– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

You won't believe it, but this pretty normal city

made history 500 years ago!

All eyes were on Wittenberg in Germany.

From here, crazy reforms spread all over Europe.

And he started everything: the theologian Martin Luther!

Let's start with a simple question:

Where are we exactly?

Lutherstadt Wittenberg, as the town is officially called,

is located in eastern Germany,

halfway between Berlin and Leipzig.

Today its population is around 45,000.

About 500 years ago, only around 2000 people lived here.

But there was a castle, an enlightened elector

and — most importantly — a university!

A monk named Martin Luther taught theology there.

And there is another place of great importance:

the Wittenberg Castle Church.

It may have looked a little different 500 years ago,

but it was the scene of a historic event

on October 31st, 1517.

In 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses

to the doorway of the Castle church.

And those documents had a huge impact.

Luther criticised abuses in the Catholic Church.

Namely, the enrichment of bishops and priests

at the expense of everyday people.

His criticism led to a major religious movement

known as the Reformation.

It split Western Christianity into two main branches,

Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.

Pastor Bridget Gautieri hails from the US

and runs the meeting centre of the ELCA,

the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

here in Wittenberg.

Originally, Luther wanted to start a debate within the church.

But his ideas were stronger.

Could you tell us about that?

It's important to remember that Martin Luther was a Catholic monk.

And the 95 theses were 95 problems

that Luther had with the Roman Catholic Church.

And when he was able to read the Bible himself,

having studied Hebrew and Greek and Latin,

he could see that what God was saying,

what Jesus was saying to the people,

was contrary to what the the Catholic Church

was preaching and teaching at the time.

Many people travel to Wittenberg every year,

especially from the USA, but also from other countries.

What makes this place so special?

For Protestants, especially Lutherans,

it means so much to be here

and to walk where Luther walked.

To be where he preached,

to see where he posted his 95 theses.

Two weeks ago, there was a group of 25 pastors

and lay leaders from the United States

who came here to experience the Luther sites.

And while we were in the Castle Church

we were standing around Martin Luther's grave.

And we sung "A Mighty Fortress",

which is "Eine feste Burg" in German,

which is a hymn that Luther wrote.

And while we're singing the song around the grave,

a group from South Korea came in.

And they heard the melody and recognized it.

And they started singing with us.

And we all just got goosebumps.

And this is the powerful connection,

the international experiences that people get here

in Wittenberg today.

Martin Luther would probably still recognize

Wittenberg's historic center today.

Many of the streets and houses still look

like they did 500 years ago.

But this building is definitely more modern.

So here we are.

Let's take a look.

Inside there's a huge 360° panoramic painting.

It's really colourful, almost lifelike.

This place is amazing.

We can even see what people are doing inside the houses.

Look!

Like here in this mill.

The central motif is the Castle Church,

where Luther explained his theses to the people.

Many are enthusiastic, others are horrified.

The so-called sale of indulgences

by the Catholic Church was important at the time.

You can see this man here in the Black Cap

selling letters of indulgence.

With these you could supposedly

buy yourself out of your sins.

People gave every cent they had

to purchase these letters.

The sale of indulgences was a gold mine for the church.

But for Luther it was a scam.

The painting also criticizes Luther.

A Jewish person is expelled from the city.

Luther was outspokenly antisemitic.

And here people accused of being witches are burned.

Luther never spoke out against this practice either.

Over here, there's another interesting detail.

This is Martin Luther and his wife.

Their marriage was a scandal!

Hot gossip in the Middle Ages!

You'll find out why in a moment.

Martin Luther lived in this house

with his wife, Katarina von Bora.

It's a former monastery where Luther also gave lectures.

For Luther fans, it's a must-see.

This is Luther's wife, Katarina von Bora.

As a young nun, she learned about Luther's ideas about

self determination and freedom

and fled the convent along with other nuns.

Luther is said to have married her in part because he felt responsible.

Oliver Friedrich van der Linde is a history and religion teacher

who also works as a city guide.

I read this marriage was kind of a scandal in Europe.

Why was that?

Because we have to imagine

Luther was a former monk and Katarina was former nun.

So, it was strictly forbidden — even today.

Imagine that today a Catholic nun would marry a Catholic monk.

That happened in the late Middle Ages where people were burned

at a stake for doing something wrong

or doing something against the Catholic Church.

And they did that here 500 years ago.

So it was the scandal of the century.

Luther was already 42 years old

and Katarina 26 when they got married.

How was their marriage?

She managed the abandoned monastery gardens.

She cooked in this building for — we're not sure —

in between 30 to 40 scholars, students.

Instead of the former monks — that was a monastery,

the building behind me — students lived here.

And besides that they had six children.

So that means it was a full time job.

She had also brewery and many, many other things.

And that's why we have a special monument

to remember how special she was.

Oliver Friedrich van der Linde now takes us on a short tour.

Everywhere in Wittenberg you come across places

and people closely associated with the Reformation.

This man is Johannes Bugenhagen,

the first Protestant pastor.

He was not sent by the Pope in Rome,

as had been customary until then.

Instead, he was elected by the congregation itself.

Participatory decision making in the Middle Ages —

unheard of!

He lived in this house, the first Protestant vicarage in the world.

My students ask me: "Mr. Frederick, why is that important that we speak

about Reformation, something that happened 500 years ago in the church?"

And I say: "That is very important today

because today we say not inside of the Lord,

but inside of the law we're equal

and you are responsible for yourself."

That means you are free and you can decide.

Will you believe in Christ or not?

You are treated equally even if you tell me:

"I'm a Muslim, I'm a Jew, I'm a Christian,

I don't believe in anything."

That is your decision.

That is real freedom, that is real equality and self determination.

So that was the beginning of this Western way of freedom.

Our tour also brings us to Lucas Cranach the Elder.

He was a true all-rounder: mayor, apothecary, innkeeper, printer.

But above all, he was a painter.

I can remember what my students told me when we were here on an excursion.

They said: "Oh, look, Mr. Van der Linde,

he's playing video games on a tablet.

No, he's not playing video games.

If you take a closer look, you can see he is painting Martin Luther.

Without him, we wouldn't know how Martin Luther looked like.

Lucas Cranach the Elder also printed Luther's theses and writings.

This included the Bible, which Luther had translated into German

so that it could be read by everyone.

Book printing with movable type

had just been invited by Johannes Gutenberg.

It was a revolutionary technology that made mass printing possible.

Here's how it worked.

So at first you need the wood stock

for what we call the woodcut.

That is the negative and after you have cut the negative

you need ink — a mixture of glue and coal or some other ingredients.

You put the ink over here.

You put it on the negative.

You need of course, a sheet of paper.

We put it in.

Both together.

And now we print.

You can see it goes down with much pressure.

In real time it takes a little bit longer.

But after we printed the flyer, we can say "voila."

And all that only for one picture!

That is for one picture.

But it is much faster than painting every flyer by hand.

And imagine the Middle Ages,

if you want to copy the Bible,

or a text, you need to rewrite that by hand.

That takes a lot of time,

you can make a lot of mistakes,

and it's very expensive.

And not many people were able to do so.

With this new kind of printing, it's very easy and it became very cheap.

That means without the printing press of Gutenberg,

we expect there would have been no Reformation.

500 years ago, the Reformation marked the end of the Middle Ages.

It ushered in a new spirit of education and self determination.

In the end, it wasn't just the church that changed, but society as a whole.

Finally, we return to Wittenberg Castle Church.

When Martin Luther died in 1546,

he was one of the most famous men in Europe.

Feared by some and revered by others.

He's buried here in the Castle Church where it all began.

That was Wittenberg.

Where shall we go next?

Anything else we should explore?

Tell us in the comments.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
reformation /ˌrɛfərˈmeɪʃən/ C1	noun - the action or process of reforming an institution or habit
luther /ˈluːθər/ C2	noun - a proper name, referring to Martin Luther, the reformer
church /tʃɜːrtʃ/ A2	noun - a building for public Christian worship
theses /ˈθiːsiːz/ C1	noun - propositions put forward for discussion or proof
bible /ˈbaɪbəl/ A2	noun - the sacred scriptures of Christianity
monastery /ˈmɒnəstri/ B2	noun - a community of monks living under religious vows
protestant /ˈprɒtɪstənt/ B2	noun - a member of a Western Christian church whose faith and practice are founded on the principle of the Reformation adjective - relating to Protestants or their churches
indulgences /ɪnˈdʌldʒənsɪz/ C1	noun - official permission from a church authority to engage in an activity or gain some privilege
scandal /ˈskændl/ B2	noun - an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing public outrage
marriage /ˈmærɪdʒ/ A2	noun - the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a relationship
wittenberg /ˈvɪtənˌbɜːrg/ C2	noun - a proper name, a town in Germany associated with the Reformation
germany /ˈdʒɜːrməni/ A1	noun - a country in Europe
university /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsəti/ A2	noun - an institution of higher education and research
castle /ˈkæsəl/ A2	noun - a large building or group of buildings fortified against attack
nailed /neɪld/ B1	verb - to attach something to a surface using nails
criticised /ˈkrɪtɪsaɪzd/ B2	verb - to indicate the faults of someone or something in a disapproving way
freedom /ˈfriːdəm/ A2	noun - the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants
painted /ˈpeɪntɪd/ A2	verb - to produce a picture using paint
printing /ˈprɪntɪŋ/ B1	noun - the process of reproducing text and images verb - to produce books, newspapers, etc., by printing
hymn /hɪm/ B2	noun - a religious song or poem of praise to God or a god