Karl Girgensohn

Karl Girgensohn

Karl Girgensohn (born May 22, 1875 in Kaarma ( Estonia ), † September 20, 1925 in Leipzig ) was a Lutheran theologian with a focus on religious psychology .

Life

Karl Girgensohn attended grammar school in Dorpat from 1888 to 1892 . There he also began studying theology. After a short study visit to Berlin in 1900 and 1901, Girgensohn received his doctorate in 1903 at the University of Dorpat. During his doctorate he worked there as a private lecturer and as a religion teacher at the grammar school. Finally in 1907 he became an associate professor for systematic theology . When Russian was introduced as the language of instruction in Estonia in 1916 as part of the Russification policy, which particularly affected the University of Dorpat , Girgensohn resigned. After Estonia's declaration of independence in 1918, he became a full professor and dean of the theological faculty in Dorpat. Between 1919 and 1922 Girgensohn was a professor at the University of Greifswald and from 1922 at the University of Leipzig , where he died in 1925.

Works (selection)

• Religion, its psychic forms and its central idea. A contribution to solving the question of the essence of religion . Deichert, Leipzig 1903.
• Modern historical thought and Christian theology . Deichert, Leipzig 1904.
• Soul and body. A philosophical preliminary study on the Christian worldview (= Biblical time and issues to enlighten the educated , fourth row, vol. 10). Runge, Berlin 1908.
• The historical revelation (= Biblical times and controversial questions for the enlightenment of the educated , fifth row, vol. 12). Runge, Berlin 1910.
• Scriptural evidence in Protestant dogmatics then and now . Deichert, Leipzig 1914.
• The mental structure of religious experience. A religious psychological investigation on an experimental basis . S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1921.
• The rationalism of the West. A vote on the Spengler case . Ratsbuchhandlung L. Bamberg, Greifswald 1921.
• Twelve speeches on the Christian religion. An attempt to preach the ancient truth to modern people . Beck, Munich, 4th, through. Edition 1921.
• Religious Psychology, Religious Studies and Theology . Deichert, Leipzig 1922.
• The inspiration of the scriptures . CL Unolzen, Dresden 1925.

literature

• Hellmuth Frey : The crisis of theology. Historical criticism and pneumatic interpretation in the light of the crisis . 2nd Edition. Theological Verlag Brockhaus, Wuppertal 1972, ISBN 3-7974-0038-1 .
• Villiam Grönbaek:  Girgensohn, Karl Gustav. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 6, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1964, ISBN 3-428-00187-7 , p. 410 ( digitized version ).
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  GIRGENSOHN, Karl. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 250-251.

Web links

• Literature by and about Karl Girgensohn in the catalog of the German National Library
• Karl Girgensohn in the professorial catalog of the University of Leipzig
• Baltic Historical Commission (ed.): Entry on Karl Girgensohn. In: BBLD - Baltic Biographical Lexicon digital