Bruno Bauer

Bruno Bauer ( born September 6, 1809 in Eisenberg in the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, Thuringia today, † April 13, 1882 in Rixdorf in Berlin, today Berlin -Neukölln ) was a German theologian, Bible critic, philosopher and historian.

Life and work

Studies and exploratory efficacy

Bauer was the son of the porcelain painter Friedrich Wilhelm Bauer ( † 1853) and his wife Caroline Wilhelmine. His brothers were Egbert Bauer ( * 1809 † after 1882) and Edgar Bauer. He attended the Berlin Friedrich -Wilhelms -Gymnasium and studied at the Berlin University of Protestant Theology in the Hegelian Marheineke and Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg. He received his doctorate and his habilitation in March 1834.

Bauer began his journalistic career in 1835 when he defended the speculative theology against the Gospels criticism of David Friedrich Strauss. As a representative of Rechtshegelianismus him the publication of the second, compared with the first edition Marheineke completely altered edition of Hegel's philosophy of religion has been transferred.

Gospels criticism

A few years later he walked himself to the Gospels and critics argued that leave no historical person Jesus of Nazareth evidence within the meaning of Jesus myth. In the Critique of the gospel story of John and the criticism of the evangelical history of the Synoptics, he developed his theses on the literary origins of the Gospels. These are free productions of a religious self- consciousness with little or no historical basis.

Not only that, but especially his participation in the opposition Welcker Serenade meant that his venia legendi deprived for life of Theology. On this measure, his writing relates the good cause of freedom and my own affair (1842 ). The previously funded by him at the University of Bonn habilitation of his friend Karl Marx failed along with Bauer's academic career.

Bauer as critics of religion

Early 1840s was Bruno Bauer, Ludwig Feuerbach next to the leading head of the Left Hegelianism. These two relegated from the University Ex - theologians competed in it to justify Germany's first atheistic philosophy. During the anthropologically - oriented sensualist Feuerbach it was based more on the German tradition, attracted Bauer French materialism, especially the works of Holbach zoom. However, Bauer's book to this effect, the discovered Christianity (1843 ) came only to close friends to the attention because it was confiscated by the censors immediately ( and until 1927 was considered lost ). Among the few who knew it at the time, was one of Max Stirner, who criticized it in The Ego and Its Own.

In December 1843 Bauer founded with his brother Egbert the General Literature newspaper, a monthly magazine, whose last edition was published in October 1844. Here he developed his theory in several articles of the Pure criticism that Karl Marx in his polemic The Holy Family ( March 1845 ), where his co-author Friedrich Engels had been involved only to a limited degree, as " critical criticism" mocked. As early as 1843 /44 came, not least because of Marx's criticism of his self-consciousness philosophy, to break with the Hegelian companions. Bauer turned to the writing of history and politics.

Turning to conservative and anti-Semitic positions

After the March Revolution of 1848 and the subsequent restoration to them, Bruno Bauer fit, like many radical thinkers and writers of the pre-March, the new political conditions. Although he could not enter the civil service; but he was a key employee of the conservative Prussian Kreuzzeitung Hermann Wagener and anonymously wrote numerous articles for the 23 -volume state and Gesellschaftslexicon. In these articles, especially in the essay Judaism in a foreign country, joined the builder - avant la lettre - anti-Semitic polemics of various anti-Jewish currents of his time, a true " compendium of anti-Semitism " (Hans Engelmann ). Bauer had already in 1843 his anti-Jewish writing The Jewish question and the ability of today's Jews and Christians to be published freely on the Karl Marx wrote his well-known replica On the Jewish Question.

Bauer's relation to the Tübingen school and its belief about the beginnings of Christianity

The Tübingen school, the results of Bauer namely surpassed by the surrender of all Paul's letters, he was always against alien. In contrast to David Friedrich Strauss, the author of the life of Jesus, but he moved the Genesis of Christianity alone in the saturated stoic and Alexandrian philosophy consciousness of the Roman Empire and made especially Seneca and Philo of Alexandria responsible. Ignoring of written records and Roman pagan historian Bauer wrote the emergence of Christianity primarily to the writings of Philo. Roman historian Suetonius about, are not indeed been eyewitnesses of the events surrounding Jesus, but lived only a little later. Nevertheless, talking all logic that they used oral traditions of Roman (and not Christian ) witnesses, which follows a more objective picture.

Writings (selection )

• Criticism of the evangelical history of John. Schünemann, Bremen 1840 digitized
• Criticism of the evangelical history of the Synoptics (Leipzig from 1841 to 1842, 3 vols )
• The trumpet of the Last Judgment on Hegel the Atheist and Antichrist. An ultimatum (Leipzig 1841) - digitized
• Hegel's doctrine of religion and art judged from the stand-point of faith. Otto Wigand, Leipzig 1842 digitized
• The good thing of freedom and my own affair. Publisher of literary Comptoirs, Zurich and Winterthur 1842 digitized
• The discovered and undiscovered Christianity in Zurich and a dream. A trifle. Excerpts from the confiscierten in Zurich Bauer'schen font containing and the Christian Dr. Bluntschli dedicated to the Antichrist. Printed and published by Jenni, son, Bern 1843
• The Jewish question. Friedrich Otto, Braunschweig 1843 digitized
• History of politics, culture and Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. 2 volumes, published by Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg from 1843 to 1845.
• General Litteraturzeitung, publisher of Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg, (December 1843 - October 1844 ) dispute the criticism with the modern opposites. With contributions by Bruno Bauer, Edgar Bauer, Ernst Jungnitz, among others Szelige Includes: general Literature - Newspapers. Monthly. Edited by Bruno Bauer. Year 1843/44 Issue 1-12 digitized
• Correspondence between Bruno Bauer and Edgar Bauer during the years 1839 - 1842nd Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg 1844 digitized
• Egbert Bauer Bruno Bauer: Charlottenburg Democrats hunting. Horror scenes in Charlottenburg or the slaughter of Democrats on Sunday 20 August. Ferdinand Reichardt & Co., Berlin 1849
• The bourgeois revolution in Germany since the beginning of the German Catholic movement to the present day (Berlin 1849) - digitized
• The explanations of National newspaper on Bruno Bauer. Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg 1853
• The Frankfurt Parliament downfall. History of the German Constituent National Assembly. Gerhard Friedrich, Berlin 1849 digitized
• Criticism of the Gospels and history of their origin ( Berlin 1850-1852, 4 vols ) - digitized, Volume 2, digitized, Volume 3 #
• Russia and the Germanenthum, 2 volumes, Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg 1853 Volume 1 Volume 2 digitized digitized
• Russia and England. Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg 1854 digitized
• Aberdeen. Egbert Bauer, Charlottenburg 1854 digitized
• Judaism in a foreign land. F. Heinicke, Berlin 1863 Digitaslisat
• Philo, Strauss, Renan, and early Christianity. Hempel, Berlin 1874
• Christ and the Caesars. The origin of Christianity from the Roman Hellenism. Large, Berlin 1877
• The proto-gospel and the opponents of Scripture "Christ and the Caesars ." Large, Berlin 1880
• Influence of English Quakerism to the German culture and to the Anglo- Russian project of a universal Church (Berlin 1878)
• For guidance on the Bismarckian era. Schmeitzner, Chemnitz 1880
• Disraeli's romantic and Bismarck's socialist imperialism. Schmeitzner, Chemnitz 1882
• Ernst Barnikol (ed.): The discovered Christianity in the pre-March period. Bruno Bauer's struggle against religion and Christianity and the first edition of his pamphlet. Diederichs, Jena 1927
• Richard Laufner, Karl -Ludwig King, Bruno Bauer, Karl Marx and Trier. An unknown letter from Bruno Bauer to Karl Marx and radical Vormärzliteratur at the City Library Trier. Trier 1978 ( fonts from the Karl Marx House Issue 20)

Newer editions:

• Campaigns of pure criticism ed. and afterword by Hans -Martin Sass, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1968 contains nine articles of Bruno Bauer from his period of " pure criticism" as well as comment and references
• Heinz Pepperle, Ingrid Pepperle (ed. ): The Hegelian Left. Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1985 contains, inter alia, The trumpet of the jünngsten Court and six other works pawn and his letters to Marx and Arnold Ruge.