luther's mother's maiden name was lindemann. a jewish surname. if you think lindemann wasn't a jewish name, we can go to luther's maternal grandmother, who was a . . . ziegler. this is also a jewish name. but there's more. margaretha ziegler's maiden name was rosenzweig (also jewish). her mother was a von saalfeld, not only jewish but noble. if we keep going, we find von meiningen, von monningen, von meldigen, von apolda, and von bornstedt of bornstedt castle. the von meldingens were grafs (counts) of thringen. proving luther's mother was not middle class, but from many noble lines. we also find the kellners and hutteners. through the ziegler line, luther was also a von der sachsen. these sachsen were the dukes of saxony. yes, these von der sachsen are the same as the saxes, direct ancestors of the recently croaked queen elizabeth. remember, luthers mother died and was buried in saxony anhalt. her grandmother was a von der sachsen, so luther was that close to the dukes of saxony. luther's noble cousin was duke magnus i of saxe-lauenburg, grandson of frederick ii, elector of brandenburg. magnus married the princess of brunswick-wolfenbuttel. their daughters became queens of sweden, norway, and denmark. luther was a third cousin of these people, tying him very closely to the ruling houses of europe.
Germany