DAUMER, GEORG FRIEDRICH. - Philosopher and poet, b. March 5, 1800 in Nuremberg, d. in Würzburg on Dec. 14, 1875.
In Nuremberg, as a student, he came under the influence of his teachers Hegel and Schelling. He then continued his studies in Leipzig, where he abandoned theology for philosophy. Having returned to Nuremberg, he taught there from 1822 at the college, and from 1827 at the gymnasium. Because of illness and disagreements with the rector, he withdrew in 1830 in order to devote himself solely to poetry and to study, especially of philosophy and the history of religions. After attempting a reconciliation of pantheism with theism (Andeutung eines Systemes spekulativer Philosophie, Nuremberg 1831), he sought to conceive a new religion of the future (Züge einer neuen Philosophie der Religion und Religionsgeschichte, 1835; Die Religion des neuen Weltalters, 3 vols., Hamburg 1850). In 1858 he converted to Catholicism, which he had previously fought against.
D. left many works, both of a religious-philosophical character and of a poetic character. Among the former, special mention is deserved by: Philosophie, Religion und Altertum (2 vols., Nuremberg 1833); Die Geheimnisse des christlichen Altertums (1846 [placed on the Index by the decree of March 5, 1857]), elaborated in French by Hermann Ewerbeck under the title: Qu'est-ce que la Bible d'après la nouvelle philosophie allemande? (Paris 1850 [placed on the Index by the decree of Dec. 2, 1857]). After his conversion he published, among other things: Meine Konversion (Mainz 1859); Die dreifache Krone Roms (Münster 1859); Das Wunder (ibid. 1874); Der Zukunftsidealismus der Vorwelt (ibid. 1874). Among the poetic works, the following excel: Die Glorie der hl. Jungfrau Maria (1841), which had a very widely circulated second edition under the title Marianische Legenden und Gedichte nach alten latein., italien., span., französ. u. deutschen Darstellungen u. Original-Poesien (Münster 1859); Blumen und Früchte aus dem Garten christl. Weltanschauung und Lebensentwicklung (Mainz 1863). His best lyric poetry is found in Frauenbilder und Huldigungen (3 vols., Leipzig 1853 and 1858), from which Brahms chose several poems as texts for his musical compositions.