A theologian celebrates his 500th birthday on Wednesday: his name creates confusion
The streets are named after Chemnitz all over the world. This phrase sounds good, yes too good. If it were true, it would be balm for the afflicted souls of the inhabitants of this city, who do not see their homeland sufficiently appreciated, always in the shadow of the largest, most beautiful, most colorful ones.
Where’s “Chemnitz Court”, please?
The fact is that in Palmerston, a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the sparsely populated north of Australia, there is a street called Chemnitz. “Court of Chemnitz” to be exact. And if there are, then surely there are many other distant cities as well.
It does not mean the city, but an important man of the church
The bitter truth is that it could very well be that way. But also that this does not mean the city, but a theologian whose name was Martin Chemnitz and who was born on November 9 exactly 500 years ago in the Brandenburg city of Treuenbrietzen. He is considered an important second generation reformer. After Martin Luther’s death, several bitter conflicts broke out within the Lutheran camp over the direction of the Reformation. Martin Chemnitz tried to reconcile and unite the Lutheran camp. To this end, he still wrote important confessional texts in the Protestant Church today. In addition, he participated in the reform of territories and cities. He also played an important role in founding the University of Helmstedt, which soon developed into one of the leading Protestant schools of the early modern period. Contemporaries also saw Martin Chemnitz as the custodian of Luther’s theological legacy.
From the theologian to the judge and the way Down Under
The street in Australia is named after a judge who lived there from 1900 to 1960. But it was named after the theologian. The good news for everyone in Chemnitz: in the partner cities of Timbuktu and Mulhouse there are indeed streets named after the city of Chemnitz.
