One of the many differences between the Lutheran Reformation and that of the Reformed Churches was the status of religious material culture. Luther's concept of adiaphora – things indifferent – meant that unless some ecclesial worship practice or tradition was directly prohibited by Scripture, then it should remain optional. This applied not only to music and certain parts of the Latin mass and ritual gestures, but also to such things as candles, crucifixes, paintings, incense and vesture. Where Lutherans lived in the shadow of Reformed rulers, some of the adiaphora were abandoned more quickly than in other places. In many places, though, much of the medieval material culture survived until the Enlightenment. This study traces many of these survivals. Wolfenbüttel, for example, structured its evangelical weekly services around the liturgical year, with special sermons on Ember Days and during Lent. Eucharistic vestments remained in use in Weissenfels until 1588 and in Silesia until 1811, and were even reintroduced in Mecklenburg in 1659. Incense was retained for a period of time in Magdeburg Cathedral, and in the duchy of Weimar for Christmas Matins. The custom of genuflecting continued in many places, as well as spiritual plays, processions and bell tolls. In some places, such as Lübeck, clerical celibacy was continued for a time by the cathedral chapter. This is an interesting collection of such survivals, though many were due as much to tenacious ecclesial conservatism and the need to be distinguished from the Reformed as to the ‘permissive’ rubrics of Luther's Formula missae and Deutsche Messe. The focus is Germany, but Sweden illustrates an independent Lutheran reform which retained many more customs and usages, even surviving the Enlightenment. The reference to Lutherans retaining the ‘five ancient liturgical colours’ is a little anachronistic, since the ‘traditional five’ were codified by the Council of Trent, and prior to that, many dioceses and regions throughout Europe had their own uses and customs regarding colour sequence. Some readers will regard this study as of antiquarian interest only, but others will find here things to flesh out the textual bones of Lutheran liturgical texts from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.