The Luther Decade "Luther2017 - 500 Years of Reformation"

The 500th Anniversary of the posting of the Ninety-Five Theses will occur on October 31, 2017. Luther himself already considered the beginning of the Reformation a cause for celebration. Together with friends, he commemorated the 'destruction of the indulgences ten years ago' on November 1, 1527. The anniversary of the posting of the theses has been festively commemorated ever since – today in the form of Reformation Day.

In earlier centuries, the major anniversaries related to the Reformation were celebrated separately according to political and confessional divisions. Luther was presented as a popular German hero and the celebrations were used by Protestants as a means to establish distance between themselves and Catholics. The Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 aims to achieve the opposite: it is to be defined by openness, freedom, and the ecumenical spirit.

That which began in Wittenberg in the sixteenth century changed Germany, Europe, and the world. For this reason, the Anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 – in contrast to all previous anniversary celebrations related to Luther and the Reformation – will be commemorated by a global community reaching from Tierra del Fuego to Finland and from South Korea to North America. International projects, such as travelling exhibitions, chorus tours, international congresses, faith tourism, collaborations with various Goethe Institutes and German ministers abroad, reveal the global dimension of the anniversary celebration.

The Reformation: impulses for the twenty-first century

Because of its structural and thematic complexity, the anniversary celebration of the Reformation requires a preliminary phase for content development, but also for activating the national and international public by means of advertising and tourism marketing. Rather than establishing an arbitrary timetable, this phase was linked to a historic event: Luther's arrival in Wittenberg at the beginning of the winter semester of 1508-09. The preparations for the anniversary celebration of the Reformation began exactly 500 years later, in September 2008. The period from 2008 to 2017 includes ten years as counted in the sixteenth century, when the first year was included in the total: a decade to lead up to the grand anniversary.

The Luther Decade commenced with a ceremony in Wittenberg's 'Castle Church' on September 21, 2008. The Luther Decade has set its goals high: ‘A Christian is sovereign lord of all things, and subject to no one. A Christian is a most dutiful servant to all things, and subject to everyone.‘ This may be Luther's most famous epigram. It concisely captures his theological thought and the reform of the Church: we are all free individuals before God and are called to persevere in human dignity and to follow our own conscience. We are simultaneously called to serve our neighbours and to practise solidarity after being set free in Creation.

The text ‘Concerning Christian Liberty’ is a call for an ecclesiastical and spiritual revolution. It grew out of the new faith in God and revolutionised far more than the ecclesiastical sphere; it encompassed language, education, culture, the economy, the social order, law, etc. We came to see the world differently because of the Protestant reformers. There is hardly any aspect of our life today that was not shaped and transformed by the Reformation. Luther’s translation of the Bible created the German language as we know it today. Education was democratised because the boys and girls in the city and in the country were to become educated and accountable Christians that could read the Bible and understand the world. Economic life took on a new dynamism and world views became differentiated – in terms of the Christian confessions, among other areas. The separation of Church and State and the recognition of the existence of inalienable civil rights – regardless of race, faith, sex, and nationality – are further consequences of the Reformation.

On the way to ‘2017’

It is impossible not to notice the extensive construction projects aimed at preserving buildings and monuments related to the Reformation for future generations. The house where Luther lived as a student in Erfurt, Luther's parents' house in Mansfeld, or the renowned 'Castle Church' of Wittenberg are only a few of the structures that will be renovated in the coming years.

The Decade also offers the opportunity to communicate the ideas of the Reformation in a new way. At church and in school, children and youths will be introduced to Luther, his life, his work, and his importance with the help of school projects, history competitions, and new educational materials.

Exhibitions, concerts, and other cultural events will address different aspects of the Reformation in the coming years. They will highlight and investigate the Reformation's influence on education, music, and art as well as on politics, tolerance, and the concept of freedom.

Further anniversaries in the course of the Luther Decade will offer opportunities to commemorate other important figures of the Reformation: the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth in 2009, the 450th anniversary of Philipp Melanchthon’s death in 2010, or the 500th anniversary of the birth of Lucas Cranach the Younger in 2015.

Through historical festivals in towns, summer theatre, and fairs, we will attempt to show that the Luther Decade is a cause for celebration as well as a time for reflecting on Christian identity. Research on Luther, his beliefs, and his ideas will be set forth in scholarly studies and other publications. Conferences and workshops will investigate the Reformation’s significance for the present and the future and will seek to provide the Church and Christians with new impulses for the path before them.