Eisleben, Germany  - A Protestant church in the east of Germany plans to baptize 525 people on November 11 to mark the 525th anniversary of the baptism of Martin Luther.

So far only 14 people have been registered for the ceremony at the church of St Peter and Paul in Eisleben, the town Luther hailed from, church officials said Tuesday.

More people are expected to come forward when news of the event spreads, said the local pastor, Reverend Hauke Meinhold.

"It won't be a mass baptism. People will be called out individually in the church where Luther was baptized," Meinhold added.

Some 26 Lutheran communities around the world plan to hold remembrance services on November 11 to mark the baptism of the man known as the Father of Protestantism.

Representatives from Protestant churches in Sweden and England have been invited to the ceremony in Eisleben, some 160 kilometres south-west of Berlin.

The goal is to stress the international aspect of the evangelical branch of Christianity, said Stefan Rhein, director of the Luther Memorial Foundation in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Luther was born in Eisleben in 1483, was baptized there and died in the city at the age of 62 in 1546.

The house in which he was born is listed as a historical site by UNESCO.

Luther spent most of his adult life in the nearby town of Wittenberg where he honed his theology that challenged the authority of the Catholic Church.

It was also in the town that he nailed his 95 theses attacking the sale of indulgences to a church door in October 1517, heralding the start of the Protestant Reformation.

In Germany, Lutherans are members of the Evangelical Church, the largest Protestant denomination in the country. (dpa)