Elisabeth Luther (10 December [O.S. 1 December] 1527^[1] – 3 August [O.S. 25 July] 1528^[1]) was the first daughter and second child born to German priest and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther and his wife, Katharina von Bora. She did not survive infancy.

Life

Elisabeth Luther was born on 10 December [O.S. 1 December] 1527 in Wittenberg as the second child but first daughter of the newly-wed couple, who had been married for just two years. The infant was born quite sickly, possibly due to her mother's exposure to the Black Death.^[2] Katharina wrote:

"The good Lord gave me a little girl, the sweet little Elisabeth. I am happy and grateful to the Lord! Here, the plague is dead and buried. However, it seemed as if the terrible scourge had marked the child, even before she was born. After eight months, the sweet little Elisabeth said goodbye to her father and her mother to go to Christ, passing through death into life. At the cemetery, you can still see the tombstone with the simple inscription: "Hic dormit Elisabeth, filiola Martini Lutheri, 1528". Here sleeps Elizabeth, daughter of Martin Luther^[1]

Little Elisabeth died on 3 August [O.S. 25 July] 1528 in Wittenberg and she was buried in the Stadtkirche Wittenberg.

References