Wilhelm Herrmann

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Johann Georg Wilhelm Herrmann (born December 6, 1846 in Melkow ; † January 2, 1922 in Marburg an der Lahn ) was a German Protestant theologian.

Life

Wilhelm Herrmann (the younger) was born the son of a pastor. He attended high school in Stendal .

From the winter of 1866 Herrmann studied Protestant theology at the University of Halle and became August Tholuck's Amanuensis , so he acted as his clerk or secretary, an activity that was associated with a scholarship. In 1870/71 he did military service as a volunteer and then passed the first theological exam. In the following years he worked first as a private tutor in Unseburg (Wanzleben district) and from 1874 as a teacher at the city high school in Halle.

Early on he devoted himself to philosophical studies. Maximilian Besser (1844–1900), at that time working as a private lecturer in Protestant theology at the University of Halle and before Herrmann Tholuck's secretary, made him work on Albrecht Ritschl's main work The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation . 1870–1874, carefully. At the beginning of 1875 Herrmann passed his theological licentiate examination and completed his habilitation with a study on Gregorii Nysseni sententiae de salute adipiscenda , 1875.

On January 22nd, 1875 he wrote in a letter to Ritschl, to which he enclosed his licentiate dissertation: “Since I have been in closer contact with Besser, he has not ceased to refer me to your writings as a means of escaping the spell of education which I acquired partly in agreement, partly in contrast to Hallesch’s suggestions. Since then, settling in with their writings has been the one scientific task that I have set myself. "Maximilian Besser," unusually active in spirit "and devoted to everything new, was the actual founder of the so-called Ritschl theological school in Halle, wrote Ferdinand Kattenbusch (1851-1935) in his autobiography . Herrmann gave up his school position in 1877 to teach as a private lecturer. In 1879 he was appointed to the University of Marburg as a full professor with a license to teach systematic theology . The university became the place of his life's work, which he remained loyal to despite several appointments to chairs of well-known universities. In 1889/90 he was rector . On the occasion of his 70th birthday, the Law Faculty of the University of Marburg awarded him an honorary doctorate .

Herrmann was the one among Ritschl's students who developed his theology most independently. Theologians of different views such as Karl Barth (1886–1968) and Rudolf Bultmann (1884–1976) owed him decisive stimuli. In addition to Barth and Bultmann, the Swedish bishop Einar Billing (1871-1939), known as a theological researcher on Luther, was one of his more important students.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg (HStAMR), Best. 915 No. 5718, p. 44 ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Printed in: The contemporary religious studies in self-portrayals . Published by Erich Stange. Volume 5: Martin Dibelius, Paul Feine, Ferdinand Kattenbusch, Emil Walter Mayer, Willy Staerk, Paul Wernle. Felix Meiner publishing house. Leipzig 1929, pp. 85-121.
  3. ↑ Rector's speeches (HKM)
  4. ↑ German literary newspaper . Volume 38, No. 2, January 13, 1917, p. 50.
personal data
SURNAME Herrmann, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Herrmann, Johann Georg Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1846
PLACE OF BIRTH Melkow
DATE OF DEATH January 2, 1922
Place of death Marburg on the Lahn