“I shall cling to Christ as a burr clings to a coat!”
Katherine Von Bora Luther was born on January 29, 1499 in Hirschfeld (near Meissen, Saxony), the daughter of an impoverished noble. Her life and death are a great inspiration to me, although I can’t claim to have many of her characteristics. Besides fully managing a large and busy household, she was a very educated woman and was a great comfort to her husband. Most striking to me are her last words which clearly illustrate the reason for her joy: “I shall cling to Christ as a burr clings to a coat.” Below is a collection of biographies of the life of Katie Luther.
Written by Gaylin Schmeling and featured in Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary’s Lutheran Synod Quarterly
Katherine von Bora is the best known woman of the Reformation because she was Luther’s wife. While Katherine has been eclipsed in history by the great fame of her husband, she was far from a wallflower. She was a rock of support at her husband’s side throughout their married life.
Katherine was born in January of 1499, and at the age of ten she was placed in the nunnery at Nimschen near Grimma when her father remarried.
In the 1520s the writings of Luther began to infiltrate the nunnery. The message of salvation through faith alone in Christ brought comfort and peace to the sisters’ hearts. A number of them turned to Luther for advice and he counseled escape, which was shortly accomplished. On April 7, 1523, Katherine and the other sisters reached Wittenberg. Luther felt responsible for finding suitable mates for the former nuns and managed for the most part, but this was not the case in Katherine’s situation. This may be due to the fact that she had her eye on Luther. In any event Luther and Katie were married in June of 1525. Their relationship probably was not the most romantic at the start, yet years later Luther would declare, “I would not exchange Katie for France or Venice, because God has given her to me, and other women have worse faults.”
With this marriage the Black Cloister of Wittenberg became the first Lutheran parsonage. With marriage came also an entirely different lifestyle for Luther. Katherine brought order out of chaos at the Black Cloister. Not only did she provide a clean house and a made bed, which were an unknown luxury for the unmarried Luther, but she also brought about financial responsibility. She kept Luther from giving away everything they had and she put the household on a budget. Katherine helped support the household by managing a farm and a brewery. It was not long before Martin and Katherine had still more responsibility. Within eight years they became the parents of six children. Three sons and three daughters were born to this union. They also raised a number of orphaned relatives.
Katherine was a faithful wife to Luther. In times of sickness she was his compassionate nurse. In Lutherís dark periods burdened down by the struggles of life, Katie was able to comfort him with that same long hidden Gospel treasure that God through Luther had restored to the world. Katie was indeed Luther’s faithful rib. Katherine saw the death of her beloved husband in 1546 and outlived him by six years. In the summer of 1552 the plague broke out in Wittenberg. By fall Katie decided they had to leave. On the way the horses became frightened and bolted. Katie jumped from the wagon and was seriously injured. For months she lay suffering and finally died in the Lord on December 20, 1552.
One of the greatest legacies the church has received from the marriage of Martin and Katherine Luther is the Lutheran parsonage. The Luther home became the example for future Lutheran parsonages and Lutheran homes in general. The Luther house was given to hospitality. It was filled with children, students, and relatives. There was always a place for those in need. It was a place of culture and music and of joy and happiness.
This heritage continued even in the Lutheran Church in America. The early Lutheran parsonages were shelters for the needy, inns for travelers, and centers of culture. Frontier parsonages such as the home of Elisabeth and Ulrik Koren were a great blessing to the Lutheran Church. May the Lutheran home and parsonage always be a place of hospitality. This is the legacy of Katie Luther, the first lady of the Reformation.
CATHERINE VON BORA was only eighteen at the time Martin Luther issued his now famous 95 theses from Wittenburg. She had lived in a convent since she was three; her father had taken her there after her mother’s death. Catherine and several of the other nuns at the cloister heard of Luther’s Biblical teaching. Once they believed the principles Luther taught, they wanted to leave the cloisters. When Luther heard of this, he encouraged a merchant friend to help them escape.
Merchant Kopp often delivered herring to the convent, and one evening in 1523, he bundled twelve nuns into his wagon in the empty fish barrels! Several of the nuns returned to their families; Luther helped find homes, husbands, or positions for the rest.
Within two years after their escape, all the nuns had been provided for except one–Catherine. Gradually, through the persuasion of friends and his father, Luther proposed to marry Katie himself.
Luther had been given the building of the Augustinian monastery at Wittenburg by the Elector, and into the monastery Katie moved after her marriage in 1525. She cleaned up the monastery and brought some order to Luther’s daily life. Luther wrote a friend, “There is a lot to get used to in the first year of marriage. One wakes up in the morning and finds a pair of pigtails on the pillow which were not there before.” After a year of marriage Luther wrote another friend, “My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my poverty for the riches of Croesus.” Luther, the former celibate monk, now exalted marriage, exclaiming, “There is no bond on earth so sweet, nor any separation so bitter, as that which occurs in a good marriage.”
Katie managed the finances of the family and helped free Luther’s mind for his work of writing, teaching, and ministering. Luther called her the “morning star of Wittenberg” since she rose at 4 a.m. to care for her many responsibilities. She made the beer, Luther’s favorite brew, for the household and guests. She took care of the vegetable garden, orchard, fishpond, and barnyard animals, even to the butchering of them herself. Often there were as many as 30 students, guests, or boarders staying in the monastery, all of whom came under Katie’s care. Luther was often ill, and Katie was able to minister to him in his illnesses because of her great medical skill. Katie’s life was not just concerned with the physical, however. Martin encouraged his Katie in her Bible study and suggested particular passages for her to memorize.
In time the Luthers had six children and also raised four orphan children; the family became a model for German families for several centuries. Luther viewed marriage as a school for character. Family life helped train Christians in the virtues of fortitude, patience, charity, and humility.
After Martin’s death in 1546, Katie lived six years. She lived to see her children, except Magdalena who had died young, achieve positions of influence.
Source: Christian History Institute
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