16 th Century Life: A life dominated by the union of… Churchand State Cologne Cathedral Tower from 12 th century

symbolized by Cathedrals and Castles

Church State

Bacharach, Germany

St. James Cathedral Innsbruck, Austria

chancel ceiling pipe organ

Strasbourg Cathedral Rosetta Window

Church and State Thun CastleSt. Gallen’s

Church tower at Ulm (786 steps) Cathedrals and Castles Steinsburg Castle

Paid for by Taxe$ and Tithe$ Alcase region of France

“If I had been a peasant in the 16 th century I think I too might have joined the “Peasant’s War” or become an Anabaptist.” Pallatinate in southern Germany

The Swiss Anabaptist Movement Swiss Alps

…started in the city of Zurich, Switzerland Limmat River, Zurich

The city of Reformer Ulrich Zwingli (Note that he is holding both Sword and Bible)

In the Grossmunster (Large Church)

…Zwingli led a Bible study with a group of young radicals

One of them was Conrad Grebel who lived in this house 

January 21, 1525 Grebel baptizes George Blaurock in the upper room of this house… …and a movement is born

The consequences… Blaurock is driven out of town … Grebel and others are imprisoned

Felix Manz is drowned In the Limmat River

…becoming the first Anabaptist martyr

Those who remained fled to the hills

…where they worshiped in secret caves

Despite and because of persecution the movement spread to the Alsace region of France, The Palatinate of Germany, Austria and Moravia, and eventually to North America. Alsace Palatinate Austria

The German / Austrian Anabaptist Movement Achenpas, view from Germany to Austria

The very same day that Conrad Grebel was baptizing in Zurich, another young man, Hans Denck, was being kicked out of the town of Nuremberg in southern Germany for similar radical ideas… “No one can truly know Christ unless they follow him in life.”

“The more beautiful the countryside the harsher the persecution.” -John Sharp Austrian Alps Conrad Grebel, Hans Denck and many other early Anabaptist leaders were dead before they reached the age of 30.

Marpeck was a prominent citizen when he became an Anabaptist. At one point about 2/3 of the people in the Inn Valley were Anabaptist, but in 1528 there was a crackdown and numerous executions. Pilgram Marpeck disappeared. Inn River

Marpeck later reappeared in Strasbourg and then Augsurg, continuing his Anabaptist leadership as well as civic leadership. Ruins above Rattenberg

60+ Anabaptists were martyred in Rattenberg

Helena of Freyburg was another prominent German Anabaptist who hosted a church in a Castle.

Jakob Hutter was executed in the castle of Emperor Maximilian I, now a trendy and thriving public market in Innsbruck, Austria

The market square Inside the castle… The plaque in his memory

The tower where… Jakob Hutter was imprisoned

The execution site (note plaque below) 

The “Golden Roof” of the emperor’s veranda where he and his attendants could watch festivities, including executions.

Although the Hutterites grew to 20,000+ by the end of the 16 th century, persecution was so severe and effective in this area that virtually all Anabaptists were eliminated. Only about a dozen followers of Jakob Hutter remained at the end of the 17 th century.

The Dutch Anabaptist Movement

Anabaptism came to the Netherlands later than to Switzerland and Germany, but it found a fertile soil. Rural countryside in Friesland

At the time, Menno Simons was a priest in the town of Pingjum…

and later in nearby Witmarsum, his home town.

Some distance away in the City of Munster…

…the Anabaptist Movement was going horribly awry. Some leaders who thought themselves prophets and kings called on followers to take up arms (and wives) in preparation for the End Times. A sculpture in Munster: (Note: apocalyptic images, a walled Munster and tools of violence.

The same sculpture with the “Apocalypse” under his left arm… Perhaps contemplating the horrors of apocalyptic violence.

It was not long and the powers of church and state put down the revolution as violently as it arose. St. Paul’s CathedralHall of Westphalia

The 3 main leaders were executed and their remains hung from the tower of St. Lambert’s Cathedral in 3 cages which hang there to this day.

The day I visited Munster and saw the cages, my tears mixed with the rain as I wept for the cycle of violence which was perpetuated on that day in the name of Christ.

Jesus absorbed and abolished violence centuries earlier The same sculpture as seen earlier

The example of Christ and the events of Munster so impacted Menno Simons that he left the comfort of the priesthood and became an Anabaptist leader. At the Menno Simons monument near Witmarsum where he apparently preached his first evangelical sermon

Menno’s Motto on his monument

The “Hidden Church” at Pingjum As a leader of the Anabaptists, Menno was constantly on the run, often preaching and worshiping in secret.

Painting (Circa 1824) Hanging in Witmarsum Meetinghouse Dutch Anabaptists became known as Mennists or Mennonites. Persecution and migration caused them to scatter along the coast to northern Germany and Prussia [Poland] with the majority eventually migrating to Russia [Ukraine] at the invitation of the czar in Most of the Mennonites from there found their way to North or South America beginning in the 1870’s and especially following the Bolshevik Revolution and the great wars in Germany and eastern Europe in the 20 th century.

If the Anabaptist movement had an icon it might be this picture and this story of Dirk Willems from Martyrs Mirror

Dirk Willems was captured as an Anabaptist and imprisoned in this church tower in Asperen, Netherlands.

He escaped and was crossing a pond of thin ice when his pursuer fell through. Instead of, “Hallelujah! God saved me!” he turned around to rescue his pursuer.

Of course his pursuer was grateful and wanted to save his life but the Magistrate would have none of it. He was later executed on this spot at the Leerdam River just outside Asperen in 1569.

How do we respond to our salvation? Stairs leading away from the site

Reflections on the Anabaptist Movement Today

What is it that sets people free? Entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau Concentration Camp is a few centuries away from the Anabaptist Movement but there are some related theological themes. As with Munster, here too was the deadly brew of “Christianity” mixed with exclusive and fervent nationalism. Yet the essence of the Anabaptist Movement was about a church free from the violent powers of the state.

“All the terrible things the Nazi’s did would have been impossible were it not for the silence, complicity and passivity of the state church in Germany at the time.” (John Sharp)

Sadly, it has happened again.

What about the peace witness of the church today?

Jesus brought peace… destroying the barriers and the dividing walls of hostility… His purpose was to create one new humanity… to reconcile all people to God through the cross. (Ephesians 2:14-16) A small sculpture in the Roman Catholic chapel at Dachau

Q Bench in The Hague at International Court of Justice and Peace Park May we be a witness to that peace today.

The Anabaptist Movement is now global with 1.9 million participants in 1000’s of churches in 70+ countries on 6 continents. Strasbourg, France, home of Mennonite World Conference offices