Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (1768–1834) was born in Breslau, the son of a pastor. After being educated in the Moravian Church, he studied theology and philosophy in Halle from 1787. In 1796 he became a preacher at the Berlin Charité and, through the city’s salons, came into contact with Friedrich Schlegel, becoming a leading figure of early German Romanticism. His first monograph was the “Speeches on Religion” (1799). From 1807–08 onward, he worked with Wilhelm von Humboldt on the development of the new University of Berlin, where he became professor of theology in 1810. His major works include the “Ethics,” translations of Plato’s works, and lectures on dialectics, education, psychology, and aesthetics.