Emanuel Hirsch (14 June 1888 in Bentwisch,

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

– 17 July 1972 in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and also a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

and the Nazi supporting body. He escaped

denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

at the end of the war by quitting his professorship, allegedly for health reasons, losing the pension from his University. Hirsch studied at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

where his teachers were

Karl Holl Karl Holl (15 May 1866 – 23 May 1926) was a professor of theology and church history at Tübingen and Berlin and is considered one of the most influential church historians of his era. Life Karl Holl studied philosophy and theology at the T� ...

and

Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...

. He earned his PhD with the thesis '' Fichte's

Philosophy of Religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

in the context of his overall philosophical development'' (in German: ''Fichtes Religionsphilosophie im Rahmen der philosophischen Gesamtentwicklung Fichtes''). Hirsch was a member of the

Wingolf Wingolf () is an umbrella organisation of 35 student fraternities at 34 universities in Germany, Austria and Estonia. It has approximately 5,000 members. It is one of the oldest oecumenical organisations in Germany. It has a close friendship with t ...

student fraternity. He was a professor at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The orig ...

(1921–1945). Shortly after the

Nazi seizure of power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

he wrote:

No other people of the world has a statesman who is so serious about Christendom; when Adolf Hitler concluded his great speech on May 1st with a prayer everybody could feel the wonderful candor therein.

In 1933 Hirsch signed the ''

Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State Bekenntnis der Professoren an den Universitäten und Hochschulen zu Adolf Hitler und dem nationalsozialistischen Staat officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Ad ...

''. Emanuel Hirsch joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

in 1937 and also became a Patron Member of the SS and joined the National Socialist People's Welfare. Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 258. Hirsch was a leader of the

German Christians Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from t ...

and an advisor of Reich Bishop

Ludwig Müller Johan Heinrich Ludwig Müller (23 June 1883 – 31 July 1945) was a German theologian, a Lutheran pastor, and leading member of the pro-Nazi "German Christians" (german: Deutsche Christen) faith movement. In 1933 he was appointed by the Nazi go ...

Literary works

* An editor of the "'' Theologische Literaturzeitung''" (i.e. ''Theological Literary Magazine''; with

, Emil Schürer) * ''

Luther Luther may refer to: People * Martin Luther (1483–1546), German monk credited with initiating the Protestant Reformation * Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), American minister and leader in the American civil rights movement * Luther (give ...

s Gottesanschauung'', 1918 * ''

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

us, der

Herr Herr may refer to: * Herr (honorific), a German honorific * Herr (surname) * Herr (title), a German title * Herr, Indiana Herr is an unincorporated community in Perry Township, Boone County, in the U.S. state of Indiana Indiana () is a ...

'', 1926 * ''Die idealistische Philosophie und das Christentum. Gesammelte Aufsätze.'', 1926 (i.e. ''Idealism and Christianity. Collected Essays'') * '' Kierkegaardstudien'', 1933 * ''Die gegenwärtige geistige Lage im Spiegel philosophischer und theologischer Besinnung. Akademische Vorlesungen zum Verständnis des deutschen Jahres 1933'', 1934 (i.e. ''The contemporary spiritual situation in the mirror of philosophical and theological consciousness. Academic lectures for the understanding of the German Year 1933''.) * ''Hilfsbuch zum Studium der Dogmatik'', 1937 (''Manual for Studying Dogmatics''), 4th ed. 2002, * ''Leitfaden zur christlichen Lehre'', 1938 (i.e. ''Compendium for the Christian Doctrine'') * ''Die Auferstehungsgeschichten und der christliche Glaube'', 1940 (i.e. ''Resurrection Narratives and the Christian Faith'') * ''Frühgeschichte des

Evangelism In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

us'', 1941

References

External links

*
Paul Tillich: theologian of nature, culture and politics By A. James Reimer, 2004
Tillich's debate with Hirsch and more
Christian Faith in Dark Times: Theological Conflicts in the Shadow of Hitler By Jack Forstman, 1992
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Emanuel 1888 births 1972 deaths People from Wittenberge People from the Province of Brandenburg Nazi Party members German Lutheran theologians 20th-century German Protestant theologians Förderndes Mitglied der SS Christian fascists Academic staff of the University of Göttingen 20th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers