Ritualwandel und Deutungshoheit

Whereas the Reformation is a pivotal event in modern history, Wittenberg, its basis and center, was largely unexplored up to now. Attention has been paid only to the short period of the so-called »Wittenberg movement« during Luther's stay at the Wartburg which was, according to modern research, a period of radicalism and social unrest. In turn this view is however a construction of the Protestant culture of remembrance. Against this backdrop, Natalie Krentz answers the question of the Reformation's implementation in the city in a completely new way. She integrates the Reformation into previously unknown long-term social and political contexts of the city's history and understands it in methodological terms as a communicative process of negotiating power over religious issues.