500 years of the peasant war: a drama of uprisings and heroes

500 years of the peasant war: a drama of uprisings and heroes

Mühlhausen, Deutschland - On June 1, 2025, the events of the German Peasant War from 1524 to 1526, which is connected to Thomas Müntzer as one of his outstanding figures, will be 500 years old. The clashes are not only a central stage in German history, but are also intensively discussed in culture. At that time, many farmers defended themselves against the authorities and the exploiters. These protests, which are detectable to antiquity, show a long tradition of resistance, for example the revolt of the yellow turbans in China in the 2nd century AD or uprisings in Europe from the 9th century, such as the Stellinga uprising in old Saxony from 841 to 843 href = "https://www.compact-online.de/als-adam-grub-und-eva-span-2/"> compact-online.de reported.

Thomas Müntzer (1489–1525) was an influential leader of the peasant revolt and turned against both the church and the secular authority. He criticized Martin Luther Scharf because his reform approaches did not go far enough. Müntzer called for freedom and equality for all people and emphasized the need for a fairer order. The decisive days of the War began with a sermon of him in 1524, which is considered for the forerunner of human rights. However, Müntzer's uncompromising attitude led to his fateful end: after the defeat of the farmers, he was captured, tortured and finally executed on May 27, 1525 in Mühlhausen, as ZDF.de describes in detail.

historical contextualization

The German Peasant War produced a variety of personalities and events that are recorded in various historical sources. Wilhelm Zimmermann describes in "The Great German Peasant War" that radical Karlstadt supporters such as Wolfgang Ackermann and Georg Amandus support the social demands of miners. Even outside the Protestant camp, fellow riders such as Götz von Berlichingen, who acted as a military advisor in this conflict, or Florian Geyer, a Franconian knight and leader of the Black Schar, were strikingly back, as on noted.

The social unrest was not limited to Germany either. A comparison shows that similar protests took place in the Netherlands in 2022, which led to the defeat of the reigning government party in the 2023 elections. Today German farmers demonstrate against the government in Berlin, which is symbolically supported by tractors. These protests are non -violent, but of great effect, and illustrate the persistent relevance of justice and equality that were already addressed in the peasant war.

reception in culture

The topics of the peasant war not only find their place in historiography, but also in culture. Drama author Gerhart Hauptmann illuminates the figure of Florian Geyer in his work. In addition, the topic is reflected in horror films such as "Frankenstein" (1931) and also current literature, such as Michel Houellebecq's novel "Serotonin", addresses the problems of today's farmers. The GDR devoted itself to Thomas Müntzer's life with two biopics between 1956 and 1989 and Ernst Bloch declared Müntzer as Marxist hero in 1921. Even if a subordinate role in the FRG and GDR farmers played a subordinate role for many years, it can be seen that the questions of that time still stimulate an interesting discourse at the time.