Famous German Spiritual & Religious Leaders

Twentieth-century bishop of Münster, Clemens August Graf von Galen, a figure of Catholic resistance, strongly opposed the Nazi T4 program of euthanizing the sick and the physically and mentally disabled. He escaped being executed, as the Nazis had planned to hang him after winning World War II, which never happened.

Initially the owner of a furniture business, Martin Franz Julius Luther later joined the Nazi Party. He had been the advisor to Joachim von Ribbentrop. In 1947, a discovery of documents proved he had been part of the Wannsee Conference that had planned the Final Solution for the Jewish genocide.

Born into one of the noblest Austrian families, Nikolaus Zinzendorf devoted his life to the welfare of the poor. Recognized as a distinguished leader of the Moravian church and a reformer of the Pietist movement, he created a worldwide missionary network that he hoped would sustain an ecumenical Protestant movement.

Therese Neumann was 20 when she had her first major hysterical episode, after suffering a shock following a fire outbreak. She later often experienced incidents of stigmata, in which her eyes began to bleed and wounds began appearing on her body, mimicking the injuries of Christ.  

Bruno of Cologne was the founder of the Carthusian Order. He personally founded the first two communities of the order. Not much is known about his personal life except that he studied theology in Reims. Most likely ordained a priest in 1055, he soon became the head of the Episcopal school. He was much respected as a teacher. 

Samson Raphael Hirsch is best remembered as the pioneer of the Neo-Orthodox school of Judaism. He also opposed Reform Judaism and their application of historical techniques in the study of religious texts. The Nineteen Letters on Judaism, written under the pseudonym Ben Uziel is his most notable work.

Abraham Geiger was a German rabbi and scholar credited to be the founding father of Reform Judaism. He emphasized Judaism’s constant evolution over the years and sought to reformulate the tenets of the religion to make it compliant with contemporary times. He was responsible for much of the reform doctrine of the mid-19th century. 

Tenth-century bishop Ulrich of Augsburg went down in history as the first saint to be canonized by a pope. He had been a mediator in the conflict between King Otto I the Great and his rebel son Liudolf. He is revered as the patron saint of weavers, among others. 

An outstanding scholar and a prolific writer, Jacob Israel Emden was a leading German Rabbi, mostly remembered for his fierce opposition to the Shabbatean movement and his bitter dispute with Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschütz. Also interested in secular works, he had 31 works to his credit, five of which were published posthumously.

German Catholic priest Rupert Mayer is remembered for his lifelong opposition to Nazism. He had been an army chaplain during World War I and had earned the nickname The Limping Priest after losing a leg to a grenade attack. The Nazis had sent him to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Tenth-century archbishop of Cologne Saint Bruno the Great, also known as Bruno of Saxony, was the brother of Roman emperor Otto I and the youngest son of Henry the Fowler. He established countless institutions, such as the St. Pantaleon in Cologne. In Otto’s absence, Bruno served as the regent.

German-born Buddhist monk Bhikkhu Analayo was ordained in Sri Lanka, where he also completed his PhD in Satipatthana-sutta. He has taught courses on Buddhism at the University of Hamburg. He also organizes medication classes and has co-founded the Āgama Research Group. His notable written works include From Craving to Liberation.

Duke Carl Alexander of Wurttemberg had been part of the German army in World War I. He escaped Nazi Germany and moved to Switzerland and later to the U.S. Remembered for his relentless work to help German Jews and refugees move to the U.S., he had also been an FBI spy.

Eleventh-century German bishop Thietmar of Merseburg is best remembered for penning the history of the Ottonian dynasty, which remains a chief source of information about the age. He is credited with being the first to use the word "Teutonici" to differentiate between Germans and non-Germans in the Holy Roman Empire.

Thirteenth-century rabbi and mystic Eleazar of Worms is best known for his copious works such as Sefer Ḥasidim, which offer detailed accounts of the Hasidei Ashkenaz movement of German Jews. His work on Jewish ethics, Ha-Roḳeaḥ, or The Perfumer, earned him the nickname Eleazar Rokeaḥ.

Eighteenth-century mystic George Rapp is best remembered as the founder of the religious sect of Rappites, or Harmonists. Initially a weaver in Germany, he later moved to the U.S. to escape persecution. Following his death, his followers decreased, due to the Harmonists’ vow of celibacy and little or no conversion.

Immanuel Jakobovits made headlines when he became the first rabbi to be part of the House of Lords, as Baron Jakobovits. He invited criticism when, in spite of being a Jew, he spoke against Israeli occupation of Arab lands. He was also knighted and made a life peer.

Born in Eberbach, Conrad Beissel had initially worked as a baker in Heidelberg and later moved to America. Part of the Schwarzenau Brethren, or the German Baptists, he later led his own group of people who formed the German Seventh Day Baptists and observed the Sabbath as a holy day.

Bohemian-German rabbi Zecharias Frankel is remembered for his study of the history of Judaism. His version of positive-historical Judaism retained traditional customs but also relied on scientific research to make changes. He was also one of the first Jewish scholars to write on the Septuagint, the Old Testament’s first Greek version.

Indian Catholic sister Mary Prema Pierick is the current Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, which was established by Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Born Mechthild Pierick, in Germany, Prema was drawn to Saint Teresa’s mission and her simplicity after meeting her in Berlin in her late 20s.

German mathematician Michael Stifel was also a staunch Lutheran. He became a monk in his 20s. Apart from explaining algebra in German, he penned Arithmetica Integra, which detailed his work in logarithms. He was also one of the first to have used the + and – signs.

It is believed Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller’s father had died when his mother was pregnant with him. Raised by his grandfather, he later grew up to be a Bohemian rabbi. Best known for Tosafos Yom Tov, a classic commentary on the Mishnah, Heller was a Talmudic scholar of the Golden Age.

German mystic Barbara von Krüdener, born to a wealthy baron and married to a Russian diplomat, renounced her affluent lifestyle to step into the world of spirituality. She converted many, including Tsar Alexander I, and was a key force behind the Holy Alliance of Russia, Austria, and Prussia.

Josel of Rosheim was a 16th-century German Jewish advocate, or shtadlan, known for his fight for the rights of German Jews. A Czech-French by birth, he had initially been a money lender, apart from being a rabbi. He is also remembered for his efforts to counter anti-Semitism.

German theologian Hans Denck was a staunch supporter of Anabaptism and opposed Lutheranism. Initially a school headmaster, he later became a mystic and a leader of the Reformation movement. His notable works include On True Love and various translations. He died of bubonic plague at the age of 32.

Wolfgang Capito was a German Protestant reformer in the Reformed tradition active during the early 16th century. After studying medicine and law, he went on to receive a doctorate in theology. He served as a pastor for a few years and became the cathedral preacher of Basel Minster. Along with Martin Bucer, he drew up the Confessio Tetrapolitana. 

Born in Ludwigshafen, Germany, twentieth-century German Roman Catholic bishop Ernst Gutting had served as the Auxiliary Bishop of Diocese of Speyer. He had also been the titular bishop of Sufar. At the time of his death in 2013, Gutting, aged 94, was the oldest-surviving German Catholic bishop.

Samuel Holdheim was a German rabbi and author active in the 19th century. He is considered one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement in Judaism. He was a pioneer in modern Jewish homiletics and often found himself at odds with the Orthodox community. He upheld progressive views due to which he was considered a controversial figure.

Johann Georg Gichtel was a German mystic and religious leader. He was a vocal critic of Lutheranism. As a young man, he was trained to be a lawyer, but he later abandoned his profession to promote the Christerbauliche Jesusgesellschaft (Christian Edification Society of Jesus). Later on, he became an ardent disciple of mystic Jakob Böhme. 

Following the death of Pope Sergius IV, Gregory VI was fielded as the next papal candidate by the Crescentii family. However, Gregory fled to Germany after the Tusculani chose Benedict VII as their candidate. Gregory was eventually persuaded by Emperor St. Henry II to withdraw his claim from the papacy.

A trusted advisor to the German king Arnulf of Bavaria and the Archbishop of Mainz, Hatto I played an important role during the king’s reign. After Arnulf’s death, he became the Regent for his young son, King Louis the Child and after Louis’ death secured the election of Conrad, duke of Franconia, as the East Frankish king.

Beginning his career as an influential counselor at the court of Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg and Maximilian I, Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg was later appointed a cardinal by Pope Julius II. Eventually, he rose to the position of Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg; but soon he became unpopular with Salzburg diocese for his arrogance, and had to fight hard to retain his post.  

Apart from being the bishop of Bamberg and Würzburg, Friedrich Karl von Schönborn had also served as the vice chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire for almost 3 decades. He made Bamberger Akademie into a university and introduced new regulations for the University of Würzburg.

Rabbi Yehudah Jacobs was a mashgiach ruchani (spiritual guide) in Beth Medrash Govoha. Born in Germany, he later moved to USA, where he was appointed the mashgiach of Beth Medrash Govoha. He became known for  the thousands of vaadim he gave to students, who considered him “the wisest of men.” He died due to COVID-19 in 2020. 

Born in Aldingen in Germany, Berchtold Haller is best remembered as a Protestant reformer of Bern, Switzerland. He gained an interest in theology after becoming acquainted with Lutheran reformer Philipp Melanchthon in Pforzheim, where he completed his schooling. He had initially also taught at gymnasiums in Bern and Rottweil.

As the Archbishop of Mainz and the Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Berthold Von Henneberg, played an important role in securing the election of Maximilian I as king of the Romans. Later elected as imperial chancellor, he tied to bring about internal reforms and increase the powers of the clerical and lay nobility without much success.

Though he was made the abbot of the monastery of Hirsau after Abbot Frederick was deposed, William of Hirsau refused to take over till Frederick’s death. He supported the papal authorities in the Investiture Controversy and also ushered in the Hirsau Reforms. Constitutiones Hirsaugienses is one of his notable works.

Johannes Beck was a German Jesuit and social ethicist. As a young man, he received theological training and was ordained at the St. Michael's Church in Munich in 1956. He advocated for social justice and Catholic social teaching. For several decades, he served as a spiritual advisor to the Catholic Workers' Movement (KAB). He died during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Born in Eisenstadt, Kingdom of Hungary, Isaiah Berlin grew up to become a businessman-turned-rabbi. The German Talmudist was hugely popular, even among people who didn’t subscribe to his religious beliefs, such as members of the Jewish Enlightenment movement. He also had a peculiar habit of annotating every book he read.

As a child, rabbi and Reform Judaism leader Alfred Gottschalk escaped Nazi Germany and moved to the U.S., after losing multiple family members in the Holocaust. He later played a major role in setting up the United States Holocaust Museum. He also ordained the first female rabbi in the U.S.

German philosopher and rabbi Solomon Formstecher is best known for his work The Religion of the Spirit. He was a doctorate from Giessen University. According to him, only two basic religions, Paganism and Judaism, existed. He also believed in the importance of ethics in Judaism.