Protestantism and Social Liberalism in Imperial Germany: Gustav Adolf Deissmann (1866-1937) and Friedrich Naumann (1860-1919)

Abstract

Adolf Deissmann was an internationally prominent German theologian, celebrated primarily for his groundbreaking contributions in the widely divergent fields of post-classical Greek philology, lexicography, the archaeological excavations of Ephesus, international conciliation and leading role in the nascent ecumenical movement. Less known - yet of considerable consequence - is his involvement with social liberal politics, especially his friendship with, and staunch backing of, Friedrich Naumann, a onetime Protestant pastor turned liberal career politician, pioneer of European integration and, ultimately, the first president of the German Democratic Party. This paper investigates to what degree these two men were intellectually indebted to each other in their mutual search to find a way forward to reconcile Germany's sharply divided class-society through Protestant-based social politics - and that in an era deeply troubled with seemingly insoluble conflicts over the form of the future German Reich.