Ernst Bergmann

Ernst Bergmann was a German philosopher and pedagogue born on August 7, 1881, in Colditz, German Empire. He studied philosophy and German philology at the University of Leipzig, earning his PhD in 1905. He later continued his studies in Berlin and became a Privatdozent at the University of Leipzig in 1911, eventually being awarded the position of Ausserordentlicher Professor in 1916. In 1917, he married Gertrud Landsberg, with whom he had two sons, Ulrich and Dieter. The marriage ended in divorce in 1925. Bergmann's early philosophical works focused on Jean-Marie Guyau and Johann Gottlieb Fichte, later becoming known as a German "Neofichteaner". Although he joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1930, he published a book in 1932 that ran contrary to Nazi ideology regarding patriarchy. After Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, Bergmann hoped for a cultural revolution, particularly in religion and philosophy, as he was opposed to Christianity and Judaism and advocated for a new religiosity based on German spiritual roots. His works during the Nazi era focused on religious and philosophical topics. However, he became alienated from the Hitler regime during World War II and was excluded from the NSDAP in 1943. Bergmann suffered a heart attack in the winter of 1944 or 1945 and died on April 16, 1945, in Naumburg, Nazi Germany, due to heart problems.