BAUMGARTEN, MICHAEL. - Protestant theologian, born at Haseldorf (Holstein) on 25 March 1812 and died at Rostock on 21 July 1889. Throughout his life he stood out for his uncompromising advocacy of religious tolerance and his opposition to that Caesarism in the Church which—just as in ancient Byzantium—had taken root in Lutheranism.
In support of these concerns he wrote, among other works, *Liturgie und Predigt* (1843) and *Theologischer Kommentar zum Pentateuch* (2 vols., 1843–44). Owing to this unyielding stance and his militant program of action in favor of spirituality in the Church, in 1858 he was compelled to leave his professorship at Rostock. Ironically, between 1874 and 1881 he then found himself representing the Liberal Party—comprising also rationalistic elements—in the German Reich.