Luther and the German Nation - A Revision of the Great Narrative

Abstract

Great narratives were and continue to be one of key elements of the cultural process of nation- -building and are thus also closely linked with the formation of national states. The article presents the German case, in which the narra- tive about Luther and the Reformation move- ment operates as the cornerstone of Germanity and the German state. The narrative’s effects will be analysed and presented on the basis of two cases; finally, attention will be paid to the narrative’s ongoing operation in the jubilee year 2017, which marked the quincentenary of the beginning of the Reformation.