500 years of Luther's wedding: festival service and big city festival in Wittenberg

500 years of Luther's wedding: festival service and big city festival in Wittenberg

Wittenberg, Deutschland - On June 14, 2025, a special anniversary will be celebrated in Lutherstadt Wittenberg: the 500th anniversary of the wedding of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora. This historical connection, which was not only an important bourgeois marriage, but also significantly influenced the Reformation, is celebrated with a festival service. The MDR broadcasts the service on Sunday live from the city church of Wittenberg. Under the motto "Yes - with God's blessing", pastor Anne Brisgen and Pastor Matthias Keilholz lead the solemn ritual that begins at 10 a.m., while the Wittenberg superintendent Gabriele Metzner will keep the sermon. The musical design is taken over by the Wittenberger Kantorei and the brass ensemble, under the direction of Kantor Christoph Hagemann.

It is particularly interesting that couples have the opportunity to be blessed during the service and then on site and also by phone. This offers a wonderful opportunity to reinforce one's own love in the spirit of Luther and Katharina. For the city of Wittenberg, which organizes the festival from Friday to Sunday, around 6,000 visitors are expected. An attraction that will make the festivities even more entertaining is a 500 meter long wedding table.

Katharina's moving history

Katharina von Bora, who was born on January 29, 1499, grew up in quite modest conditions. Her parents could not give her dowry, which is why she was brought up in monasteries in childhood. In the Cistercian monastery Marienthron in Nimbschen, she put her vows in 1515. However, her life in the monastery was characterized by dissatisfaction. Because in the course of the spread of the reformation theory, her desire for freedom also grew. Martin Luther's teachings reached and the other nuns, and so it happened that on Easter Sunday, April 4, 1523, she smuggled out of the monastery with the support of Leonhard Köppe. So the way was paved to find a new future.

After her liberation, Katharina initially lived with the Cranach couple, friends of Luther. But her odyssey was not over yet. Katharina was initially unable to successfully complete two arranged marriage attempts. Finally, she explained Nikolaus von Amsdorf that she was only ready to marry Martin Luther or himself. Luther initially hesitated, but on June 13, 1525 they married in a small ceremony, he was 41 years old, she 26.

a life full of responsibility

But not everything was harmonious: During the first Schmalkaldic war, Katharina had to leave Wittenberg several times and found the courtyards devastated when she returned. The financial burdens were considerable, and only the support of Elector Johann Friedrich helped the couple in times of crisis. Despite all the challenges, Katharina passionately stated her conviction, which she loudly expressed on her deathbed: "I will stick to Christ like a Velcro on a piece of clothing." She died on December 20, 1552 in Torgau and is far away from her beloved husband.

The city of Wittenberg will remind its festival service and the big city festival of Luther and Katharina's life story, which was shaped by a deep love and laid the foundation for their joint work in the Reformation movement. The celebrations are not only a tribute to the past, but also a memory that love and faith can go hand in hand.

For more information about the celebrations and the importance of Katharina von Bora, visit the pages of Colsoncenter.org and lutherstadt-wittenberg.de .