Karl Friedrich Eusebius Trahndorff (18 October 1782 – 1863) was a German philosopher and theologian.

He was born in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. The son of a musician, from the age of twelve Trahndorff attended the school in Oels (now Oleśnica), where his father had been appointed chapel director by the Prinz von Brunswick-Lüneburg

Brunswick-Lüneburg

The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...

, Frederick August I. From 1801 he studied theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and philology

Philology

Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...

 in Königsberg

Königsberg

Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...

, and on completion of his studies he began a career as a high-school teacher, mostly at the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin but with several years in Białystok.

As a religious and philosophical writer, Trahndorff belonged to the supernatural

Supernatural

The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...

ist camp, opposed to theological rationalism

Neology

Neology , the name given to the rationalist theology of Germany or the rationalisation of the Christian religion. It was preceded by slightly less radical Wolffism....

 and emphasizing the indeducible, supernatural and mystical nature of religious revelation, by implication minimizing the ability of human reason to grasp the content of faith. His polemical work Theos, nicht Kosmos! attempted to combat the growing popularity of Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt

Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...

's Kosmos

Kosmos (Humboldt)

Kosmos was an influential treatise on science and nature written by the German scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Kosmos began as a lecture series delivered by Humboldt at the University of Berlin, and was published in five volumes between 1845 and 1862...

, which he considered incompatible with scripture.

Trahndorff's Ästhetik oder Lehre von Weltanschauung und Kunst is relevant to students of German Romanticism

German Romanticism

For the general context, see Romanticism.In the philosophy, art, and culture of German-speaking countries, German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism developed relatively late compared to its English counterpart, coinciding in its...

; it used the word Gesamtkunstwerk

Gesamtkunstwerk

A Gesamtkunstwerk is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so...

for what is believed to be the first time.

Works

• Der Schild des heiligen Winfried, Berlin 1825
• Ästhetik oder Lehre von Weltanschauung und Kunst 2 Bde., Berlin 1827
• Wie kann der Supranaturalismus sein Recht gegen Hegel's Religionsphilosophie behaupten?, Berlin 1840
• Schelling und Hegel oder das System Hegels als letztes Resultat des Grundirrtums in allem bisherigen Philosophieren, Berlin 1842
• Der welthistorische Zweifel, oder: Ist Gott nur Idee oder objektive Realität?, Barmen 1852
• Über die Bedeutung Berlins in der grossen Krisis unserer Zeit, Berlin 1852
• Der Mensch, das Ebenbild des dreieinigen Gottes. Versuch einer dogmatischen Berichtigung, Berlin 1853
• Der Teufel — kein dogmatisches Hirngespinst — Offenes Sendschreiben an den Herrn Dr Sydow, Prediger an der Neuen Kirche zu Berlin, Berlin 1853
• Theos, nicht Kosmos! Denkschrift als Zeugnis für die Wahrheit, Berlin 1859