Laube Adolf, Bock Helmut, Brendler Gerhard et al. Theses concerning Thomas Muntzer, 1489-1989

Berlin: Verlag Zeit im Bild, 1989. — 64 p.Thomas Miintzer (c. 1489 to 27 May 1525) is the most eminent figure representing the extreme left wing in the early bourgeois revolution in Germany, i.e. the Reformation movement and the Peasants’ War from 1517 to 1525/26. At the beginning of an epoch of social upheaval marked by the transition from feudalism to capitalism, Thomas Miintzer, on the basis of his revolutionary interpretation of Christian teaching, wanted to bring about radical changes in society in the interests of the exploited and oppressed common people. He developed a theology of revolution aimed at overcoming all class rule. He recognized that the common people were the executors, and revolutionary power the method of this transformation. “For the first time in German history, Miintzer’s concept of society raised the questions which were answered on a scientific basis by Marx and Engels” (Erich Honecker). Thomas Miintzer occupies a prominent place in the revolutionary traditions of the German people. He achieved worldwide recognition through the struggles and triumphs of the revolutionary labour movement in the 19th and 20th centuries.