Adolf Clarenbach

Adolf Clarenbach (or Klarenbach) (c. 1497 – 28 September 1529), burnt at the stake in Cologne, died as one of the first Protestant martyrs of the Reformation in the Lower Rhine region in Germany.

Adolf Clarenbach was born shortly before the end of the 15th century on "Buscherhof", a farm that belonged administratively to Lennep in the former Duchy of Berg and ecclesiastically to Lüttringhausen.

After 1523, Clarenbach, a teacher, sought to spread the principles of the Reformation first in Münster, then in Wesel, for which he was dismissed from his post by John III, Duke of Cleves.

Twice I heard him in disputation with the so-called theologians: of excellent memory and in every way to the point, he proved all his teachings from the Holy Scriptures; and of the church fathers he particularly quoted Augustine.

[citation needed][1]The religious authorities sentenced Clarenbach to death, to be burnt at the stake on 28 September 1529 outside Cologne, with another follower of Luther, the "blasphemer" Peter Fliesteden.