Curated playlist
20th-century German male writers
- Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was rejected twice by Vienna's art academy. He later became dictator of Germany.
- Herbert MarcuseHerbert Marcuse analyzed Nazi ideology for American spies before students made him a hero.
- Rudolf CarnapRudolf Carnap argued that most deep philosophical questions were meaningless.
- Gerd B. AchenbachIn 1981, Gerd B. Achenbach opened the world's first philosophical practice. Anyone could walk in and do philosophy.
- Willy BrandtWilly Brandt, later West Germany's chancellor, fled Nazi Germany under a false name. He made it legal in 1948.
- Paul TillichTheologian Paul Tillich argued that the God most people debate is not God at all.
- Rudolf BultmannRudolf Bultmann told students it hardly mattered what Jesus did in his life.
- Hermann WeylMathematician Hermann Weyl fled Germany in 1933 after once refusing to leave. His wife was Jewish.
- Hans JonasHans Jonas walked back into Germany as a British Army soldier. The Jewish philosopher had fled the country in 1933.
- Roland EmmerichWatching Star Wars made Roland Emmerich quit set design for directing. He later became Hollywood's "master of disaster."
- Erich FrommErich Fromm argued that falling in love is not love at all. His 1956 book The Art of Loving became a bestseller.
- Erwin PanofskyIn 1934, Erwin Panofsky argued a famous Flemish painting was really a legal contract.
- Eric GutkindEinstein told philosopher Eric Gutkind the Bible was "a collection of venerable but still rather primitive legends."
- Timothy ReuterHistorian Timothy Reuter translated a German scholar's book on the medieval church into English.