31 July 2018 
Hello, readers. I have learned over the past few years that the majority of visits to my blog come from people who are interested in whether or not Martin Luther the Reformer left any descendants. (He did, and I am one. Read my story here: Martin Luther – Yes, THAT Martin Luther – 52 Ancestors #13; and here: My Direct Line to Martin Luther – Yes, THAT Martin Luther ).
Some visitors to my blog are simply curious, but some are hoping to connect their ancestry to Martin Luther. Sometimes their interest arises because they bear the surname Luther; sometimes family lore has suggested that Martin Luther is a progenitor; occasionally they have found a family tree that suggests the relationship.
It’s important to proceed with caution when doing family research. Novice genealogists don’t always understand how many people have/had the same name; nor, does the fact that an ancestor appears in someone else’s tree assure that the information appearing there is correct. The website Geneastar that connects people with famous relatives suggested that I am related to the Brothers Grimm of fairy tale fame. Unfortunately, when I scrutinized the associated family tree, I learned that Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were related to someone with the same name as my ancestor, living around the same time, but not in the same place. Oh, well, easy come, easy go! The important thing is to evaluate the underlying documentation for any claim to ensure that it isn’t a bogus relationship. The claim should be supported by original records (always preferable when available), credible secondary resources, deductive reasoning and a healthy dose of common sense!
I found this kind of excellent research in a post from Debbie Fiumara on the Luther surname message board at Ancestry.com. One of the popular beliefs is that Margarete Luther, sixth child of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora, married twice. Debbie makes a compelling case that Margarete was married just once to Georg von Künheim, Jr. With her permission, I am sharing her post of 1 Nov 2017 in it’s entirety:
“Hello to you, and to all the others who have asked about Anna Margaretha Luther’s marriage(s?) and descendants.
I have researched this question, and have no doubt in my mind that Margaretha’s only marriage was to Georg von Künheim, Jr.
That’s the short version. Here’s the extended version:
First of all, a simple Wikipedia search names no other husband. However, I wanted more definitive proof, since I am also a direct descendant of Emmerich Wagner, a butcher whose son, Ludwig, graduated from the University of Marburg and became a Lutheran minister around the turn of the 17th Century.
Like you, I have seen “Claus” named as Emmerich’s father, but I have found no proof. The sad and frustrating fact is: No matter how well the church (Lutheran or Catholic) may have kept records, written records are subject to the ravages of water, faded ink, ripped and fragile pages, war, and simple misplacement. Furthermore, in some parishes, written records weren’t even kept, or kept consistently, until after 1540 (https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Germany_Church_Records).
If the records still exist (and are legible, and have been scanned/microfilmed at some point!), I have not been able to locate them via Ancestry. Also, if I may note, even if Martin Luther had “kept good records of baptisms and marriages,” he had passed away before Margaretha was 12 years old. Any records written after that time, would not have been kept by him….
Secondly, it has been established that Margaretha was born 17 Dec 1534. If she had been married prior to her marriage to Georg von Künheim, Jr. (1 Jul 1532 – 18 Oct 1611), she would have been about 15 years old when she allegedly married Claus Wagner, and barely 16 when she allegedly gave birth to Emmerich. In researching numerous family records dating back to the 1600’s, it was most common for my maternal ancestors to be at least 18-20 when they first married. The idea that Margaretha would have married at such a young age raised a red flag, but that just meant more research was needed.
As I pursued the research further, I came across some German narratives. (For one such example, there is: http://kirche-muehlhausen.org/index.php?id=580). What I had read, seemed to indicate that Margaretha and Georg first became acquainted around 1552, when she was about 17/18 years old. At the time, she was under the guardianship of Philipp Melanchthon, living in his household after the death of her mother, which occurred in December 1552. Meanwhile, Georg was a student at the university in Wittenberg, having begun his studies around 1550. (Melanchthon knew both the von Künheim family, and the Luther family.) It is rather unlikely that Margaretha would have needed Melanchthon to be her guardian had she been married.
At any rate, Georg and Margaretha were engaged in 1554/1555 and married on 5 Aug 1555, when she was 20. She died in 1570, in her 36th year, while giving birth to their ninth child. In all, their marriage produced four sons and five daughters, of whom only two daughters and one son survived her (Representative sources:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarete_von_Kunheim
and
http://www.familienbuch-euregio.de/genius/php/show.php?tab=1….)
Even knowing this, I wanted more information. Finally, I came across a book on-line: “Philipp Melanthons Briefe an Albrecht, herzog von Preussen: von den originalen im geheimen Archiv zu Konigsberg, mit historischen Anmerkungen erlautert und zum dritten Reformations Jubiläo (pages 207-208).” You may view the pages for yourself at:
https://books.google.com/books?id=8-MrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA205&…
The letter in question was written in Latin on 18 Dec 1554, in response to objections to a union between the young von Künheim and Luther’s daughter. In it, Melanchthon vouched for Margaretha’s character, twice referring to her as a virgin (“virginis filiae” and “Lutheri filiam honestam virginem”).
Melanchthon’s letter settled the matter for me. Unless there is another way to translate and interpret the words “virginis” and “virginem,” the best conclusion is that Margaretha was a virgin at the time of her engagement and subsequent marriage to Georg von Künheim. I don’t see how Melanchthon could have made those statements, if Margaretha had been married previously.
I did run the texts through Google Translate, since my German is rusty and I never learned Latin. If anyone out there has expertise in either, or both, languages, they are welcome to challenge my conclusions.
Personally, though, I’m satisfied that there is no historical evidence supporting a marriage prior to Georg and Margaretha’s; therefore, it is not possible that she was ever married to a “Claus Wagner.”
Hope this settles the matter to everyone’s satisfaction. Thanks.”
https://www.ancestry.com/boards/surnames.luther/381.1.1.1.1.1.1.5/mb.ashx
i, too, trace my henckle family roots as far back as klaus wagner 1520-1553. as i struggled with this info of possibility that she may have first married klaus, given birth to emmerich, lost klaus when emmerich was three, and married von klunheim, i became more confused than ever! you seem to have clear evidence to support your theory, and so i must also. would have been an interesting tag on ancestry, huh? thank you for your diligence in seeking what must be the truth. are you also part of the henckle clan? (spell it however you want!!)
Marylou,
Thank you for your comment. I will pass it along to Debbie who is the one who did the analysis.
Cheryl Hartley
It’ll can trace my paternal side of the family directly back to Paul Luther. I am curious to see whether your research goes further back than Martin Luthers parents …have you posted your family tree somewhere on this site…
was supposed to say: I,too…. don’t know why I can’t correct the text.
I am sitting here after reading Michelle De Rusha’s book about my “researched” sixteenth great grandparents “Katharina & Martin” which states on p. 268 “Margarete married the lord George von Kunheim in 1555…” I also have my geneology sitting next to me given to me by my m. uncle and his wife (Patterson). Noting the discrepency in the geneology of marriage to “Claes Wagner; b. 1520”, and the offspring “Emmerich Wagner, b. 1550”, gives me great confusion. For a moment I thought this was a confused geneology which my uncle a doctor of education, and my aunt, provided to our family. So, is there any clarification? I do not see any offspring for Kunheim and Martin Luther’s daughter.
Mary Elizabeth Becker
Hi. I am sorry that I missed your post. I have been busy doing other research and had not realized that it had been so long since I checked in here. The purported line to Martin Luther through Claes Wagner is heavily disputed. I think the reasoning presented by Debbie Fiumara is very sound. There is more discussion on the unlikely marriage to Claes Wagner here: WikiTree for Margarete Luther
Many people are inclined to accept other people’s genealogies that may not have any documentation. Unfortunately, bad trees are passed along like viruses. The ultimate arbiter of the question is probably the Lutheriden Association. You may want to contact them to see what they say.
Margareta Luther and George Von Kunheim had nine children, four sons and five daughters, before her death in 1570. I do not have full full Luther family tree on my blog. Good luck in finding the answers you are looking for.
P.S. I, also, recently read “Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun” by Michelle DeRusha. I really enjoyed the author’s perspective.
I also wonder about the connection to the Wagner family? I’m a direct descendant to Rev. Tobias Wagner via my Paternal Grandmother who’s maiden name was Wagner. She did extensive genealogy and claimed the connection, albeit the tools today were not around when she was doing the research, I believe much of her research is based on documentation via the Lutheran Church.
It’s documented in the book from 1908 Pennsylvania-German Volume 9, page 84
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Pennsylvania_German/DtMwAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=tobias
That the Wagner side originated through Martin Luther’s daughter, Margaret. It does mention her marriage to W. Kuhlheim and goes on to mention Rev. Tobias Wagner and more history. This was quoted as being from “The Lutheran, Nov. 28, 1907”.
There is no mention of Emmerich Wagner, and it also appears his birth date varies, seen it listed as 1546 and 1550. Disputed as it might be, if Margaret’s birth date is accurate, this would make her 16 years old at his birth, which is not unreasonable, given that her birth date is accurate.