Adolf Clarenbach

Adolf Clarenbach (or Klarenbach) (circa 1497 – 28 September 1529), burnt at the stake in Cologne, died as one of the first Protestant martyrs of the Reformation in the Lower Rhine region in Germany.

Adolf Clarenbach was born shortly before the end of the 15th century on "Buscherhof", a farm that belonged administratively to Lennep in the former Duchy of Berg and ecclesiastically to Lüttringhausen. His exact birth date is unknown. The house of his birth now bears a memorial plaque to the "Reformer of Berg" ("Bergischer Reformator").

After 1523, Clarenbach, a teacher, sought to spread the principles of the Reformation first in Münster, then in Wesel, for which he was dismissed from his post by John III, Duke of Cleves. In 1525 he was driven from Osnabrück, Büderich and Elberfeld, also because of his open adherence to the teachings of Martin Luther.

On 3 April 1528, Clarenbach was imprisoned and confined for 18 months. Petrus Medmann, an eye witness to Clarenbach's eventual execution, wrote a marginal note about Adolf Clarenbach in one of his books:

After two years' arrest he could have escaped the cruel imprisonment if he had only admitted that the laity have no claim to half the sacrament. Twice I heard him in disputation with the so-called theologians: of excellent memory and in every way to the point, he proved all his teachings from the Holy Scriptures; and of the church fathers he particularly quoted Augustine.

The religious authorities sentenced Clarenbach to death, to be burnt at the stake on 28 September 1529 outside Cologne, with another follower of Luther, the "blasphemer" Peter Fliesteden. The men were burned at the Melatenhof, south of the present-day Melaten-Friedhof ("Melaten Burial Ground") near the crossroads of the Clarenbachstraße and the Lortzingstraße.

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