Chapter 6 - “True Sons of the Reformation”

Summary

This chapter looks at the rivalry between religion and philosophy in German culture after 1800, starting with the Reformation anniversary of 1817 and concluding with Schleiermacher’s and Hegel’s competing tercentennial celebrations of the Augsburg Confession in 1830. It starts with a discussion of the Wartburg Festival in 1817, in which students and veterans of the Battle of Leipzig (1813) met at Wartburg Castle, where Luther translated the gospels while in hiding after being declared an outlaw and heretic at the Diet of Worms (1521). It then looks at the ways in which new philosophical and historical ideas about the legacy and impact of the Reformation were reflected in popular and accessible writings, specifically Friedrich Keyser’s Reformations-Almanach (1817, 1819). Finally, through an analysis of late-career works by the most famous theologian and the most famous philosopher of the day – the Berlin University rivals Hegel and Schleiermacher – the chapter’s last section shows how the Reformation was constituted in public discourse as a legitimation strategy for intellectuals courting public opinion and official favor.