Sabbatical with Pastor Curtis: More Luther Surprises in Frankfort

So, we left Frankfort yesterday and arrived in Buchararest, Romania. We were greeted by Pr. Andrew Fedder and his son Wesley at the airport. They helped us connect a taxi and sent us on our way to Hotel Central near Old Town Bucharest. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting oriented to the Romanian culture in Bucharest.

Backing up a day, we were surprised in Frankfort when we discovered that Luther had left his mark there as well. When he went to defend his teachings of the Bible in Worms, he passed through Frankfort. On his way to the Diet of Worms, Luther passed through Frankfort on Sunday, April 14, 1521. He spent the night at the Zum Straus Inn near the St. Nicolas Lutheran Church. He was greeted by many who believed in his understanding and teaching of the sciptures. Before he left Monday morning he went to visit the Latin school across from St. Nicolas. They say he blessed the children during his visit.

Another surprise! For centuries Frankfort has been know for having the world's largest book fair. This fair played a key role in distibuting Luther's writings near and far., including his tranlation of the Bible into German. That same Bible can be found in Frankfurt's "Buchgasse" (Book Lane) to this very day. Following the invention of the printing press with movable type by Johannes Guetenburg in 1450, Frankfurt become an important market for printing and selling books. Progressive regulations governing the book fair permitted Luther's publications to be printed and sold during the early years of the Reformation. Statistics show that during the book fair in 1520 alone, individual book dealers sold over 1,400 copies of Luther's writings. You have to remember that the majority of the population couldn't read or write, so this number is relatively large. The German Bible was actually used to teach people how to read.

Pictures are of St. Nicolas Lutheran Church and the Domer houses located in the same plaza. Also, a map of Luther's jouney from Eisenach to Worms and back.