Ernst Bergmann (7 August 1881 – 16 April 1945) was a German

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and pedagogue.

Biography

Ernst Bergmann was the son of

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

pastor Ernst Albin Bergmann (1838–1894) and Swiss-born Marie Louise Linder (1846–1934), he studied philosophy and German philology at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

and got his PhD in 1905. Subsequently, he continued his studies in Berlin. Later he returned to Leipzig, where he received the status of

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

at the university in 1911. In 1916 he was awarded the position of Ausserordentlicher Professor (professor without chair). In 1917, he married Gertrud Landsberg, daughter of a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family from Posen. They became parents of two sons: Ulrich (1918–1940) and Dieter (1920–1995). Ulrich died in battle as a soldier of the Wehrmacht, Dieter became a physician and emigrated to the USA. In 1995, Dieter published a memoir, which is an important source for his father's biography. The marriage ended in divorce in 1925. Ernst Bergmann's philosophical works comprise a lot of different areas. During his early years before World War I, he was a noted expert on the philosophy of French philosopher

Jean-Marie Guyau Jean-Marie Guyau (28 October 1854 – 31 March 1888) was a French philosopher and poet. Guyau was inspired by the philosophies of Epicurus, Epictetus, Plato, Immanuel Kant, Herbert Spencer, and Alfred Fouillée, and the poetry and literature ...

, after that he became a well-known German "Neofichteaner", with works on the philosophy of German philosopher

Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

and on the history of German thought. Although Bergmann joined the

National Socialist German Workers Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Worker ...

in 1930, he published in 1932 a book about the dangers and the harmfulness of patriarchy that ran contrary to the leading Nazi ideology ("Erkenntnisgeist und Muttergeist. Eine Soziosophie der Geschlechter"). After Hitler had become German Chancellor in 1933, Bergmann nevertheless hoped that the new regime would bring a cultural revolution, especially in the area of religion and philosophy. Bergmann was strongly opposed to both Christianity and Judaism and propagated a new kind of religiosity ("Deutschreligion") based on his own philosophy and the pre-Christian spiritual roots of the German people. His works during the Nazi area concentrated on religious and philosophical topics. In the years of World War II, Bergmann became alienated from the Hitler regime and was excluded from the NSDAP in 1943.W. Dieter Bergmann: Between Two Benches, 1995, p. 233.

Works and ideology

His works ''Die deutsche Nationalkirche'' (the German National Church) and ''Die natürliche Geistlehre'' (The Natural Doctrine of the Spirit) were placed on the ''

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

'', the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

list of banned books, in 1934 and 1937.

Heart attack and death

In the winter of either 1944 or 1945, Bergmann suffered a heart attack, and in April 1945 he died, according to the memoir of his son Dieter, due to his severe heart problems.

Works

* ''Erkenntnisgeist und Muttergeist. Eine Soziosophie der Geschlechter'', 1932. * ''Die Deutsche Nationalkirche'', 1933. * ''Deutschland, das Bildungsland der neuen Menschheit. Eine nationalsozialistische Kulturphilosophie'', 1933. * ''Die 25 Thesen der Deutschreligion. Ein Katechismus'', 1934. * ''Die natürliche Geistlehre. System einer deutsch nordischen Weltsinndeutung'', 1937. * ''Kleines System der Deutschen Volksreligion'', 1941.

Secondary Literature

* Karl-Heinrich Hunsche: ''Ernst Bergmann. Sein Leben und Werk'', 1936. * W. Dieter Bergman: ''Between Two Benches. Not Subject to Extermination'', 1995. *

Notes