Wittenberg celebrates 500 years of Luther's wedding with a spectacular city festival!

Wittenberg celebrates 500 years of Luther's wedding with a spectacular city festival!

A very special anniversary is currently celebrated in Wittenberg: the 500th wedding anniversary of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora. From Friday to Sunday, the city turns into a lively festival mile that comes up with colorful events and deep insights into the time of the Reformation. As reported [Sonntagsblatt] (https://www.sonntagsblatt.de/artikel/kultur/wittenberg-feiert-luther- 500-hochzeitag-mit- und-lutherbier), the exhibition "Literally Luther" in the Luthermuseen was opened, one of the main attractions of the festival. The celebrations are not only the focus of the wedding, but also the profound social changes that the reformer caused with his ideas.

A highlight of the exhibition is the wedding ring of the couple, which can be seen until August 10, 2023. This loan from the Leipzig Museum of History shows two in each other. According to Ulrike Dora, the deputy museum director, it is a special object of exhibition, since it is rarely borrowed. The interior is equipped with an impressive engraving that bears the names of the spouses and is surrounded by a historically significant “Arma-Christi-Ring” from the 16th century, which shows passion tools Jesus.

festivities and events

The wedding of Luther and Bora was not only romantic, but also socially controversial, since Luther was previously monk and Bora nun. Interestingly, Luther initially only recognized marriage as the second best way of life, but changed his views in the course of the Reformation and put the marriage to the fore as the ideal of Christian life. This is also the reason why the city festival with over 60,000 expected visitors on this significant date is a big event. The longest wedding table with a length of 500 meters is planned, in which over 500 guests come together.

It becomes particularly exciting when a live service from the town church is broadcast on Sunday. The festival week is not only a celebration, but also a memory of the effects of the Reformation that still affect today. Yvonne von Becker, the head of the city festival, promises a colorful supporting program with historical representations of 30 clubs at 13 original locations of the Reformation, as MDR

The importance of the Reformation

But why do we actually celebrate the wedding of Luther and Katharina? The answer can be found in the history of the Reformation, which began 500 years ago. Luther's 95 theses published in Wittenberg led not only to a break between denominations, but also to a cultural and mental change in Germany and Europe. These events were perceived as a complex process that had profound effects on today's understanding of society, such as [germany.de] (https://www.deutschland.de/de/topic/sgesellschaft-und-und-tartin-luther-und-die-falgen-500-jahre- reformation) illustrated.

Overall, the Wittenberg city festival shows how deeply the roots of the Reformation are rooted in German society and how Bernard von Boor, who heads the exhibitions in the museums, emphasizes: "The Reformation has shaped our faith, language and even modern professional understanding." While the celebrations are romping in Wittenberg, people have the opportunity not only to have fun, but also to gain deeper insights into one of the most formative times in history.