Schleiermacher Critical Edition

This project was completed in 2017.

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was a pivotal figure during the formative and golden era of Berlin University. Born in Breslau in 1768 and passing away in Berlin in 1834, this Protestant theologian, philosopher, educator, psychologist, and hermeneutist made significant contributions across multiple fields. 

In Berlin, he served as an official preacher, university professor, and member of the Academy. Schleiermacher provided foundational impulses for the modern reform of theology as well as the German university system. In theology and philosophy, he developed a distinctive position bridging Enlightenment thought, German idealism, and Romanticism. His translation of Plato’s works remains highly regarded to this day. His sermons were profoundly influential, well-attended, and widely read for decades. 

From 1984 until its completion in 2017, the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities (partly in collaboration with the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy) was engaged in a historical-critical complete edition of Schleiermacher’s works and correspondence as part of a dedicated research project. Funded editorial work had already begun in Kiel in 1975, and in early 1984 this section was formally transferred to the Academies’ Programme under the Göttingen Academy’s stewardship.

Homepage of the Schleiermacher-Forschungsstelle in Kiel

Schleiermacher-Digital (project of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities)