How to follow footsteps of Martin Luther

Statue of Martin Luther / Courtesy of the German National Tourist Board

By Jung Min-ho

Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther promulgated his 95 theses and criticized the Roman Catholic Church for its critical theological errors and institutional sins.

Luther, then an obscure priest, nailed his proposals to the church door at Wittenberg and stood up against religious leaders who claimed freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money.

By doing so, he sparked not just the Protestant Reformation that would forever change the direction of Christianity but also breathed new life into the Christian faith, including Roman Catholicism.

This year, travelers to Germany will encounter a plethora of interesting events to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his “95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” across the country.

Nancy Choi, a PR representative of the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) for Koreans, said she expects more Koreans to visit Germany.

Korea, in which 30 percent of its population identify themselves as Christians, is one of the target countries for the GNTB in 2017, she noted.

According to the GNTB, about 250,000 Koreans visited Germany last year. The number of nights they spent in the country was 618,386, 5.7 percent up from 2015 and 91 percent up from 2005.

She recommended eight travel routes, which include some of the most significant places to visit in order to understand Luther’s life and the Reformation movement.

Wittenberg, the birthplace of the Reformation, is a good place to start. There, Luther lived, preached and nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church.

Visitors will find many memorials to Luther and his wife Katharina von Bora, who is often considered one of the most important participants of the Reformation because of her role in helping to define Protestant family life and setting the tone for clergy marriages.

The city’s Luther House is the largest Reformation museum in Germany. Visitors can see the rooms used by Luther and a collection of Reformation manuscripts and artifacts.

The Wartburg Castle in Eisenach is another place visitors should not miss. Luther stayed there for his safety following his excommunication by Pope Leo X in 1521.

This is the place where Luther “fought the devil with ink” by translating the New Testament from the original Greek to German. It was not the first German translation of the Bible, but his version quickly became the most influential.

Traveling in Germany is always a pleasant experience, but it would be especially meaningful this year for all Christians around the world, according to the GNTB.