From 1504, Bugenhagen was the principle of the Latin school in Treptow and he became ordained as a priest five years later. In 1521 he traveled to Wittenberg to meet Martin Luther, who persuaded him to join the Reformation cause. Even though he did not hold a doctorate, he delivered lectures on Bible theology at Wittenberg University. In 1523, Luther arranged for Bugenhagen to be elected as the new priest of the town church. Bugenhagen had already been married for a year at this point, making him Wittenberg's first Protestant priest.
Bugenhagen was one of the inner circle of Wittenberg reformers. He was both a minister and spiritual adviser to Luther, who fondly called him his "fatherly friend" despite being two years older. He helped his fellow reformers to translate the Bible into German and later also produced a Low German version. Bugenhagen wrote countless sets of regulations for churches and schools, including in Hamburg, Pomerania, Holstein and Denmark. His texts and travels brought the Reformation to northern Europe and earned him the nickname "the reformer of the north". He died on April 20, 1558, and was buried in Wittenberg Castle Church.
