Abstract
This fourth volume of Ernst Troeltsch’s correspondence begins in 1915 when he leaves his professorship in systematic theology at Heidelberg and moves to Berlin to become professor of philosophy. The collection ends late in 1918 with Germany’s defeat. This volume covers four years of Troeltsch’s correspondence which includes letters on academic, political, and personal matters, and it reveals a few aspects about him that even some Troeltsch scholars might not have known.
Troeltsch’s letters on academic issues may seem rather ordinary. He writes about how much time his lectures take up and that publishers often pester him to write articles for them. Troeltsch thanks many scholars and colleagues for sending him books and he compliments almost all of them for their interesting and informative works. He counsels students about which universities they should go to study and he advises colleagues about what academic positions to pursue. In other words, he responds favorably to almost every request. The letters reveal that rather than being an ordinary professor, Troeltsch was an extraordinarily prolific, considerate, and responsible professor.
The letters containing personal matters are sometimes surprising. For example, there are several letters to Troeltsch’s former student Gertrude von le Ford in which he writes about his immense joy of his young son and about the chronic illnesses afflicting his wife. He thanks le Ford several times for sending food packages from the countryside because of the shortages in Berlin. He often writes to colleagues about feeling rather ill and being overworked. He writes frequently about his struggle to fit in with Berlin’s cosmopolitan society and admits to being homesick for the relaxing atmosphere in Heidelberg. There are two even more surprising topics: his generosity towards his two unmarried sisters and his break with Max Weber. Troeltsch sent money to his sisters to cover expenses and promised further help at any time. Troeltsch complained that Weber regarded him as a “man of compromises and a political cretin” (Krompromißmensch u politischen Kretin) whereas Troeltsch regarded Weber as a “man of force” (Gewaltmensch) who lacked principles (375–77). Weber had become enraged at Troeltsch’s benevolent treatment of a wounded French soldier at the Heidelberg military hospital and broke off all contact with him. Troeltsch makes it abundantly clear that politics is not just about power but must be combined with ethics. That is why he insisted any public political committee must come with “a moral-political platform” and that his approach was born out of a “feelings of pure duty” (reinen Pflichtgefühle) (415–17, 419). Troeltsch repeated the expression “pure duty” in the first of several letters to Albert Einstein. In a second one Troeltsch noted that he was pleased that he and Einstein tended to agree on political matters and he complained that Germany’s educated elite lacked “moral courage” (moralische Mut) (419, 422–23). It is not much of a surprise that many of these letters are about specific political matters; but what is, is how knowledgeable Troeltsch was about current political issues and how many political thinkers sought his opinions. (Numerous notes help clarify political and military matters mentioned in the letters.)
During 1917 and 1918 Troeltsch was hard at work writing Historismus und seine Probleme and he would continue to labor on it for years. The first volume did not appear until 1922 and he did not live long enough to write the projected second volume. Troeltsch’s preoccupation with the philosophy of history should not be taken to mean that he had abandoned theology. In a letter to Wilhelm Herrmann dated March 1918, Troeltsch insisted that he was still very interested in theology and of course his “religion” has remained intact (435). And, in April he wrote to Karl Heussi about his work on church history and how he was looking forward to seeing the published volume. In fact, during those four years, he frequently wrote about religion and theological issues. He published two lengthy articles on religion in the 1916/1917 volume of the journal Logos. The first was on ancient Judaism (“Das Ethos der Hebräischen Propheten”) and the second was on the early Church (“Die alte Kirche”). In 1917 he also published two articles on Luther. Between 1915 and 1918 Troeltsch reviewed dozens of books, including numerous ones on religious topics. These included Paul Wernle’s on Jesus, Otto Schilling’s on Augustine, Otto Scheel’s on Luther, and Rudolf Otto’s famous book on mysticism. And Troeltsch wrote frequently about religion and church to the theologians Adolf Harnack, Wilhelm Bousset, Wilhelm Herrmann, and Karl Heussi. These letters, articles, and reviews help refute the notion that Troeltsch gave up theology for philosophy. Troeltsch may have become a Berlin philosopher in his mind, but he was always a Heidelberg theologian in his heart.