EKD Press Releases

EKD Reformation Day in Eisenach

Harald Bretschneider is Martin Luther-Medal laureate - Schneider and Neumann open the theme year "Reformation and Music"

October 31, 2011

The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) marked Reformation Day with two festive events in Eisenach, Thuringia. At midday, in St. George's church, the Martin Luther medal was awarded to the theologian and well-known protagonist in the GDR peaceful revolution Harald Bretschneider. The award was presented by the chair of the EKD Council chair Präses Nikolaus Schneider, and Thomas de Maizière, the Federal Minister of Defense, gave the congratulatory address. In the afternoon, the Council chair and the federal government representative for culture and communication State Minister Bernd Neumann together opened the theme year "Reformation and Music," which will accompany 2012 within the framework of the Luther Decade.

Paying tribute to Bretschneider, Schneider praised the merits of the former Saxonian youth pastor during the years before the peaceful revolution: "Today we know that the church peace movement in the GDR had decisively paved the way for the fall of the Iron Curtain in the autumn of 1989." The patches with the quotation from Micah 4 "Swords into Plowshares" had been suppressed in the public in 1989. But the spirit of this vision of peace continued to stay alive," coming to a climax in the autumn of 1989: while heavily armed government forces opposed the demonstrators, the latter, holding candles, cried out, "No violence," the Council chair said. Also thanks to the movement inspired by Bretschneider, the 1989 revolution was "a peaceful revolution." Bretschneider, his family and the many, at the time, predominantly young people in churches in the GDR who stubbornly showed, sometimes against "opposition within their churches," how and why Jesus' beatitude statement "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Mt 5:9) can be genuinely lived out, Schneider added. The awarding of the Martin Luther Medal, for the fourth time since 2008, was preceded by a festive service of worship (homily by Bishop Ilse Junkermann).

In the afternoon, following a concert with the participation of the Dresden Chamber Orchestra, the Thuringian Academic Singkreis, the Wernigerode Radio Choir and the Uwe Steinmetz Quartet, the theme year "Reformation and Music" was officially opened. Schneider recalled how important music was for Martin Luther. Luther's relationship to music was by no means "personal infatuation"; on the contrary, "without his profound relationship with and passion for music and for melodic word-melody blend, Luther could not be properly understood, the Council chair said in his address. The reformer not only opened people's ears and hearts, but also their mouths. Schneider: "Luther brought us community song.  He transformed a listening congregation into a singing one. One that sings together." The Reformation, Schneider added, was above all the first singing movement.

The Council chair warmly thanked federal culture minister Bernd Neumann for his ministry's generous support for the EKD music project "366+1, Kirche klingt 2012." The project, which was initiated by the cultural office of the EKD jointly with regional churches, brings together musicians for a concert on each of the 366 days of the 2012 leap year, so that a concert band will be traveling throughout Germany from January 1 through December 31, 2012. Schneider concluded by saying that, with this project, church and society in unison will bring the cultural and historical heritage of the Reformation with its unique collection of hymns and motets to life."
 
Hanover, October 31, 2011
Press Office of the EKD#
Reinhard Mawick