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Johann Tetzel – history and legends
Johann Tetzel was the most famous – and most notorious – seller of indulgences of his day: his sermons near Jüterbog in 1517 prompted Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses, and that was the start of the Reformation. According to the Tetzelhaus’s own account, he was born in Pirna around 1465, the son of the carter Matthias Tetzel; this is not entirely certain, though – an older biography gives Leipzig around 1460. In Pirna, the house at Schmiedestraße 19 is regarded as his birthplace.
From monk to indulgence preacher
Around 1480 the family moved to Leipzig. Tetzel studied there, became a Bachelor in 1487 and entered the Dominican monastery of St Pauli in 1489. From about 1504 he preached indulgences, and in 1517 Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz appointed him his General Subcommissioner: among other things, the money was to go towards the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Citizens of Wittenberg, too, crossed the border to Jüterbog to buy letters of indulgence from him – Luther himself reports this.
When the coin in the coffer rings
The saying “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs” is famous. Whether Tetzel really said it in those words is disputed: the phrase already crops up in 1484 in a dispute at the Sorbonne in Paris and has come down to us in several versions. The Tetzelhaus website also points out that most indulgences in the late Middle Ages did not cost any money at all.
Legend The knight and the letter of indulgence
The best-known anecdote tells of a crafty knight, usually named as Hans von Hake: he had Tetzel sell him an indulgence for a sin he had yet to commit. Soon afterwards he ambushed Tetzel on the heath near Jüterbog, relieved him of his money chest – and by way of excuse produced his letter of indulgence. There is no historical evidence for this. A chest, the “Tetzelkasten” (Tetzel’s chest), can still be seen today in the Nikolaikirche in Jüterbog.
Tetzel’s end
After the posting of the Theses, Tetzel became a figure of ridicule and withdrew to the monastery in Leipzig. He died of the plague in Leipzig in the summer of 1519 – on 11 August according to most accounts, though an older biography gives 4 July – and was buried in the Paulinerkirche. Remarkably, Luther had written his sick adversary a letter of consolation beforehand.
The Tetzelhaus in Pirna
The Tetzelhaus at Schmiedestraße 19 was built after 1381 – as dating of its fir timbers has shown – and is regarded as the oldest town house in Saxony preserved right up to the tip of its roof. The vaulted cellars are even said to be Romanesque. Inside there is a plank-lined parlour from 1381 in the Bohemian style, for Pirna belonged to Bohemia at the time; outside, a Renaissance façade and a rare roof covering of “monk and nun” tiles. From 1731 to 1901 seven tanners worked here one after another, and tanning pits and drying racks have survived. Between 1993 and 1998 the house was painstakingly restored.
As of: 10/2026
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