Learn to Speak German - Lesson 053 - Martin Luther

Allen from Wisconsin asked me about a catholic version of the bible. Though I do not know about that his mail got me thinking about Luther. Luthers translation of the bible into German lead to one German "Hochdeutsch" from the many dialects. Maybe I should tell that to some of my Swiss friends, who still talk in dialect .-) Here is one famous quote from that time: "Wenn das Geld im Kasten klingt, die Seele aus dem Fegefeuer springt. " It means that on could by letters of absolution. Those made the church rich and Luther mad, so he started his famous "95 Thesen". I am not going into religious details about Luthers work, but will concentrate on his translation work here. Luther translated the new testament during his time on the Wartburg 1521-22 and later the old testament. By 1525 a third of those Germans that could read owned a copy of his bible. He used the "Ostmitteldeutsch" of his hometown. This became what is now known as "Hochdeutsch". Luther is famous for his "volksnahe Sprache" and "vulgäre Ausdrücke" like: "Aus einem glücklichen Arsch kommt ein fröhlicher Furz." "Ein Rausch ist zu ertragen, die Trunkenheit aber nicht." "Anstrengungen machen gesund und stark." Use this free podcast to learn to speak German. http://german-podcast.blogspot.com