500 years of the (Counter)Reformation

While it wasn't clear from the start that the Bavarian dukes would categorically reject Luther's ideas and his criticism of the sale of indulgences and the veneration of saints, it's hard to ignore today: whether it's St. Michael's Church with its unique façade, brimming with rulers fighting for the Catholic faith; or the Frauenkirche with the precious reliquary of St. Benno; and of course the Marian Column, erected on Marienplatz during the Thirty Years' War, at whose base plump putti still fight against the four evils of humanity - including heresy, of course!

But from the very beginning, some citizens here also flirted with Luther's new teachings, secretly reading his pamphlets or singing his hymns together in the former Augustinian monastery—and in German, what a provocation! They were repeatedly punished for this or even forced to renounce their faith. Some even paid with their lives, and in large waves of emigration, Munich's Protestants left the city.

It was only a good 200 years ago that this Catholic monopoly was broken, when the Protestant Queen Caroline of the Palatinate came to Munich—naturally accompanied by her court, including her loyal cabinet preacher Ludwig Friedrich Schmidt. During the Enlightenment, he ensured that Luther's teachings finally took root in Munich almost 300 years after Luther posted his theses. But where did the first Protestants actually hold their services? Was bribery involved in the granting of citizenship to the first Protestant? And why did Queen Caroline's funeral end in scandal?

We want to clarify all these questions together, I'm looking forward to it!