Routes of Reformation

The Routes of Reformation link the key sites of the Protestant Reformation — the movement that Martin Luther launched in 1517 and that split Western Christianity, triggered a century of religious wars, and transformed European culture, politics, and intellectual life. Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg (31 October 1517) was the opening act of a drama that would unfold across Germany and Europe over the next century. The route connects the key sites of this story: Eisleben (Luther's birthplace), Wittenberg (where he taught and preached), Augsburg (where the Confession was presented to the Emperor), Worms (where he refused to recant), and the Wartburg (where he translated the New Testament into German). The route extends beyond Luther to trace the broader Reformation landscape: the Calvinist Geneva of John Calvin, the Reformed centres of Zürich (Zwingli) and Basel (Erasmus), the Anabaptist communities of the Rhine valley, the Huguenot diaspora, the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, and the Anglican settlement in England. The Reformation transformed literacy (vernacular Bible translation and printing), education (Luther's insistence on universal schooling), music (the great tradition of Protestant church music culminating in Bach), and political thought (the foundations of religious pluralism and conscience rights).