Handsome lake biography of martin luther

Home to Luther during his turbulent, formative years

Erfurt, Germany was Martin Luther’s spiritual home. A student at Erfurt’s famous university between 1501 and 1505, Luther first studied the Seven Liberal Arts, then theology and, at his father’s wish, jurisprudence.

Legend has it that Luther got caught in a terrible thunderstorm in one of Stotternheim’s fields. Afraid for his life, Luther cried into the wind “St. Anna, help me! I will become a monk.” True to his word, Luther marched right to the Augustinian Monastery once the storm had passed and became a monk. Today, Stotternheim’s Luther Stone marks the spot of this historical event, without which Luther may never have become the reformer who changed the world.

Protestant Monastery of St Augustine

The Augustinerkloster, known as the Protestant Monastery of St Augustine,  is a unique monument to medieval religious architecture. It is not only an internationally recognized conference and meeting center, but also as an important station in the life of Martin Luther. In August 2004 the monastery was certified as a “national heritage site of special cultural interest”.

The church and monastery of the Augustinian hermits was built around 1300. Luther was admitted to the monastery on 17 July 1505, where he lived as an Augustinian monk until autumn 1511. The Augustinian Monastery pays tribute to Luther with an exhibition whose theme is “Bible-Monastery-Luther”.  There is a standing exhibition  in the monastery which is well worth seeing. There is also a unique library of historical books.  

Tour Day to Erfurt

A visit to Erfurt and the Augustinian Monastery is a highlight in our European Reformation Tours. Our small private group will journey to the town where Luther became a monk. We will see his monastic quarters. And, enjoy a medieval themed lunch similar to what Luther himself might have eaten. Visit Preacher’s Chur

Trip Itinerary

Key: IF = In Flight Meals, B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner

Day 1: Thursday, May 21, 2026: Depart
We will depart from the USA. Group flights can be arranged. Reformation Tours can also arrange pre-tour nights in Berlin for anyone who wishes to travel before the tour begins. (IF)

Day 2: Friday, May 22, 2026: Berlin, Wittenberg
Welcome to Germany! On arrival in Berlin, travelers will transfer to the centrally located pre-tour hotel. After spending time exploring, purchasing lunch, and shopping, we will gather back at the hotel to begin the panoramic sightseeing tour, highlighting the Reichstag (parliament building), the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the refurbished city center, and Gendarmenmarkt. We will continue to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg and check in our hotel. We will dine in our hotel this evening. (B/D)

Day 3: Saturday, May 23, 2026: Wittenberg
This year, Lutherstadt Wittenberg will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora.  Luther’s former home, the Lutherhalle, is under refurbishment, but we will see the Luther exhibition in the Augusteum. We will also visit Melancthon’s House, followed by free time for lunch. The afternoon is at leisure before dinner in the Restaurant von Bora. (B/D)

Day 4: Sunday, May 24, 2026: Wittenberg
Martin Luther regularly preached in St. Mary’s Church, also known as the Town Church. We will attend the German-speaking morning service with local parishioners. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church (Schlosskirche). Although the original doors were destroyed in the Seven Years’ War, we can see Luther’s texts cast in bronze on the new doors. We will also visit Lucas Cranach’s House and hear about his art. The rest of the day is at leisure. (B)

Martin Luther (10 November1483 – 18 February1546) was a German theologian, an Augustinian monk, and an ecclesiastical reformer whose teachings inspired the Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines and culture of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions.

Quotes

• … my Latin and German propositions. You wonder I did not tell you of them. But I did not wish to have them widely circulated. I only intended submitting them to a few learned men for examination, and if they disapproved of them, to suppress them — or make them known through their publications, in the event of their meeting with your approval. But now they are being spread abroad and translated everywhere, which I never could have credited, so that I regret having given birth to them — not that I am unwilling to proclaim the truth manfully, for there is nothing I more ardently desire, but because this way of instructing the people is of little avail. As yet I am still uncertain as to some points, and would have gone into others more particularly, leaving some out entirely, had I foreseen all this.

• If a woman becomes weary and at last dead from bearing, that matters not; let her only die from bearing, she is there to do it.
  • Sermon Von dem ehelichen Stande (1519), p. 41 — as quoted in The Ethic of Freethought: A Selection of Essays and Lectures (1888) by Karl Pearson, "The Sex-Relations in Germany", p. 424
  • The quote actually comes from Von dem eelichen Leben (1522). It can be seen in an original edition here, in a 19th century reissue here, and in English translation (as "On the Estate of Marriage") here.

• Lastly, we must also know what Baptism signifies, and why God has ordained just such external sign and ceremony for the Sacrament by which we are first received into the Christian Church. But the act or ceremony is this, that we are sunk under the water, which passes over us, and afterwards are drawn out again. These two parts, to be sunk under

As the month of October draws to a close, Protestant Churches around the globe are eagerly preparing for the quincentennial celebration of the Reformation. Five hundred years ago, everything changed when a young monk named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany. But what was it that prompted the Reformation?

During Luther’s era of the 16th century, people tried to attain salvation in a multitude of ways like praying to Mary and the Saints, pilgrimages to Rome, and paying for one’s sins through good works. In an attempt to raise money for the building of St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome, the Catholic Church had begun selling salvation — literally! To those who purchased a special certificate, called an indulgence, Rome promised freedom from suffering in “purgatory” for ALL sins: past, present, and future.

Like so many others in his day, Luther had been immersed in the “earn your own salvation” movement. On August 17, 1505, he had entered the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt, “to save [his] soul.” He was a model monk. He devoted himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, pilgrimages, and frequent confession. Sometimes he confessed for hours at a time! Eventually his confessor told him not to come back until he had committed a sin worth confessing!

Subjecting his body to physical punishment caused Luther to permanently injure his health, all to attain righteousness and heaven.  He went without food for days, stayed awake all night to say his prayers, and performed acts of penance for hours. He even laid out naked in the cold snow of Germany as an act of trying to find forgiveness and peace with God, all to no avail.

Desperately, Luther even committed the act of self-flagellation, whipping himself until the blood flowed down his body. Yet nothing brought peace or forgiveness to his troubled soul. He would later remark in a letter to the Duke of Saxony, “If e