What really happened

The true story of Jesus of Nazareth

"The Adoration of the Child", painting from around 1620 by Gerrit van Honthorst(Bild: Rabatti - Domingie / akg-images / picturedesk.com)

2000 years ago, in a remote part of the Roman Empire, a child is born whose later work gives rise to the largest religious community in the world: Christianity. What do we know about the historical Jesus of Nazareth from the time of his birth to his ministry?

Around the year zero, a boy was born in a small village called Nazareth in the province of Galilee. His contemporaries would later call him Jesus of Nazareth. Nazareth is a farming village in the middle of a hilly region, with barely 400 people living here at the time of Jesus' birth. In addition to fields, there are vineyards, fruit and vegetable terraces and pastures. The people live in simple houses with stone walls, insulated with straw, clay and dung.