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13.06.

1525: Martin Luther Marries a Former Nun

1525: Martin Luther Marries a Former Nun
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons

Story Highlights

  • Historical event:
  • 13 June 1525
  • Martin Luther sent a herring merchant to Katharina von Bora's convent, who managed to smuggle her and several other nuns in his wagon. She was 26 and he 41 years old when they married and it is interesting that their descendants still live today.

On this day the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, married Katharina von Bora, a former nun.



She was 26 years old, and he was 41. She entered the monastery at the age of 5. When she was 24, she became dissatisfied with the monastic life and sought the help of Martin Luther, who campaigned for the abolition of celibacy.

He sent a herring merchant, who managed to smuggle Katharina and several other nuns from the convent in his wagon. Luther took the effort to find them all spouses and a home and took Katharina for his wife.

John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, who was Luther’s patron, gave them a former monastery in Wittenberg to serve as a wedding present.

Katharina, as a genuine housewife, took care of the large estate, rose at 4 o’clock in the morning to prepare everything for hosting the students who boarded with them as well as visitors who wanted to meet with Luther.




She also ran some kind of poorhouse for the sick. Along with all these activities, she gave birth to Luther’s six children, and they also raised four orphans.

Interestingly, the descendants of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora are still alive today. One of their descendants was the famous German President Paul von Hindenburg.

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