F. A. Trendelenburg: character and development

Johann Erich von Berger (1772–1833), professor of astronomy and philosophy, was, together with Karl Leonhard Reinhold, one of the two teachers who decisively influenced Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg (1802–1872) during his studies at the University of Kiel, near his home (Easter 1822 to Michaelmas 1823). Trendelenburg, who attracted attention primarily because of his above average abilities in ancient philology, had been prepared for his university studies by the (virtually) private tuition of Georg Ludwig König, a Kantian-inclined schoolteacher who influenced his pupils in a similar direction. König also knew how to direct his student in the realm of educational theory and practice, entrusting Trendelenburg in his final year with the task of teaching the younger pupils.

Trendelenburg studied further in Leipzig and Berlin, where on 10 May 1826, he completed his philological and philosophical studies with a dissertation on Plato and Aristotle. After a long period as a private tutor in Frankfurt, he was awarded, in 1833, at the instigation of Minister von Altenstein, an associate professorship in Berlin, as well as a position in the Ministry of Culture. He taught in Berlin from 1837 until his death as a full professor of practical philosophy and educational theory. In a rich academic career, Trendelenburg was three times rector of the university, five times dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, after 1846 a full member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, and from 1847 until 1871 he was secretary of its Philosophical and Historical section. His sphere of activity reached well beyond the university, and as far as the Prussian Gymnasium (academic school) system: for more than thirty years (1835–66) he was a member of the examinations board for prospective teachers, and for ten years he chaired that body, which was also responsible for supervising the school-leaving examination. Trendelenburg can be described as a figure who influenced, if not dominated, the academic and cultural life of the first uniting, and then later united, German (Prussian) national state, over a period of decades.