Germany, Part 3: Reformation and War

During the height of the Holy Roman Empire (see last time), the world would be transformed by the Reformation. That event needed the printing press, which is where we begin today.

Born in Mainz around 1400AD, Johannes Gutenberg invented the European movable-type printing press ~1450. He used local winepress technology and applied it for pressing letters. It took two years to create enough metal letters to print a Bible, but once done, they could print 180 Bibles in the time it took a scribe to produce one. The result? Knowledge was no longer “the privilege of the few.” And Mainz’s location (at the confluence of the Main and Rhine rivers) was a natural distribution system for related and subsequent ideas, skills, and products. Being in the HRE helped- the political fragmentation of the Empire guaranteed a remarkable level of 'freedom of the press'. Printers could not be stopped at a national level like in (for example) France or England. Gutenberg’s invention revolutionized the world and set the stage for the Reformation. Check out the museum dedicated to him in Mainz if you can.

REFORMATION

On October 31, 1517, Monk Martin Luther posts “95 Theses” on a bulletin board at Wittenberg, outlining problems he had with the church’s teachings. Troubled by what he viewed as the church’s departure from the Bible, he wanted a conversation. What he got was a revolution.

Luther’s Theses ignited controversy. Aided by Gutenberg’s printing press, Luther’s comments spread far and fast. In 1521, Luther was summoned to a HRE assembly (called a Diet) in the city of Worms. (Aside: saying “Diet of Worms” never gets old).  He was forced to choose: recant or reaffirm his words. He stood by his comments. They call Luther a heretic and demanded he be punished. But Luther would be saved by the HRE’s patchwork nature- some chose not to follow the Emperor’s edict. A local prince kidnapped him and took him to Wartburg Castle, where Luther would translate the New Testament into German in just eleven weeks in 1521-22. In so doing, he became the father of the modern German language (see sidebar below). Luther became increasingly popular among the people, and the Reformation was well underway. People who protested with Luther would become known as Protestants.

Recall that the HRE was a “mosaic of hundreds of states and statelets, governed by kings, electors, dukes, prince-bishops, and host of minor nobles, all holding their territories under the Emperor, divide by rivalries and intermittently united by changing alliances. The Reformation soon forced every ruler to choose: Catholic or Protestant. It created political crises, constitutional conflicts and religious and cultural divides that have in some cases lasted until today.” (MacGregor) See here for more background on this monumental event.

SIDEBAR: LANGUAGE

Martin Luther was responsible for the one written form of German, a language with many different dialects, some of them barely mutually comprehensible. Luther, in translating the New Testament into German, strove “to find a German that was both fit for the word of God and fit to be read by ordinary Germans.” He modeled it on the Saxon version, which was sort of a middle ground between various dialects.

The Brothers Grimm- we will talk about them later in our story- were pioneers of language study and origins. The Germans had kept their original language, unlike the French or others; German had more direct ties with antiquity.

For English speakers, remember that English is a Germanic language (see below language tree). In fact, going through the dictionary during our COVID lockdown (yes, I was that bored), I found that over 2,500 German words are instantly recognizable to English speakers (but be wary of spelling/pronunciation differences)!  Since most experts argue that you need to know 5,000 words to be fluent in a language, that means English speakers are halfway there!

Just kidding of course- there are certainly difficulties for English speakers learning Deutsch. All German nouns have a gender and take different (in)definite articles depending on case. Adjectives take different endings, too. Verb conjugations can also be hard. And regional variations can be difficult. But don’t lose heart! Apps like DuoLingo make it easy to spend a little time each day building your skills. I’ve practiced daily for years now, and can say with confidence that . . . it's still really hard. I think my German is getting worse all the time. And my English is slipping, too. (There's no substitute for immersion.) But it is worth it, I promise.

THIRTY YEARS WAR (1618-1648)

One hundred years after Luther, religious diversity existed throughout the HRE. One Holy Roman Emperor wanted to reinstate religious uniformity- Catholicism. The Protestants in Bohemia revolted, throwing the Emperor’s advisors out of a window and electing their own king. This didn’t go over well, and the Catholic areas of the HRE gathered armies to put down that rebellion, causing other Protestant areas to come to Bohemia’s aid. The Thirty Years War had begun.

What started as a war of religion grew. Protestant Denmark and Sweden would intervene to assist the Protestant parts of the HRE. But then, something mysterious happened: even Catholic France would join to help the Protestants. Why? Because at this point the war had widened in scope beyond religion to encompass the Habsburg (family who ruled HRE & Spain) vs. Bourbon (France) jockeying for dominance on the continent.

By the time it ended, the war proved the most destructive conflict in Europe outside of the world wars; over 8 million Germans died, and some areas lost over 50% of their population. Regions were devastated by long-term presence of soldiers, who often had to feed/pay themselves through growing their own crops or pillaging. Wiesbaden’s population after this conflict, for example, was down to ~40 people. Some scholars suggest that this war set Germany back hundreds of years and allowed France to be the dominant power for a long time to come.

I hate to end on a downer, but next time we'll turn our attention to beer.