Abstract
Introduction In the context of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, it is time to take a survey of the history of Martin Luther's (1483-1546) pathography and to deduce possible conclusions from it for psychiatric practice. Results In a 1035-page work written in German between 1937 and 1941, the Dane Paul Reiter retrospectively diagnosed Luther as manic-depressive. In 1956, Grossmann was unable to prove persistent synchronicity of depressive mood and reduced motivation in Luther in the key years 1527 and 1528, which led him to conclude that Luther had a cyclothymic personality with a pyknic constitution. Discussion One very central source of Luther's life's work may have arisen from the tension between emotional constraints and crises of faith, on the one hand, and resilience and trust in God, on the other. Conclusion Luther can be used as an example of the importance of religiousness as a curative resource for the psyche.
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