Name Emanuel Hirsch | Books Kierkegaard-Studien | |
Died July 17, 1972, Gottingen, Germany | ||
Emanuel Hirsch (June 14, 1888, Bentwisch, Province of Brandenburg - July 17, 1972, Göttingen) was a German Protestant theologian and also a member of the Nazi Party and the Nazi supporting body. He escaped denazification at the end of the war by obtaining an early medical retirement and pension from his University.
Hirsch studied at the Humboldt University of Berlin where his teachers were Karl Holl and Adolf von Harnack. He earned his PhD with the thesis Fichte's Philosophy of Religion 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 student fraternity.
He was a professor at Göttingen University (1921-1945). Shortly after the Nazi seizure of power 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 Loyalty Oath of German Professors to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist State.
Emanuel Hirsch joined the NSDAP in 1937 and also became a Patron Member of the SS and joined the National Socialist People's Welfare. Hirsch was a leader of the German Christians and an advisor of Reich Bishop Ludwig Müller.