Karl Friedrich Eusebius Trahndorff (aka Carl Friedrich Eusebius Trahndorff) (18 October 1782 – 15 February 1863) was a German philosopher and theologian.

Life

He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The son of a musician, from the age of twelve Trahndorff attended the school in Oels (now Oleśnica), where his father had been appointed chapel director by the Prinz von Brunswick-Lüneburg, Frederick August I. From 1801 he studied

theology 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

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and writing, written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defin ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, and on completion of his studies he began a career as a high-school teacher, mostly at the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin but with several years in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

(1806–12). As a religious and philosophical writer, Trahndorff belonged to the

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

ist camp, opposed to theological rationalism and emphasizing the indeducible, supernatural and mystical nature of religious revelation, by implication minimizing the ability of human reason to grasp the content of faith. His polemical work ''Theos, nicht Kosmos!'' attempted to combat the growing popularity of

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

's '' Kosmos'', which he considered incompatible with scripture. Trahndorff's ''Ästhetik oder Lehre von Weltanschauung und Kunst'' is relevant to students of German Romanticism; it used the word '' Gesamtkunstwerk'' for what is believed to be the first time.Rival Sisters, Art and Music at the Birth of Modernism, 1815-1915
edited by Mr James H Rubin, Dr Olivia Mattis

Works

* ''Der Schild des heiligen Winfried'', Berlin 1825 * ''Ästhetik oder Lehre von Weltanschauung und Kunst'' 2 Bde., Berlin 1827 * ''Wie kann der Supranaturalismus sein Recht gegen Hegel's Religionsphilosophie behaupten?'', Berlin 1840 * ''Schelling und Hegel oder das System Hegels als letztes Resultat des Grundirrtums in allem bisherigen Philosophieren'', Berlin 1842 * ''Der welthistorische Zweifel, oder: Ist Gott nur Idee oder objektive Realität?'', Barmen 1852 * ''Über die Bedeutung Berlins in der grossen Krisis unserer Zeit'', Berlin 1852 * ''Der Mensch, das Ebenbild des dreieinigen Gottes. Versuch einer dogmatischen Berichtigung'', Berlin 1853 * ''Der Teufel — kein dogmatisches Hirngespinst — Offenes Sendschreiben an den Herrn Dr Sydow, Prediger an der Neuen Kirche zu Berlin'', Berlin 1853 * ''Theos, nicht Kosmos! Denkschrift als Zeugnis für die Wahrheit'', Berlin 1859

Bibliography

* ''K. F. E. Trahndorff: der Bewußtseinsphilosoph. Ein Beitrag zur Würdigung und Hochschätzung eines verklungenen Namens'' Hrsg. v. Julius W. von Eckardt, Halle 1878. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trahndorff, Karl Friedrich Eusebius 1782 births 1863 deaths University of Königsberg alumni German philosophers Christian philosophers German Christian theologians 19th-century German theologians German male non-fiction writers 19th-century male writers