How faith shaped Saxony
From the spread of Christianity to the birthplace of the Reformation
Faith has played a major role in shaping Saxony’s history. When the German emperor took possession of the region known as Saxony today, the Slavic people living there were not only assimilated, but also christianised. Meissen’s highly visible cathedral became the beacon of the new faith. In the late 15th and early 16th century, late Gothic hall churches where erected all over Saxony. But by then, the Reformation had become inevitable and, based on Martin Luther's theses, Saxony became the „Motherland of the Reformation“. Later, the Saxon rulers became Catholics to ascend to the Polish throne. This made Saxony the first region where the rulers and their subjects did not have to have the same religion.
