Eugen Drewermann



Eugen Drewermann born June 20 1940 in Bergkamen near Dortmund, Germany is one of today's most influential intellectuals and peace activists in Europe. Recipient of many awards, most recently the prestigious 2007 Erich-Fromm Award which he shared with musician Konstantin Wecker for their remarkable efforts toward peace, his influential work has been translated into more than a dozen languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Korean. His cultural significance as a critic of outdated forms of dogmatism was particularly evidenced when Der Spiegel (the German news magazine comparable to the English Time magazine) ran a cover story on Drewermann in its 1993 Christmas issue.

Drewermann is best-known for his passionate work toward a what he considers a non-violent form of Christianity. Trained in philosophy, theology, psychoanalysis, and comparative religious studies, his calls for a religion free from fear and top-down-rule were met by the Roman-Catholic Church in the late 1980s and early 1990s with "grave concern." In 1986, at the behest of then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, Drewermann's Archbishop, Johannes Joachim Degenhardt of Paderborn, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Germany engaged in a long drawn-out and heated debate with Drewermann which was closely followed by the European media and public for several years. The struggle culminated in 1991 after the dissident priest published a radical critique of what he considers to be the Vatican's psychologically cruel and mentally enslaving clergy ideal (Kleriker: Psychogramm eines Ideals [Clergy: Psychogram of an ideal]). As a consequence, on October 8 1991 the Archbishop disallowed him to teach at the Catholic Seminary of Paderborn and, shortly afterwards, revoked his license to preach--falling short, however, due to Drewermann's overwhelming popular support, of defrocking him as a priest.

After more than three decades as a priest, Drewermann quietly left the Catholic Church on his 65th birthday, June 20, 2005, a decision he announced on German television only in December 2005. Disillusioned by the Vatican's lack of willingness to engage in genuine dialogue with those wishing to reform the church from within, Drewermann believes that the Catholic Church will continue, at the expense of the human person, its single-minded focus on preserving institutional power.

Son of a Lutheran father and a Catholic mother, Drewermann, after finishing highschool (Abitur) in Germany, studied philosophy in Münster, theology in Paderborn and psychoanalysis in Göttingen. In 1972 he became a priest in Paderborn. At the same time, he worked as a psychotherapist, and from 1979 also held lectures in comparative religious studies and dogmatics at the Catholic Theological Faculty in Paderborn.

Gifted with the memory and oratory skills of a genius, the logical precision of a philosopher and scientist, and the understanding empathy of a therapist, Drewermann draws large crowds wherever he gives talks or appears on TV. He is well-known for speaking deeply to the human heart and spirit without sacrificing reason.

Influenced by Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and more recent psychoanalysts, Drewermann radically reinterprets biblical texts according to psychoanalytic, poetic, and existential criteria. His method of interpretation has been clearly outlined in the 1987-1988 two-volume work Tiefenpsychologie und Exegese. His interpretations are as immediate as poetry and aim to rediscover particularly the therapeutic message of Jesus and of the Hebrew prophets, both for the individual and for society at large.

Among his more than 80 books are dozens of titles presenting non-moralistic reinterpretations of nearly all biblical texts, including a monumental three-volume scholarly treatise on Genesis 2-11 (Strukturen des Bösen, 1977-8) and a two-volume commentary on the Gospel of Mark; a number of titles on urgent social issues such as war (Der Krieg und das Christentum, 1981), the environment (Der tödliche Fortschritt, 1982), and burning moral issues such as abortion, living will, suicide (Psychoanalyse und Moraltheologie', 1982-4, 3 vols); and, most recently, half a dozen volumes on the question of God in light of the findings of modern anthropology (1998), biology (1999), cosmology (2002), neurology (2006); a depth psychological analysis of more than twenty of the most well-known fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and one by Hans Christian Andersen.

Since 1992, Drewermann has been working as a freelance author and speaker. He has frequent appearances in German TV talk shows and is invited to lecture all over Germany, Europe, and the world. He was the host of his own call-in radio program in Berlin, and after the September 11, 2001 attacks he used his program to advance the theory that the attacks were an expression of complex systemic and historical dynamics in which both sides in the terror war have contributed to the conflict. As a Westerner, he called on the West to take responsibility for its own contribution to the development of the current crisis and stressed especially the role of American foreign policy in the Middle East. He urged the U.S. not to retaliate, but rather to act wisely in order to avoid the unending escalation of violence that would develop through an approach that tries to bomb peace and democracy into the Middle East.

He appeared twice with the Dalai Lama in Zurich and co-authored a book on the dialogue among religions with His Holiness.

Works by Drewermann (Selected)
In English
 * 1991: Open Heavens: Meditations for Advent and Christmas (1st German edition, 1990). Trans. by David J. Krieger. Ed. by Joan Marie Laflamme and Bernd Marz.
 * 1993: Discovering the Royal Child Within: a Spiritual Psychology of 'The Little Prince' (1st German edition, 1984). Trans. by P. Heinegg.
 * 1994: Discovering the God Child Within: A Spiritual Psychology of the Infancy of Jesus (1st German edition, 1986). Trans. by P. Heinegg.
 * 1994: Dying We Live: Meditations for Lent and Easter (1st German edition, 1993). Trans. by Linda M. Maloney and John Drury. Ed. by Linda M. Maloney.

In German
 * 1977-1978: Strukturen des Bösen (Habilitationsschrift)
 * 1981: Das Mädchen ohne Hände
 * 1981: Der tödliche Fortschritt: Von der Zerstörung der Erde und des Menschen im Erbe des Christentums
 * 1982-1984: Psychoanalyse und Moraltheologie (3 Bände)
 * 1984: Das Eigentliche ist unsichtbar. Der kleine Prinz tiefenpsychologisch gedeutet
 * 1984-1985: Tiefenpsychologie und Exegese
 * 1987/88: Das Markusevangelium
 * 1989: Kleriker: Psychogramm eines Ideals
 * 1989: Ich steige hinab in die Barke der Sonne. Meditationen zu Tod und Auferstehung
 * 1991: Die Spirale der Angst. Der Krieg und das Christentum
 * 1992: Giordano Bruno oder Der Spiegel des Unendlichen. Roman
 * 1992: Wenn der Himmel die Erde berührt. Meditationen zu den Gleichnissen Jesu
 * 1992: Die Botschaft der Frauen. Das Wissen der Liebe.
 * 1992: Lieb Schwesterlein, laß mich herein - Grimms Märchen tiefenpsychologisch gedeutet (enthält Interpretationen zu Das Mädchen ohne Hände, Marienkind, Der Trommler, Brüderchen und Schwesterchen, Die kluge Else und Frau Holle)
 * 1992: Rapunzel, Rapunzel, laß dein Haar herunter - Grimms Märchen tiefenpsychologisch gedeutet. (Enthält Interpretationen zu Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot, Der goldene Vogel, Die Kristallkugel, Rapunzel, Dat Mäken von Brakel, Meister Pfriem, Der Herr Gevatter, Gevatter Tod und Fundevogel)
 * 1992-1995: Das Matthäusevangelium
 * 1993: Dogma, Angst und Symbolismus (Glauben in Freiheit 1)
 * 1996: Jesus von Nazareth: Befreiung zum Frieden (Jesus of Nazareth: Liberation for Peace). (Glauben in Freiheit 2 [Liberating Faith, vol. 2]).
 * 1998: Der sechste Tag: Die Herkunft des Menschen und die Frage nach Gott (The Sixth Day: The Origin of Humanity and the Question of God). (Glauben in Freiheit 3: Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Part 1 [Liberating Faith, vol. 3: Religion and Natural Science, part 1]).
 * 1998: Daß auch der Allerniedrigste mein Bruder sei. Dostojewski - Dichter der Menschlichkeit
 * 1999: ... und es geschah so: Die moderne Biologie und die Frage nach Gott (... And It Was So: Modern Biology and the Question of God.)(Glauben in Freiheit, vol. 3: Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Part 2: Biologie und Theologie [Liberating Faith, vol. 3: Religion and Natural Science, part 2: Biology and Theology]).
 * 2001: Wozu Religion? Eugen Drewermann im Gespräch mit Jürgen Hoeren (Herder spektrum)
 * 2002: Im Anfang ...: Die moderne Kosmologie und die Frage nach Gott(In the Beginning ...: Modern Cosmology and the Question of God). (Glauben in Freiheit 3: Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Part 3: Kosmologie und Theologie [Liberating Faith, vol. 3: Religion and Natural Science, part 3: Cosmology and Theology]).
 * 2003: Religiös bedingte neurotische Erkrankungen
 * 2003: Aschenputtel
 * 2003: Der Froschkönig
 * 2003: Eugen Drewermann - Rebell oder Prophet? Der unbequeme Theologe im Gespräch mit Felizitas von Schönborn (edition q)
 * 2004: Hänsel und Gretel
 * 2004: Moby Dick
 * 2004: Wenn die Sterne Götter wären. Moderne Kosmologie und Glaube. Im Gespräch mit Jürgen Hoeren. Herder, ISBN 3451283484
 * 2005: Dornröschen
 * 2006: Heilende Religion - Überwindung der Angst
 * 2006: Atem des Lebens - Das Gehirn: Die moderne Neurologie und die Frage nach Gott. (Breath of Life: Modern Neurology and the Question of God: Section 1: The Brain) (Glauben in Freiheit 3: Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Part 4: Neurologie und Theologie, Section 1 [Liberating Faith, vol. 3: Religion and Natural Science, Part 4/1: Neurology and Theology]). Patmos, ISBN 3491210003
 * Eugen Drewermann. "Die Rechtlosigkeit der Kreatur im christlichen Abendland oder: von einer wichtigen Ausnahme". Interdisziplinäre Arbeitsgemeinschaft Tierethik (Hrsg.). Tierrechte - Eine interdisziplinäre Herausforderung. Erlangen 2007. ISBN 978-3-89131-417-3

Links to Drewermann talks, videos & audio

 * Eugen Drewermann Pages Video & Audio links: most complete site of video & audio links available--continuously updated
 * Video of his lecture "Wie hältst Du's mit den Tieren oder: von der Notwendigkeit einer neuen Ethik" at the Interdisciplinary Lectures on Animal Rights at the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg on the 19th of October 2006

Useful external links

 * Eugen Drewermann Pages: first comprehensive English site with links to news, quotations, books, and video & audio.
 * Eine Webseite zum Werk Eugen Drewermanns: comprehensive German website.

Secondary Literature on Drewermann


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