Melanchthon, Life of Luther part 1). Luther burned the pope’s bull at the town’s eastern gate in December 1520 (Luther, Letters, to Georg Spalatin, 10 December 1520), and his complete German Bible was printed here in 1534 (Luther Bible (1534) museum record). See Luther’s Ninety-five Theses and Luther Translates the Bible into German.
What happened here
- 31 October 1517, firm dateLuther’s Ninety-five Theses
On 31 October 1517 Martin Luther sends the archbishop of Mainz ninety-five theses questioning what indulgences can do. Whether he also posted them on the Castle Church at Wittenberg that day is disputed. The controversy that follows becomes the Reformation.
- 1520 to 1521, firm dateLuther Is Excommunicated and Outlawed at Worms
Leo X condemns forty-one of Luther’s propositions in 1520 and excommunicates him in January 1521. Before Charles V at Worms that April, Luther refuses to retract unless convinced by Scripture or evident reason. An imperial edict outlaws him, and he is hidden in a Saxon castle.
- 1522 to 1534, firm dateLuther Translates the Bible into German
In hiding over the winter of 1521–22, Luther translates the New Testament into German; it is printed at Wittenberg in September 1522. The Old Testament follows in parts, and the complete Bible appears in 1534.
Primary sources
The Ninety-Five Theses
- Luther, Ninety-Five Theses headingprojectwittenberg.org
History of the Life and Acts of Martin Luther
- Melanchthon, Life of Luther part 1projectwittenberg.org