Marpingen Visions: Religion,Rationalism & Rise of Modern Germany: Religion, Rationalism and the Rise of Modern Germany

by David Blackbourn (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1995

  $4.54

  In 1876, three eight-year-old girls from the German village of Marpingen bore witness to visions of the Virgin Mary.Their claims triggered a remarkable sequence of events that eventually humbled the authoritarian Prussian government. This celebrated case reveals the unique, half-medieval, half-modern world of German culture during the 1870's, as Bismarck, using all available means, tried to transform a new, recently united country into a modern industrial state. The visions attracted thousands upon thousands of pilgrims. For a while, Marpingen was the German Lourdes and claims of miracle cures abounded. This religious revival led to parliamentary diecussions, a bloody military clampdown and dramatic show-trial which ended in humiliating defeat for the Prussian state. This account is a combination of detective story, historical study, and an investigation of the power of superstition.