Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon to the City of Amberg; Wittenberg, 30 October 1538 (Stadtarchiv Amberg, KuRS 253 [Ref. 357])

Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philip Melanchthon (1497–1560) answer a letter by the mayor and council of the city of Amberg which has not been preserved. They thank God that he has called the addressees “to his praise and right recognition and to the blessedness” so that they turned to the right doctrine. They then report that Lutheran preachers have been persecuted or murdered in many places. Therefore, it is difficult to find “efficient persons”, in particular since the people of Amberg would like to have an “impressive person”.

Against this background, they propose to the city the Salzburg preacher Andreas Hügel on whom there was no “affliction”, except that he was not quite so handsome “and his voice not so strong as one might want it to be in a large church”. Otherwise, the authors of the letter describe him as sensible, well-educated, God-fearing and as a good preacher.

In the meantime, Luther and Melanchthon had already spoken to Hügel, who had offered to come to Amberg. If it did not matter to the people of Amberg that Hügel was not a tall person, they should inform the reformers. Furthermore, the senders reaffirmed that the Amberg citizens should not allow themselves to be deterred from their chosen path.

The letter ends with the closing formula, date and signature of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. On the back of the original sealed letter, there is the address: “the honorable, distinguished and wise gentleman, mayor and council of the city”.

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