Magyar Hírek, 1983 (36. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1983-07-23 / 14-15. szám
MARTIK LUTHER S TESTAMENT IN THE BUDAPEST LUTHERAN MUSEUM _ \ $A~ yiyrÁn ^ íU” M^rvpi ^>0 +^f( yfr'^&£§s*tf / Facsimile of the first lines of Martin Luther’s Testament The quincentenary of the birth of Martin Luther is celebrated all over the world this year. There will be scholarly functions, exhibitions, and various other celebrations in Hungary to commemorate the anniversary. A Luther Memorial Committee was formed in 1982 with the participation of clerical and lay personages. They will organize a Symposion to be held jointly with the Academy of Sciences on the occasion of the anniversary. The series of celebrations are given particular interest by the fact that the last will and testament of Martin Luther is the property of the Hungarian Lutheran Church. The original of the manuscript is in the National Archives of the Lutheran Church, while its facsimile copy is on view at the Lutheran National Museum, in Deák Square, Budapest. This is where I discussed the history of the testament with the Director of the museum, Dr. Tibor Fabiny, a professor of church history. When and how did 1/uther make his will? In Wittenberg, on the 6th January 1542. Luther had been frequently unwell, so he must have considered it was time to make his will. The contents are rather novel, they differ from the customary forms of wills at the time, and give a good insight into the peculiar circumstances of the age as well as into Luther’s personality. In his modern testament Luther achieved victory over the system of inheritance based on ancient Germanic codes which declared that only children could inherit. Luther made his wife, Katherina von Bora his sole heir, and guardian of his children, “I want”, he wrote, “that she should not be the one who had to curry favour with the children, but they with her, for children often are ungrateful.” Defying the custom of the time, Luther also declared himself in favour of equal rights for women by this. The will was made without a public notary, for Luther claimed that he was “nótárius Dei”, God’s notary. Instead of seven witnesses and seven seals, which was the custom of the day, the testament was witnessed by three of Luther’s closes collaborators, Melanchton, Cruciger, and Bugenhagen. What happened to the will later? Luther submitted the will to Mayor Hans Lufft on the 1st February 1544. He died on 18th February 1546. His widow applied to the Prince-Elector, John Frederick a few weeks after her husband’s death, and he gratiously affirmed and enforced it. After that the will was not seen or heard of for a while, and most likely was in the possession of the male line until the death of the last Luther, Martin Gottlob. The next date of record is 1706, when the eclesiastical counsellor of the Saxon Prince- Elector, Samuel Benedict Carpzow reported that the will was in his possession. And there it stayed with the Carpzow family for generations, until the last male member died in 1803, in Helmstedt. How did the document f ind its way to Hungary? The son-in-law of Carpzow, a certain Conrad Henke had the valuables of the family auctioned in Helmstedt on the 7th February 1804, incunabula as well as the last will and testament of Luther. A Hungarian Catholic artcollector, Miklós Jankovich bought these for forty gold pieces. When he subsequently returned to Hungary, he donated the testament and several letters with a deed of gift to the Lutheran Church in 1815. But the testament was left at the Jankóvich house for a good while, and was officially handed over only in 1845. It has been held ever since in a red velvet case, placed in an iron box, and that in a safe in the archives of the Church. There was a suggestion around 1870, that it might not he genuine. . . Yes. A false report published in a Vienna newspaper contributed to this doubt. The Church asked a committee of six members in 1878, to examine the authenticity of the document. The research work was still in progress, when an unfounded news item was published by the Vienna newspaper, Wiener Fremdenblatt in 1879, written by Karl Reuss, intimating that Luther’s original will was in Heidelberg, and that the document in Hungary was only a copy. The article shocked many, but the watermark of the paper, and the hand-writing of Luther in his advanced years gave unequivocal proof of the authenticity of the will. I have been told that “confidential” correspondence was conducted in the thirties, which lead right to the chancellery of the Nazi Reich... I have by the courtesy of the Wittenberg Lutherhalle come to possess the interesting correspondence initiated by a Vienna art-collector, Trenkwald in 1936. Trenkwald then called on the director of the Lutherhalle, Thulin, and asked him to try to persuade the Hungarian Lut heran Church to sell the document. He repeatedly made representations to Thulin about the Hungarian answer. When he saw that the case did not proceed with the speed he envisaged, he turned to his friend Roth, a counsellor at the German embassy, requesting him to intervene on his behalf with Hitler’s aide de camp, so that the ehancellary of the Reich should apply polit ical pressure on the Lutheran Church in order that the testament should be given out. Owing to the skill of Trenkwald, Professor Thulin was invited to the headquarters of the Führer in 1941 to discuss the matter. Thulin went to Budapest soon afterwards apparently trying to persuade the leaders of the Hungarian Lutheran Church. Baron Albert Radvánszky the lay head and Bishop Dr. Béla Kapi rejected the request in a diplomatically, but clearly worded letter, stating that the gift of deed by the donor, Jankovich did not permit the alienation of the document. The testament of Martin Luther has been recent - ly the subject of a book published by Corvina Pub lishers, Budapest, where the whole of the manu script was shown in facsimile. ILONA SZENT-IVÁNY HUNGARIAN CULTURE IN THE WORLD The motion picture The visit directed by László B. Révész about Edit Brack, the Hungarian born writer who lives in Italy attracted much interest, when it was first shown at the Hungarian Academy in Rome. Ms Edit Brack, who went to Italy after the Second World War, having survived deportation, and who is now a noted personality of the Italian literary life paid a visit to her native village in Hungary, where she met the friends of her childhood. The film, the work of László B. Révész records this moving event, the remembrance to the dead parents, relatives, and friends. Italian television now wishes to broadcast it. * The works of nine members of a Calgary (Canada) photographic Club were on display at a recent exhibition in Kecskemét. The Canadian photographers showed nearly 500 landscapes, report and genre photographs in one of the cultural clubs of this Great Plains city. * The Tokyo publishing house, Kavadeshobo Shinsa commissioned the Hungarian graphic artist, Lajos Kondor to illustrate a story-book by Sue Sumii, the Japanese writer. The picture-book on the adventures of “King Green Pepper” was recently published. * Works by five Hungarian painters were shown at the Lincoln Center the library building of Fordham University, New York. Three of the five painters — Bertalan Bodnár, Vilmos Paszternák, and Elemér Polonyi — have been living and working in the United States for some time. The other two, László Egyed and Tamás Lossonezy sent their works to New York from Budapest, being invited to take part by Erzsébet Soros, an American collector and an alumna of Fordham University. The exhibition was opened by the art historian, Árpád Mezei. * The Hungarian university theatrical group Universitas took part at the international theatrical festival in France, where French, Spanish, Brazilian, Polish, Czechoslovak, British and other national university ensembles performed their current productions. The Hungarian university students performed Dezső Kosztolányi’s Koffer (Suitcase) in an adaptation by Imre Katona. THE REAL HUNGARIAN GOULASH Goulash was originally the food of Hungarian herdsmen who cooked it in a billy. These days it is more likely to be made in a kitchen in a pot. First a large onion chopped small is browned in a tablespoon of fat - or two tablespoons of oil. A flattened tablespoon of paprika is added and 350 — 400 grammes of diced beef are stirred into it, promptly, lest the paprika go bitter. Shin of beef is most suitable but rump will do as well. Fry on a high flame for 1—2 minutes, then add just enough water to cover the meat. Cover with a lid and braise until the meat is half-tender. Salt and add a pinch of ground pepper, and ground carraway seeds as well as a small bay leaf. Add enough water to make up 2 liters. 400 grammes of peeled and diced potatoes are then added, as well as a green paprika pod and a tomato. Finally an egg is beaten with a pinch of salt and enough flour to make a stiff dough. The dough is formed into small balls, the csipetke and cooked in the soup until they surface. In many places not only potatoes but also cleaned and diced root vegetables are added, elsewhere garlic as well, and even a handful of chopped runner beans. It pays to try out all variants and then stick to the one the family likes best. (See also p. 51) ANGÉLA F. NAGY 55
