Reformation Day Germany, or Reformationstag, falls on October 31st each year. Here’s where it is a day off.
Reformation Day is a statutory holiday, but not throughout Germany. It is valid in the Länder:
- Brandenburg,
- Bremen,
- Hamburg,
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,
- Lower Saxony,
- Saxony,
- Saxony-Anhalt,
- Schleswig-Holstein,
- Thuringia.
The holiday was celebrated for the first time in Saxony in 1667. It commemorates the beginning of the work of renewal (reformation) of the Christian Church, which was symbolized by the announcement of 95 theses by Martin Luther in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. They included, among others criticism of the then Western Church.
Dr. Luther’s speeches initiated the Reformation. According to the application, Luther displayed his theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Contrary to the typically Lutheran holiday – the Augsburg Confession – the Reformation Day is supra-denominational and is celebrated by various Protestant Churches, the main ones created in the 16th century, but also those formed later, including evangelical churches.
The Reformationstag is especially celebrated in the two most important cities for Martin Luther: Wittenberg (called by followers “Rome of Protestantism”) and in Eisleben, where the monk was born.
It is on this day that thousands of believers from all over the world come here to participate in services and visit the most important monuments related to Luther.
These include: the birthplace of the reformer on Lutherstraße, the Luther house where he lived during the Reformation, the house of Melanchthon’s closest friend and associate, the Stadkirche city church, the death house at Andreaskirchplatz, and the famous castle church in Wittenberg, on which the clergyman displayed 95 theses .
It should also be noted that all these buildings are on the UNESCO World Heritage List
On October 31, every year, numerous events, shows, workshops and conferences are held in Germany.