Paul Ludwing Landsberg, a Knight Errant of the Spirit in Barcelona
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Paul Ludwig Landsberg (Bonn, 1901-Oranienburg, 1944) was a prominent student
of the German philosopher Max Scheler. Born into a Jewish family, Landsberg was
a professor at the University of Bonn until 1933, when he left his country at the
time of Hitlers rise to power. In spring 1934, Joaquim Xirau, dean of the Faculty
of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Barcelona, invited him to give lectures
and teach classes in the Seminar on Education. During the academic years
1934-35 and 1935-36, Landsberg led classes in Barcelona on St. Augustine, Maine
de Biran, Nietzsche and Scheler. His personality and his teaching were to leave a
lasting impression in the memory of an entire generation of young university students
who joined in the intellectual climate fostered by university autonomy and
by Joaquim Xiraus encouragement. Drawing closely on Phenomenology, Existentialism
and Personalism, Landsberg was especially known for his reflections on the
experience of death and the moral problem of suicide. His own tragic end in the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he died of starvation and exhaustion,
further underscores the unity of thought and life that typified his work.
of the German philosopher Max Scheler. Born into a Jewish family, Landsberg was
a professor at the University of Bonn until 1933, when he left his country at the
time of Hitlers rise to power. In spring 1934, Joaquim Xirau, dean of the Faculty
of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Barcelona, invited him to give lectures
and teach classes in the Seminar on Education. During the academic years
1934-35 and 1935-36, Landsberg led classes in Barcelona on St. Augustine, Maine
de Biran, Nietzsche and Scheler. His personality and his teaching were to leave a
lasting impression in the memory of an entire generation of young university students
who joined in the intellectual climate fostered by university autonomy and
by Joaquim Xiraus encouragement. Drawing closely on Phenomenology, Existentialism
and Personalism, Landsberg was especially known for his reflections on the
experience of death and the moral problem of suicide. His own tragic end in the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he died of starvation and exhaustion,
further underscores the unity of thought and life that typified his work.
Article Details
Com citar
Escribano, Xavier. «Paul Ludwing Landsberg, a Knight Errant of the Spirit in Barcelona». Journal of Catalan Intellectual History = Revista d’història de la filosofia catalana, 2015, vol.VOL 5, núm. 9/10, p. 9-34, http://raco.cat/index.php/JOCIH/article/view/299870.