The Lutheran Reformation (Germany)

The early 16th century was a time of change in Europa. The Discovery of America in 1492 brought much precious metal to Europa, which decreased the monetary value and increased the prices for nourishment. The Humanists started to deal with the Antiquity and sought to create a citizenry, which is able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity and which is capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities. Also many people lost their faith in the church, as the buying of church offices and roles (simony) was widespread at the time. And with the introduction of mechanical movable type printing in Europe everyone was able to spread his or her criticism much more easily. All this added up at the beginning of the Reformation, but the straw that broke the camel's back was a quite local one: Albert of Brandenburg and Johann Tetzel.

Albert of Brandenburg was born in 1490. He was the younger son of Elector John Cicero of Brandenburg. As his older brother became the next Elector of Brandenburg after their father's death in 1499, Albert entered the ecclesiastical profession. In 1513 he became Archbishop of Magdeburg and administrator of the Diocese of Halberstadt. In 1514 he planned to become also Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, but as this accumulation of offices was against the Codex Iuris Canonici, he had to obtain a special authorisation from the Pope, for which he had to loan money from Jakob Fugger. To repay his loan he had once again obtained a permission from the Pope, this time to conduct the sale of indulgences in his diocese to obtain funds. Indulgences are, according to the Roman Catholic Church, a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins. The Pope agreed as long as half of the collection was forwarded to the Papacy, who wanted the money for the construction of the Saint Peter's Basilica. Entrusted with the collection of the indulgences was Johann Tetzel.

Johann Tetzel was born around 1460 in Pirna. He studied theology and philosophy at the University of Leipzig and became a Dominican friar and preacher in 1489. In January 1517 he was made Grand Commissioner of Indulgences for Archbishop Albrecht von Brandenburg in the dioceses of Magdeburg and Halberstadt. Also in 1517 he moved to Jüterbog, an exclave of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, which then became a centre of the sale of indulgences and an attracting point for many people from the Electorate of Saxony, as the sale was prohibited there. As the reasons for the sale of indulgences were known to the public, some people started to criticise the sale. One of them was Martin Luther. Tetzel had later fallen into disrepute and died in Leipzig in 1519. 

As response to the sale of indulgences Martin Luther wrote his famous Ninety-five Theses. Here you can see six of them.

5. Papa non vult nec potest ullas penas remittere preter eas, quas arbitrio vel suo vel canonum imposuit. - Der Papst will und kann keine Strafen erlassen, außer solchen, die er auf Grund seiner eigenen Entscheidung oder der der kirchlichen Satzungen auferlegt hat. - The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons.
10. Indocte et male faciunt sacerdotes ii, qui morituris penitentias canonicias in purgatorium reservant. - Unwissend und schlecht handeln diejenigen Priester, die den Sterbenden kirchliche Bußen für das Fegefeuer aufsparen. - Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory.
21. Errant itaque indulgentiarum predicatres ii, qui dicunt per pape indulgentias hominem ab omni pena solvi et salvari. - Deshalb irren jene Ablaßprediger, die sagen, daß durch die Ablässe des Papstes der Mensch von jeder Strafe frei und los werde. - Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.
36. Quilibet christianus vere compunctus habet remissionem plenariam a pena et culpa etiam sine literis veniarum sibi debitam. - Jeder Christ, der wirklich bereut, hat Anspruch auf völligen Erlaß von Strafe und Schuld, auch ohne Ablaßbrief. - Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgenceletters.
41. Caute sunt venie apostolice predicande, ne polulus false intelligat eas preferri ceteris bonis operibus charitatis. - Nur mit Vorsicht darf der apostolische Ablaß gepredigt werden, damit das Volk nicht fälschlicherweise meint, er sei anderen guten Werken der Liebe vorzuziehen. - Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.
62. Verus thesaurus ecclesie est sacrosanctum euangelium glorie et gratie dei. - Der wahre Schatz der Kirche ist das allerheiligste Evangelium von der Herrlichkeit und Gnade Gottes. - The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.

According to the legend he posted his theses at the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on the 31st October 1517. Although historians are today not sure if he really posted them, Martin Luther for sure sent his Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum to Albert of Brandenburg with aim to start a academic disputation about the sale of indulgences. It is also known for sure that after the Archbishop did not answered the letter, Luther gave the theses to some friends, who published them unknown to Luther and thus started a public disputation in the whole Empire. No matter if Martin Luther posted them at the doors of the Castle Church or just sent them to Albert of Brandenburg, the "Thesenanschlag" became a foundation myth of the Reformation. On the other side, although he did not answered, Albrecht von Brandenburg had read Luther's letter, but instead of accepting the criticism, he started an ecclesiastical trial against Luther and sent the issue to Rome.

After the Ninety-five Theses were publicised, Martin Luther's life would never be the same again. The monk and professor was then talked of by everyone. During the Heidelberg Disputation, that was held on 25th April 1518, he was able to articulate his views and to defend his theses for the first time. Among the listeners were Johannes Brenz, Martin Bucer and Philip Melanchthon, who later became important supporters of Luther.

In June 1518 Luther was summoned to Rome, as he was accused of heresy, but with the help of Elector Frederick the Wise he was able to move the trial from Rome to Augsburg. During the Diet of Augsburg (12th to 14th October 1518) Luther was interrogated by Cardinal Thomas Cajetan. Luther refused to revoke his theses if there would not be an evidence for their falseness in the Bible. Cajetan rated this as heresy and to escape the threatening arrest Luther fled from Augsburg.

In the meantime Johann Eck prepared theses for a debate with Andreas Karlstadt and Philip Melanchthon, friends and supporters of Luther. The theses were clearly against Luther and so Luther decided to join the Leipzig Debate himself in July 1519. Eck's debating skills led Luther to declare that the Pope does not have power, as he is not mentioned in the Bible, and that also Councils can be wrong (meant was the one in Constance).

In 1520 Martin Luther published his important works To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church and On the Freedom of a Christian. These works can be summarised by the four "soli": sola gratia (only the grace of God), sola fide (only the faith), sola scriptura (only the Bible), solus Christus (only Jesus the Christ).

The Leipzig Debate led Pope Leo X to censor Luther and threaten him with excommunication from the Catholic Church in June 1520 with the papal bull Exsurge Domine, which banned Luther's views from being preached or written. As Luther burned this papal bull on 10th December 1520, Pope Leo X issued the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem on 3rd January 1521, which excommunicated Martin Luther.

Owing to Frederick the Wise Martin Luther was allowed to articulate and defend his views once again during the Diet of Worms on 17th April 1521, where he was interrogated and requested to revoke his theses. He refused and answered with his famous, but undocumented, sentence: "Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me. Amen." The Edict of Worms declared Luther to be an obstinate heretic and banned the reading or possession of his writings. Luther was declared an outlaw, but Emperor Charles V still kept the promise of safe-conduct which he had given Frederick the Wise. On his way home Martin Luther was "abducted" by Frederick's soldiers on 4th May 1521 and was brought to the safe Wartburg Castle.

At Wartburg Castle Martin Luther lived as Junker Jörg and translated the New Testament into German in only eleven weeks. It was the first German bible translation that was understandable for the most people and had a large impact on the German language. Due to riots and the radicalisation of the Reformation under Karlstadt, Martin Luther returned to Wittenberg on 1st March 1522. After just one week quiet set in again.

Sparked by social hardship and grievances in the ruling classes and inspired by the Reformation and especially Martin Luther's On the Freedom of a Christian, the German peasants started to revolt against their landlords in 1524. Despite the strong reference to the Reformation, Luther, Melanchthon and other reformers condemned the behaviour of the peasants and supported the ruling princes. A reformer who supported the peasants was Thomas Müntzer. At the beginning Müntzer was a dedicated supporter and admirer of Martin Luther, but compared to Luther Müntzer was more radical and the German Peasants' War resulted in a final dissociation of the two. As part of the war the peasants assembled in "Bauernhaufen" in many parts of the German Empire and started the fight. In March 1525 the Twelve Articles were worked out by the peasants in Memmingen. They included the peasants' demands and are considered to be the first draft of human rights and civil liberties in Europe. As the peasants were poorly armed, the princes did not have big problems in defeating them and the Twelve Articles were not accepted. The Battle of Frankenhausen, fought in Thuringia on 15 May 1525, was the largest and final battle of the German Peasants' War. Thomas Müntzer was arrested after the battle and later executed. Until September 1525 the fighting ended. Up to 100000 peasants lost their lives and none of their goals was achieved.

The German Peasants' War was of great importance to the conception
of history in East Germany describing it as the greatest
revolutionary attempt in the German history.

A view of Memmingen

The next important event of the Lutheran Reformation was the Diet of Speyer in 1526. Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, who presided the diet instead of his brother Emperor Charles V, wanted to postpone any final decisions on religion until the meeting of a general council and planned a concentration on the threatening invasion of the Turks. The princes, however, managed to negotiate some very different conclusions to the diet. The diet's ambiguous edict resulted in a temporary suspension of the Edict of Worms and aided the expansion of Protestantism. After the diet separate state churches in the Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire were established.

Another diet was held in Speyer in 1529. Ferdinand I, who once again presided the diet, condemned the way many princes had interpreted the edict issued in 1526 and restored the Edict of Worms. The Lutheran members of the Diet, six princes and representatives of 14 Imperial Free Cities, entered a protest and refused any military support against the Turks. Their action created the term Protestantism.

Charles V had then called on the Princes and Free Territories in Germany to explain their religious convictions in an attempt to restore the religious and political unity in the Holy Roman Empire and rally support against the Turkish invasion. The protestants subsequently presented the Confessio Augustana to the Emperor at the Diet of Augsburg on 25 June 1530. The Emperor clearly rejected the statements of the Confessio Augustana and answered with the Confutatio Augustana written by Johann Eck. As a consequence he confirmed the Edict of Worms. The Confessio Augustana, written by Philipp Melanchthon, is today the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Lutheran Reformation. As Luther was still under the Imperial Ban, he had to stay at the Veste Coburg and was not able to take part in presentation of the Confessio Augustana.

After Charles V rejected the Confessio Augustana, there were discussions among the Protestant Princes and Imperial Cities of the Holy Roman Empire if they should form an alliance against the Emperor. On 22nd December 1530 Elector Johann of Saxony invited representatives of the Protestant territories to Schmalkalden and on 27th February 1531 they founded the Schmalkaldic League, a defensive military alliance with the obligation of support in the case of a Catholic attack. The founding members included Saxony, Hesse, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Strasbourg and Ulm. In the following time more cities and territories joined the league and it became an important factor of power. At the beginning Charles V was not able to take action against the alliance, as he needed the support of all Princes in the war against the Turks, but in the early 1540s differences between the members of the Schmalkaldic League became more difficult to settle and it was effectively petrified.

Before the Schmalkaldic League got its big appearance, two other events in 1534 and 1545 attracted the attention of the contemporaries: the Anabaptists' Rebellion in Münster and the Council of Trent.

From the beginning of the Reformation there have been conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Münster. Starting in 1531 the guilds of the craftsmen began to support Münster's evangelical movement under Bernd Rothmann and formed a committee which had big influence on the politics of the city. As the city had not joined the Confessio Augustana in 1530, it was isolated from the other Protestant cities and states, but due to the weakness of the territorial lord (the Prince-Bishop of Münster) the movement was able to thrive. Soon after Rothmann joined the Anabaptism and became more radical. The new Prince-Bishop, Franz von Waldeck, sanctioned the city, but the conflict escalated and had to be mediated by Philip of Hesse. In the following time Münster became a centre for emigrating Protestants and Anabaptists from the Netherlands. In January 1534 the young Anabaptist John of Leiden moved to Münster and at that time also the Credobaptism began. But as Credobaptism was against the imperial law, Franz von Waldeck had another chance to take action against Münster. In February 1534 Jan Matthys, a charismatic Anabaptist leader, reached Münster and radically started to convert the political structures of Münster as his New Jerusalem. Matthys expected the apocalypse and the appearance of Jesus Christ in Münster at Easter 1534. At the time Franz von Waldeck also started his siege of the city. As Jesus Christ did not appeared, Matthys went outside of Münster's walls, where he was killed. John of Leiden became the new even more radical leader of the rebellion. He introduced the Polygyny and executed many death sentences. Due to the siege and the radicalisation the support for the rebellion in the population decreased. Meanwhile Franz von Waldeck's siege was supported by other princes, both Catholics and Protestants. On 24th June 1535 Münster was finally captured and the rebellion ended with a bloodbath. 

John of Leiden and two other leaders of the rebellion were imprisoned. In 1536 their corpses were exhibited in cages at the Saint Lambert's Church in Münster, after they had been tortured and executed in front of it. The iron cages can be still seen today.

Prinzipalmarkt and Saint Lambert's Church in Münster

Emergency Money issued in Münster after World War I
showing John of Leiden

The Council of Trent was held between 1545 and 1563. It marks the beginning of the Counter-Reformation and led to various reforms such as the foundation of seminaries for the proper training of priests and the foundation of new spiritual movements, but its main aims were the repression of the Protestantism and the Recatholisation of Protestant territories. The Counter-Reformation was one of the factors that later would lead to the Thirty Years' War.

On 10th July 1546, after Charles V had assured himself the neutrality of the other European powers and the support of the Pope, the Schmalkaldic War began. At the beginning the war was fought in Southern Germany, but it was later shifted to Central Germany. After the capture of Elector John Frederick I of Saxony and Philip of Hesse and the victory of Charles V in the Battle of Mühlberg on 24th April 1547, the Schmalkaldic War was over and the Schmalkaldic League was dissolved. In May 1548 Charles V ordered the Augsburg Interim, which forced Protestants to readopt traditional Catholic beliefs and practices, but also allowed some Protestant practices like the right to marry for clergyman.

This is not a postcard, but a picture from the Internet.

Both Catholics and Protestants were unsatisfied with the Interim. In January 1552 Maurice of Saxony, one of Charles V's most important supporters in the Schmalkaldic War, formed an alliance with other Princes and the French King and forced Charles V to retreat to Austria. In August 1552 Charles V guaranteed Lutheran religious freedoms in the Peace of Passau and cancelled the Augsburg Interim. The Peace of Passau effectively surrendered Charles V's lifelong quest for European religious unity. The religious freedoms were assured with the Peace of Augsburg on 25th September 1555. It officially ended the religious struggle between the Catholics and Lutherans and made the legal division of Christendom permanent within the Holy Roman Empire, allowing rulers to choose either Lutheranism or Roman Catholicism as the official confession of their state (Cuius regio, eius religio). After the Peace of Augsburg followed one of the longest periods of peace in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia)

Maria Theresa was born on 13th May 1717 as second child of Emperor Charles VI. Her older brother was born in 1716, but died in the same year. Already in 1713 Charles VI had issued the Pragmatic Sanction to ensure that the Habsburg hereditary possessions could be inherited by a daughter. Nevertheless Maria Theresa was not prepared to be a ruler and only got the normal education of a female royal. In 1736 she married Francis Stephen and together they had 16 children. Her father died in 1740 without a male successor and so Maria Theresa became the new ruler of the Habsburg dominions. Although the Pragmatic Sanction was recognised by the other European powers during the life of Charles VI, many of them raised claims to parts of the Habsburg Empire. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) Maria Theresa, backed by Great Britain and the Netherlands, was able to defend her title against Bavaria, France, Prussia, Saxony and Spain. In the contemporaneous First and Second Silesian Wars she lost Silesia to Frederick II of Prussia, her greatest rival for most of her reign. She also lost territories in Italy to Spain. In 1745 her husband became Holy Roman Emperor. Still on war she started to reform the Habsburg Empire. One of the major changes was the abolition of the estatist government in favour of centralism and absolutism. She also reformed the state finances, the army, the judicial system, the education and the economy. After Prussia had formed an alliance with Great Britain, Maria Theresa brought forward alliances with France and Russia. This became known as Diplomatic Revolution. In the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) Maria Theresa tried to regain Silesia, but failed. In the First Partition of Poland in 1772 she acquired Galicia for the Habsburg Empire. The death of Francis Stephen in 1765 was very hard for her. Their son Joseph became new Holy Roman Emperor and co-regent of Maria Theresa, although their relationship was conflictual. Maria Theresa died on 29th November 1780. She was the last sovereign and only female ruler of the House of Habsburg. Furthermore she is considered to be one of the most important rulers of the era of Enlightened Absolutism, although she was still characterised by Catholicism and the Baroque tradition.

To commemorate the 300th birthday of Maria Theresa in 2017 a joint issue of souvenir sheets was issued by Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia and Ukraine. The Czech Republic also issued a single stamp about her.

Francis Stephen was born in 1708 as fourth son of Duke Leopold of Lorraine. In 1723 he met Charles VI for the first time and in 1724 he moved to Vienna. In 1729 his father died and he became Duke of Lorraine. As Charles VI supported the marriage of Maria Theresa and Francis Stephen, Francis Stephen was convinced to assign the Duchy of Lorraine. As Maria Theresa was very likely to inherit the Habsburg Empire from her father, a husband without considerable political power was necessary for her to preserve the equilibrium of the European powers. Francis Stephen and Maria Theresa married in 1736. Despite the politics behind their marriage it was also a love match. In 1737 he got the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as compensation for Lorraine and in 1745 he became Holy Roman Emperor as Francis I. He was in charge of the financial affairs of the new House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which he managed well until his death. The House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which Francis Stephen and Maria Theresa founded, ruled until 1918. As he was not fully stretched as Holy Roman Emperor and co-regent of his wife, he had much time to spend on his personal interests, the natural sciences and his collections of coins and minerals. Francis Stephen died in 1765.

The Schönbrunn Palace was built between 1638 and 1643. From 1743 it was enlarged and rebuilt in the Baroque style at the behest of Maria Theresa. Until 1918 it was the residence of the Austrian Emperor. Today it is one of the most visited sights in Austria. Since 1996 are Palace and Park of Schönbrunn on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Imperial Palace of Innsbruck is a former Habsburg residence. Its construction started in the 15th century. Between 1754 and 1773 the palace was transformed and renovated in the Baroque style at the behest of Maria Theresa. In 1765 the wedding of Maria Theresa's son Leopold was celebrated in Innsbruck and during the celebrations Francis Stephen died. Afterwards Maria Theresa decided to turn the Imperial Palace into a memorial site and representational building in honour of her husband. Today it is considered to be one of the most significant cultural buildings in Austria.

Schloss Hof was purchased by Prince Eugen in 1726 and he left it to a niece in his will. Maria Theresa bought it in 1755. In 1766 Maria Christina, the favourite daughter of Maria Theresa, married in the palace.

For the 300th birthday of Maria Theresa a big four-part special exhibition is shown in Austria. One of the venues is Schloss Hof.

The Laufmaschine of Karl Drais (Germany, Switzerland)

Karl Drais was born in 1785. He was a member of an influential family and his godfather was Grand Duke Karl-Friedrich of Baden. Actually he had a job in forest administration, but in 1811 he went off duty from active service to concentrate on inventions while still continuing to collect his salary. The most famous invention of Drais is the Laufmaschine or Draisine, the earliest form of the bicycle. His first reported ride took place in Mannheim on 12th June 1817. Although being of noble birth he was a fervent liberal and supported a revolution in Baden. During the Baden Revolution in 1848 he even gave up his title of Baron. After the revolution collapsed, he was in a very bad position and his pension was confiscated. Karl Drais died penniless in 1851 in Karlsruhe.

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Laufmaschine in 2017 special stamps were issued in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Croatian Post), Germany and Switzerland. 

The Meiji Period (Japan, Russia)

The era of Emperor Meiji from 1868 to 1912 became known as Meiji Period. During the Meiji Period Japan underwent major changes in its social structure, internal politics, economy, military and foreign relations. Japan changed from an isolated feudal state to a modern great power. Important events during the Meiji Period were the restoration of the practical imperial rule, the abolition of the feudal order, the introduction of the compulsory education, the abolition of the treaty ports, the industrialisation, the constitution of 1889, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and the expansion of Japan to Korea, the Okinawa Islands, southern Sakhalin and Taiwan. The Meiji Period was followed by the Taisho Period.

The Tomioka Silk Mill was established in 1872 by the Japanese Government with machines from France. It marks Japan's entry into the modern and industrialised era and also illustrates Japan's desire to quickly start a mass production of silk. Since 2014 is the Tomioka Silk Mill with its Related Sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution are since 2015 on the UNESCO World Heritage List. They bear testimony to the rapid industrialisation of the country during the Meiji Period, through the development of the iron and steel industry, shipbuilding and coal mining. In this period Japan sought technology transfer from Europe and America and adapted this technology to the country’s needs and social traditions. Japan is considered to be the first country where the transfer of Western industrialisation to a non-Western nation was successful.

The Glover's Residence was built by the Scottish merchant Thomas Blake Glover. It is the oldest Western style house surviving in Japan and known as setting of the opera Madama Butterfly.

Not everyone in Japan was pleased with the direction the nation had taken. The Saga Rebellion was an uprising of former samurais in Kyushu in 1874 against the Meiji Government, which was led by Etō Shimpei and Shima Yoshitake. It ended with a victory of the government and an end of the rebellion. The issues which led to the uprising remained unresolved.

The Saga Castle was burned down during the Saga Rebellion and was rebuilt between 2001 and 2004. It is the largest wooden castle reconstruction in Japan and was listed as one of the 100 Fine Castles of Japan. It houses the Saga Castle History Museum.

The Ryukyu Kingdom was an independent kingdom on the Okinawa Islands in East Asia. It was founded in the 15th century and soon played an important role in maritime trade. It was in a tributary relationship with China. Already since 1609 it was a Japanese vassal and in 1879 the kingdom was officially annexed by Japan. Today the Okinawa Islands form the Japanese Prefecture of Okinawa.

The Shuri Castle is a gusuku, a Ryukyuan castle, and was the royal palace and capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. In the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 it was almost completely destroyed, but beginning in 1992 it was rebuilt involving photographs, historical records and memory. Since 2000 it is together with the other Gusuku Sites and the Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Russo-Japanese War was fought between February 1904 and September 1905. It started because of rival urges of territorial expansion of the Russian Empire and Japan in Manchuria and Korea. During the war Japan demonstrated its power in various won battles and thus surprised international observers. The war ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth, which was mediated by the USA. Japan gained the territory leased by Russia in China and the southern half of Sakhalin, Russia left Manchuria and Korea remained in the Japanese sphere of influence. It was the first important victory of an Asian power over an European great power for centuries.

Monument of Vsevolod Rudnev, a Russian naval officer during the war

Conquering the Alps on Trains (Austria, Germany, Switzerland)

The Semmering Railway was built between 1848 and 1854 under Carl von Ghega and is the first mountain railway in Europe built with a standard gauge track. On the 41km long line there are 14 tunnels, 16 viaducts and more than 100 bridges. Today it is still in use as part of the Southern Railway of the Austrian Federal Railways. Since 1998 is the Semmering Railway on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Brenner Railway was opened in 1867, 150 years ago. It was built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and crosses the Brenner Pass. Although it has insufficient capacity and the travel speed is low, it is still considered to be a fundamental railway.

The Rhaetian Railway is a railway operator in the Swiss Canton of Graubünden and the largest private railway operator in Switzerland. It features an impressive set of structures, which were all built in perfect harmony with the landscapes through which they pass. Its construction had a major and lasting socio-economic impact on life in the mountains. The Rhaetian Railway in the Albula and Bernina Landscapes is since 2008 on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Landwasser Viaduct - built between 1901 and 1902, signature structure of
the Albula Railway

Brusio Spiral Viaduct - in use since 1908, signature structure of the Bernina Railway

The Mittenwald Railway connects Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria with Innsbruck in Tyrol. It was built as an electric local railway from 1910 to 1912 and had a substantial impact on the development of standards for electric railway operations in Central Europe. When it was opened in 1912 it was operated jointly by the Austrian Federal Railways and the Royal Bavarian State Railways.

The Other Reformations (Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom)

The Reformation-themed posts on this Blog were until now focused on the person and the ideas of Martin Luther and his supporters, but he was neither the first one nor the last one whose ideas and doings reformed. This post is about the other Reformations.

Jan Hus (1372-1415) is considered to be the first church reformer. His teachings had a strong influence on the states of Western Europe and on Martin Luther. During the Council of Constance he was burned at the stake for heresy. After his death the followers of his religious teachings, the Hussites, rebelled against their Roman Catholic rulers and defeated five consecutive papal crusades during the the Hussite Wars between 1420 and 1431.

Hus Memorial in Prague

Huldrych Zwingli was born in 1484 in the Canton of St Gall in Switzerland. He later studied theology in Vienna and Basel and became pastor. Around 1514 he first encountered the humanist writings of Erasmus of Rotterdam and started to search a deeper approach to the New Testament. In 1522 he wrote a paper against the Lent, which marked the beginning of his conflict with the Church. In 1523 the city council of Zürich organised two disputations and at the end the Reformation according to Zwingli was introduced. The doctrine of Zwingli has many similarities with the one of Luther. The main differences are the missing distinction of secular and religious power and the Real Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper. Zwingli's Reformation spread in northern Switzerland and southwest Germany. When Zwingli tried to introduce the Reformation to other parts of Switzerland, a war between Zürich and other Catholic Cantons began. Huldrych Zwingli died during the Battle of Kappel in 1531 and the Reformation in Switzerland came to a standstill for the moment.

This is not a postcard, but a picture from the Internet.

The Church of England was separated from Rome by King Henry VIII in 1534. Although a theological separation had been foreshadowed by various movements within the English Church, the main reason became the monarch himself, although he was actually theologically opposed to Protestantism. Henry's motive was that Pope Clement VII refused the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. So Henry took the position of Supreme Head of the Church of England to ensure the annulment and was later excommunicated by Pope Paul III. Between 1536 and 1540 Henry VIII engaged in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Henry maintained a strong preference for traditional Catholic practises and just under his son, King Edward VI, more Protestant-influenced forms of worship were adopted. Queen Mary I, who succeeded Edward, returned England again to the authority of the papacy for a short time, thereby ending the first attempt at an independent Church of England. The Elizabethan Settlement from 1558 developed the middle way character of the Church of England, a church moderately Reformed in doctrine and also emphasising continuity with the Catholic and Apostolic traditions of the Church Fathers.

The Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Church of England. It was built in the 11th century and is considered to be a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. In 1170 Thomas Becket had been murdered in the cathedral, starting a constant flow of pilgrims. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer tell the story of such a pilgrimage in the 14th century. Since 1988 is the Canterbury Cathedral on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Johannes Calvin was born in 1509 in northern France and later studied law and theology. After he acknowledged the Reformation in 1533, he had to leave France. In Basel in 1535 he finished his main work, Institutio Christianae Religionis. Between autumn 1535 and 1538 and again from 1540 onwards he lived in Geneva, where he established a community according to his ideas. In 1541 the city council of Geneva accepted a church order written by Calvin. Together with Luther he is considered to be one of the most important figures of the Reformation. The Calvinism spread to many parts of Europe including France (Huguenots), Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and Scotland. Johannes Calvin died in 1564.