Institutions as Guardians of the German People: Friedrich Schleiermacher's Nationalist Imagination for Church and University

Friedrich Schleiermacher is best known for his impact on the discipline of theology; however, he made significant contributions to the development of nationalism as well from his position as a pastor and as a professor at the University of Berlin. In 1806, Napoleon invaded Prussia as a part of his European conquests. Friedrich Schleiermacher lost his job at the University of Halle when Napoleon closed it during the French occupation. This marked a shift in his thinking as he began to express the nationalist sentiments awakened by the French threat to German identity. Schleiermacher played a key role in the founding of the University of Berlin and in his writing on the matter, he envisioned an institution that would bring all Germans closer together and a future with a united Germany. In the same way he saw the unification of the Reformed and Lutheran confessions as a way to foster unity among Germans. In both of these institutions, church and university, Schleiermacher saw a force essential in the development and protection of what it meant to be German.