This study analyses the 1967 Reformation Jubilee, which has always remained in the shadow of the 1983 commemoration celebrations, even though the 1967 anniversary anticipated some pivotal moments of the latter with regard to German-German developments. This was not just a noteworthy media event, but as a consequence of Catholic theology's renewed interest in Luther, the ecumenical significance gained in relative importance. In the GDR, the communists fostered a new interpretation of Luther, claiming the Reformation as part of the country's heritage, even as theologians and church leaders, to a large extent, avoided political associations. Primarily, this paper emphasises the problematic conditions of the Lutheran heritage in the West German and GDR churches, challenges that extend beyond the contemporary call for renewal within the church. These problematic conditions were even foreshadowed by the failure of the 1963 Lutheran World Federation in Helsinki to produce a contemporary interpretation of the Justification attainable only through Jesus Christ.