Which he felt had betrayed its face he lutheran wanted to save it thats begun five hundred years ago a schism within the Christian Church and the rise of the reformation it was a revolution new things revolution five hundred years of president ism are being celebrated in germany throughout the year events include this major exhibition. About luthers global legacy well have more on that in a moment and well talk to an author about writing a luther novel in two thousand and seventeen but first we travel to where it all began five hundred years ago to the heart of this years celebrations the city of the witan bowed about an hours drive south of berlin it is as luther described it a city at the edge of civilization. Martin luther would have been amazed at whats become of his quiet little witan bag. This year its the spiritual and artistic epicenter of events surrounding the queens centenary of the reformation. Exhibitions are giving visitors to witan back a double dose of Martin Luther. The al gore steel and antics of the centuries Old University has ninety five treasures on display. A simple. Country exhibition includes objects lutherie new or even held in his hands some of them are things he created such as his writing back into his own but there are also works of art that depict the world at the time of the reformation. For much of titan. The exhibition in witan bags from a prison stands in stark contrast and the apple god of boxing glove to symbolize the monk who sparred with the Catholic Church inside the art objects are behind bars. A central theme is individual freedom prized by luther and now endangered in the digital age. Internet of the palace and thats. Connected with the entire world through the internet and digital networks. So we can have dialogues across all bogus. But at the same time we need to the monist says each of us sitting in our own and cells you might say. Sculptor marcus loop out is a convert to catholicism he shows luther as a belligerent but abused rebel. The russian born jewish artist yuri carter. Koch has an ambiguous relationship with Martin Luther. He his portrayed the nazi era rush bishop. Who envisions a synthesis of the protestant religion and national socialism. Sees that as following from luthers anti semitic statements which the nazis were only too willing to use in their propaganda. I think it creates a certain dilemma to see luther much and hear people say he was so important for german and he translated the bible. But he had some ugly sides and for me those much larger than the good things he contributed. Has also joined in to dismantle the great reformers image in a video produced especially for the exhibition the own voluntary blood of germanys art world presents different views of luther ranging from agitated to neurotic. Fail to do away with all religions or even say it in for a facet and call for it all religions must be gotten rid of. That would have been his obligation to reform something that was not reformable its a mistake and its cynicism. Fans of luther shaking their heads to the exhibition at the hour is called ninety five people it looks at figures who have a specific connection to Martin Luther. Martin luther king says the name of course. And theres the english king and henry. Might be swedish author astrid linger and she put some of luther into her characters by cause theres a line from carlson on the roof that was unfortunate. Really not reproduced in the translation us whenever something goes wrong for carlsen he says its just a worldly thing thats based on a quote that luther formulated. From. Back at the old prison luisa shudder has dedicated her work to the women of victim barack. Famous as Martin Luthers shrewd wife catherine enough on board the artist hopes to change that with this plaque for example it commemorates a nine hundred eighty seven general strike that never actually happened. She wrote her hopes it will inspire the people of britain back. To stand down by three i might wonder why they dont know anything about this general strike what does it mean for what could have meant for the history of women in east germany or all of germany just the door to it what would it mean if i took part in a general strike today if i didnt agree with certain political conditions and first amendment. To the pac unveiled on the edge of town is certain to mean confusion fake history as an incentive to learn about real history. Tens of thousands of tourists are coming to visit back every month virtually all of them because of Martin Luther and his theses. That might be most astounded by the freedoms these people take for granted all the powerful machines they have created. In the add on guard exhibition the robot artist group demonstrates how a machine can write out the entire bible in nine months but no machine can interpret it for the masses like Martin Luther different. Martin luther five hundred years ago the rebellious monk redefined what it meant to be a christian down to the smallest detail of daily routine much of what was considered typically protestant back then has come to represent what is typically german now industriousness social welfare taking joy in work reading serious music but also selfdenial and submission to authority. Luther the signed the superstar the outlaw the enraged citizen and also an antisemite so who are we talking about when we talk about luther. Martin luther is a superstar in his adopted home of it and barack. There is luther schnapps. Luther bread and of course luthers bible. His image is everywhere. But the reformation he started five hundred years ago we ferber rates way beyond the towns boundaries. The seismic events luther set in motion changed the entire world. But what made them possible in the first place. I would think. With across the mood or perhaps better the spirit of the time is everything he said and thought was already in the air so what he needed was a great voice a voice like a trumpet and the ability to fascinate people. It was an age of robber barons and serfs when witches were burned at the stake and the devil was omnipresent the church exerted as huge influence on peoples lives life in medieval didnt bear was anything but cozy as can be seen from this huge panorama created especially for the anniversary. The dominant mood of the time was doom and gloom there was a famine and. The peasants revolt wasnt confined to the f. Fifteen twenty five for generations there have been uprisings that where most of the slave put down. Many fear judgment day was imminent and preachers like johan tuttle exploited that by selling indulgences in places like you to a bog where five hundred years later and some shadow ministers to the Catholic Community he says people thought indulgences would shorten their time in purgatory. In the middle ages was closely tied to ideas of the last judgment expected to be about in hell and wanted to try and determine for their sins. They were afraid. And others saw a Business Opportunity in exploiting it thats why finance politic this way and it wasnt just an odd religious idea it was a financial policy. The aim was to siphon money out of the german region of saxony interior and and send it to rome to Fund Projects such as sent peaches cathedral. Then suddenly an iconic image of western christianity luther nailing his ninety five theses to a church door in bag he was protesting against the sale of indulgences and the doctrine of clerical infallibility. And. At this point he was just addressing an abuse of authority. He didnt necessarily think it should lead to the establishment of a new challenge. Could i could even imagine he would have vehemently rejected any such idea and had. Believed christians should assume more individual responsibility for their actions no one should be able to buy a clean conscience he translated the bible from latin into german so that everyone could understand it and the newly invented Printing Press helped him spread the scriptures in the. More despite the christian schism and some shadow is excited about the anniversary and the chance to meet with lutheran colleagues he thinks both churches today recognize more things that unite than divide them. I dont believe we are celebrating it nor are the lutherans celebrating it. Rather we are commemorating the split in the church and hoping to do what we can to overcome it when. One thing the two churches already share in this jubilee year is a love song just the way luther would have liked it. Luther was a voracious reader and an extremely prolific bestselling author at the height of his fame three times as many books were published in germany than in france and italy together most of them written by luther. He was aided by guten bags new book Printing Technology without which he would have never become so popular no other reformation so successful the anniversary celebration is also having an effect on the modern book market dozens of musicology books have been published but what i find more intriguing is the question of how you might go about writing a luther novel nowadays. Very luther novel of the year is even galileo penned by fairy didnt know hes a muslim but hes extremely well versed in the bible he lives in kill in luther stripped of all places and invited is there to talk about his latest work. So im older whose parents moved to germany as socalled guest workers is one of the countrys most eloquent novelists in his work he dissects german ness delves into other worlds in the parks hes looked at the lives of german migrants and islamists and now hes taken on the protestant superstars. Dont very dense imo you know what inspired you to focus on the historical figure of Martin Luther. And this time meister that is a master of the german language and theres a to gain in the mid one nine hundred seventy s. I lived in most out of a working class neighborhood of munich duty and in one day i was browsing in the local library and when i came across the luther german bible he thought this was the talmud i didnt realize what this big book was and i hardly understood a word but its a fiery language fascinated me because it was so different to the jargon spoken in the neighborhood where my sister and i grew up this is in the mannish whetstone our folks and luther continues to fascinate him evangelium focuses on luthers time at the book castle in fifteen twenty one where he translated the bible into german you know fred. Work haunted by visions of the devil. In the novel luthor is guarded by a fictitious mercenary who is also the books first person narrator. He scratches rooms as if picking the saviors with the whimpers and sacrilege and thats the long shot here is nights work in the torture chamber where he promises to tame the vipers venomous beast they have a change of dog in the yard howls at the shadows of clouds passing by the german god cleans the fear from our hearts thats why i protect their attic sixteen cats rock n roll. You get a spot off that instead of a monster of language and you created an entirely new language for even. Strong crude and the rest of this how did you do that conclude that i saw by these oh my novel i relied on the power and the beauty of the german language which is that if i need a mom i never assume that not everything could be expressed in german on the contrary. So on that in leading time and as a writer should stand its my duty to torture myself. And. Feel i read the original books and the bible or you know travel to the historical location season hes been on the show but that wasnt enough discussion about this and he so like luther. King asked that i fasted luther used to get up at three am to attend masters so i got up at three as well fish you might consider that articulate but you have to remember that writers are ridiculous figures leahy if you core clear no one wants you also to amend the readers of your novel with is a moses with blood splattering everywhere on the border an unborn child is cut out of a womans womb out of superstition the theory of witches and satan is this you would join hands of medieval madness. I just wanted to get tyson and i wanted to depict all these things. I wanted to describe all these things and like to underline and acknowledge Martin Luthers remarkable achievement built again and he struggled and was way outside his comfort zone for that yeah yeah hot culpa. He also severed physically. He could have and he was exposed to all these disgusting circumstances most of any time and i want to expose readers to. That ill ill skip sets i. Need to it says they shouldnt have the feeling of the author is leaving something out. Of the south only i want them to actually feel what it was like thats the leisurely on please say he see he leaves i will say not because i like to torture my readers who go myself me. Because i want to portray luther and his times so authentic like a decent side to that citation and so it was important for me how in some of the scenes. To provide a glimpse of the harsh german late medieval reality and im funny this isnt that sidewalk or are you driving across germany giving readings and interviews. The five hundredth anniversary of the reformation doesnt ever imagine you become a looser ambassador. Club or trust a bit here. Im not a lutheran bastard. Vandeman but i really enjoy going from city to city like i generally among the reading for my novel and thundering out this heavy medieval german toy to share but also done anything when i read it literary salons or book shops and get some people are quite surprised. I look at me wide eyed and say how could you write this if youre from them and they want to say youre muslims and what theyre doing a light thats i can see youre from a different culture mentions wow where do you get this from called to or dont i bet i havent see this then and then we get involved in deep theological conversation that we dont really enjoy that. So for now ill keep on preaching is dark but moving is uplifting message that could be. The clear for portrait after their thanks for talking to us yeah it was a pleasure thank you. Thank. And germany today only sixteen percent of the countrys protestants say they go to church regularly and south korea that figure is an impressive eighty four percent so what has become of the reformation over the centuries and around the world here at the martin in berlin a major exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the real world of protestantism for instance to africa. An exorcism driving out the devil its a central tenet of faith for lutheran communities in tanzania these photos were taken in twenty sixteen. Days using a mouse nice and near photograph you want for i always photograph a close range and try to be within the group of people put myself inside the situation thats all so i was actually in the middle of this an exorcism as all the time some of the time i was kneeling over the possessed person so that the exorcists west standing over me and basically shouting in my ears and here in that was really strange. Because on thats. An exhibition in berlin petaca for karsten hein traveled with a bishop around tanzania to photograph exorcism rituals five hundred years after the start of the reformation were paying a call on the second largest Lutheran Church in the world. Its six million members consider themselves the modern true lutherans. I was here about it is what i expected to see was how the lutheran religion our religion has shaped Africa Africa picked up but when i was there i became aware of how much the religion has been shaped by tanzania it became clear when talking with tanzania and bishops that their understanding of faith healing healing through prayer that is the core of their religiosity of faith healing as i dont wish to be it so its london care you dont really use it it alls Martin Luther effect exhibition marks the five hundredth anniversary of the reformation asks how protestantism has affected other denominations and religions how people from different cultures have adopted protestant teachings visitors enter through an installation based on the schism the reformation caused in the Catholic Church sections devoted to tanzania sweden the us and korea show how extremely heterogeneous protestantism is globally in. The film secret sunshine for example shows how the number of Free Church Christians has been on the rise in south korea since the one nine hundred fifty s. Today evangelicals account for twenty percent of the population. In. The middle district in korea its mainly the presbyterians and methodists whove been there since the late nineteenth century. But the great protestant boom didnt occur there until after the country was divided when christians cleared from the north so it was actually a migrations and. The title of the show might be considered misleading because the exhibition is only partially about luther it also looks at the fragmented heritage of many reformers such as strongly calvin and. The United States for example was a promising country for christians looked. For a home where they could worship as they pleased even today there are active anabaptist communities such as the amish and mennonites whose radical doctrines reject technical progress and modern values. In addition to the lutherans the evangelical churches are also doing well in africa. The exhibition shows that luthers doctrine of faith wasnt the only one to spread beyond hero. Sidon for begin we show that it was also the reformed church as the anglicans toys and we take a look at catholics to reagans this influence d. The anabaptists said the basic course that emerged in the sixteenth century and then spread around the world to sweden the United States tens and and korea. But it then. Whats happening in the us is also interesting from a political perspective as seen in footage of iraq Church Services in the deeply religious bible belt the exhibition gives us a better insight into the evangelicals in the heartland of america the proponents of creationism and the prolife and anti abortion activists spinoffs which luther cannot have possibly envisioned. This exhibition in berlin is one of three Major Special exhibitions in germany marking the five hundredth anniversary of the reformation the other two are as weve seen in balloch and Vauxhall Corsa where luther translated the bible into german an