Publisher's Synopsis
The history of the anniversaries of the Reformation whose beginnings coincide with the general beginning of the phenomenon of historical anniversary, is a history of ever new images of the Reformation and particularly Martin Luther. Every period saw in these images what was dear and precious to it. It celebrated in the anniversary its own values and so itself. This is particularly true for the last two centuries. Liberty, education, enlightenment and tolerance, the German nation, the refinement of the German national character (Volkstum) - just to mention the most important examples - became associated with Luther and the Reformation. There existed always opposite views but mostly they could not be heard in the chorus of celebration. The book of the renowned historian of the Reformation, Dorothea Wendebourg, examines the more important anniversaries of the Reformation in the 19th and 20th century. Furthermore, three shorter sections contain an overview of the entire history of the anniversaries of the Reformation since 1617, a detailed study of the once spectacular anniversary in 1921, and a contribution concerning the Jewish commemoration of Luther in the 19th century.
