On the eve of Easter Sunday 1523, in the dead of night, Leonard Koppe, a town councilman from Wittenberg drove his wagon to the Cistercian Abbey in Marienthron in Nimbschen. The wagon bed was lined with twelve fish barrels and his intentions for the late-night rendezvous were simple; he had come to help twelve nuns escape from the abbey.

The nuns had been inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther who had helped them plan their escape. They had been exposed to Luther's sermons via Wolfgang Von Zeschau, the Prior in the little town of Grimma. Luther had preached at the priory and many of the monks, including the Prior, had accepted his teachings.

Von Zeschau sent his nieces, who were both nuns at the Marienthron Convent, excerpts of Luther's sermons and before long there was a group of twelve nuns who not only believed what Luther was preaching but also wanted to leave the convent behind.

Luther enlisted the help of Leonhard Koppe and a plan was devised to help the nuns escape. Of the twelve who escaped nine made it to Wittenberg. When they arrived they were in such a state of disarray that Spalatin later wrote to Luther that they were "a wretched crowd"

Having been instrumental in helping them to escape Luther, rather generously, took financial responsibility for them. Among the nine who arrived in Wittenberg was Margarethe von Staupitz, who was the sister of Luther's mentor Johann von Staupitz and the feisty and inimitable Katharina von Bora, who at the time of her escape to Wittenberg was just 24 years old.

Before long eight of the nine nuns were married off but Katharina struggled to find a husband. At the time a single woman setting up home on her own was unacceptable. Women needed a male sponsor in the form of a close relative or husband in order to maintain their respectability. Katharina lived at the home of Lucas Cranach Sr, who at that time was the court painter for the Electors of Saxony but this was only a temporary solution.

It wasn't that Katharina didn't have any suitors. Hieronymus Baumgartner, one of Philip Melancthon's students courted her but there were rumors that his family objected to him marrying a runaway nun which at the time was not only scandalous but could potentially pose legal problems as well.

Baumgartner returned home to Nurnberg leaving Katharina high and dry. Luther is said to have written to Baumgartner, reminding him that Katharina was waiting for him to come back for her but he didn't respond. Then there was a proposal made that she marry Kaspar Glatz, a much older pastor but Katharina put her foot down and refused this arrangement because the age gap between them was too great.

She wrote to Nicholas von Amsdorf stating that she would only consider marrying either him or Luther himself. Nicholas was not prepared to marry her so he put forward Luther instead. For his part, regardless of what his personal inclinations were, Luther publicly stated that he had no intentions to marry. In early 1525 when Spalatin asked him if he was tempted to marry Luther laughed it off but ironically a few months later he did just that.

On the 13th of June 1525, at his home, at the Black Cloister, Martin Luther married Katharina von Bora. He was 16 years older than her but this didn't seem to bother her. They were married by Luther's friend and pastor Johann Bugenhagen. Lucas and Barbara Cranach, who had housed Katharina and Luther's longtime friend Justus Jonas were the only other attendees at the ceremony.

After the ceremony, there was a small wedding reception which was attended by a handful of guests among whom were Luther's parents and Leonard Koppe, the man who had liberated Katharina from the convent. The Luthers went on to have six children and they had a very happy marriage. In many ways, their marriage and home were looked upon as the first home of the Reformation and they set an example of what the home of a protestant minister could and even should look like.