Heinrich Bassermann

Who was Heinrich Bassermann?

Heinrich Gustav Bassermann was a German Lutheran theologian born in Frankfurt am Main.

From 1868 to 1873 he was a student at the Universities of Jena, Zurich and Heidelberg. At Jena he was a pupil of Karl August Hase, and in Heidelberg studied under Heinrich Julius Holtzmann. During this time period he also served with a dragoon unit in the Franco-Prussian War.

In 1873-76 he was an assistant pastor in Arolsen, and later worked as a lecturer of New Testament exegesis at the University of Jena. Soon afterwards he was appointed associate professor of practical theology at Heidelberg, where in 1880 he became a full professor and university preacher.

Bassermann was co-founder of the Allgemeinen evangelisch-protestantischen Missionsvereins, and from 1879 was editor of the Zeitschrift für praktische Theologie in collaboration with Rudolf Ehlers. He died in Samaden, Switzerland on August 30, 1909.