Karl Schwarz was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Protestant theologian

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

.

Birth and early life

He was born at Wiek, Rügen

Wiek, Rügen

Wiek is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.The body of the well-known American Brigadier General Nathan Bedford Forrest III, killed while on an air raid on Kiel in 1943, was buried at Wiek by the German authorities. It laid there until 1947 when the...

. His father, Theodor Schwarz, pastor at Wiek, was well known as a preacher, and as the writer of a number of popular works (parables, romances, etc.) under the pseudonym "Theodor Melas".

University studies

Karl Schwarz studied theology and philosophy at Halle, and afterwards at Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

 (1831) and Berlin (1832–1834). At Berlin he came under the influence of Schleiermacher

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher

Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher was a German theologian and philosopher known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Enlightenment with traditional Protestant orthodoxy. He also became influential in the evolution of Higher Criticism, and his work forms part of the foundation of...

 and G. W. F. Hegel

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...

, whose influences are seen in his work Das Wesen der Religion (1847). In 1837 he was imprisoned for six months on account of his advanced political opinions. After his release he helped (from 1838) with the Hallische Jahrbücher.

Later life and distinctions

From 1843 to 1845 he lectured at Halle, and was then suspended by the government. In 1849, however, he was appointed professor extraordinarius, and later received a number of distinctions (in 1858 chief court preacher, etc.). Schwarz took an important part in the founding and directing of the German Protestantenverein

Protestantenverein

The Protestantenverein was a society in Germany the general object of which was to promote the union and progress of the various Protestant established Churches of the country in harmony with the advance of culture and on the basis of Christianity.It was founded at Frankfurt am Main in 1863 by a...

and became an eminent exponent of liberal theology. His work Zur Geschichte der neuesten Theologie (1856, 4th ed. 1869) is a valuable source for the history of theology in Germany. His other works include Lessing als Theologe (1854) and Grundriss der christ. Lehre (1873, 5th ed. 1876). In his memory a Karl-Schwarz-Stiftung was founded in connection with the theological faculty at the University of Jena.

1911 Britannica References

• G. Rudloff, Karl Schwarz (1887);
• F. Hummel, Zur Bedeutung der Schrift von Karl Schwarz: Uber das Wesen der Religion (1890);
• Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie.