The Impact Of Martin Luther And German Nationalism

In 2015 a new figurine from Playmobil sold 34,000 units in 72 hours, setting a new record in Germany. This toy was a 3-inch Martin Luther released for the 2017 celebration of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther’s relevance is strange since he was living in the early 16th century and his actions are long removed from the German Nation today. But because of his Church, his Bible and his political use, Martin Luther seems synonymous with German nationalism and specifically that of early 19th century Germany. During the Protestant reformation Martin Luther stood against the Catholic Church and began a new branch of the Christian faith. During his life he wrote many sermons, papers, and hymns, he also translated the Bible from Latin to High German that helped unify the various dialects of the German tongue. Through these works Martin Luther became the famous, and infamous, German known today. Luther’s importance to today’s Germans can be seen through how they are celebrating the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation: “Germany is paying tribute to one of its greatest sons with an …show more content…
Later in German history Luther was portrayed as both a positive and a negative impact on how Germany was at the time. Characteristics and actions of Luther were glorified to the point of becoming a poster boy for the German people, but then these same attributes were given as proof to the fall of Germany. Amílcar Barreto defined a heroes as “ordinary individuals who comprise a nationalist movement’s rank and file.” More importantly, Barreto points out that the heroes are “held up by nationalist leaders as models of exemplary citizenship that others should follow,” and that heroes are not usually naturally occurring, but a political