“Schuster, bleib bei deinem Leisten!” Does this saying ring a bell? Here at the Jakub Boehme Installation in Görlitz, we celebrate a man who defied that very notion.
The Jakub Boehme Installation commemorates Jakob Boehme. He was no ordinary shoemaker. Boehme was a philosopher a mystic and a theosophist. Hegel even called him the “first German philosopher.” Why? Because he dared to write philosophical works in German.
Born in Alt Seidenberg near Görlitz in 1575, Boehme’s humble beginnings never defined him. Apprenticed to a shoemaker due to his frail health, he settled in Görlitz in 1594. He became a master shoemaker. He acquired citizenship. He married Catharina Kuntzschmann and started a family. But Boehme’s mind was not confined to lasts and leather.
Around 1612, a transformation occurred. Boehme penned his insights in a manuscript later known as “Aurora or Morning Dawn.” Imagine a shoemaker, without formal education, crafting profound philosophical concepts. This work contained the seeds of his later thinking. Boehme never intended to publish it. His friend Karl Ender von Sercha saw the manuscript. Sercha insisted on taking it. Against Boehme’s wishes, Sercha copied the manuscript. It circulated in Görlitz.
Gregor Richter, the chief pastor of the Peter and Paul Church, deemed the work heretical. He denounced Boehme to the city council. Boehme faced arrest and a seven-year writing ban in 1612. In 1613, Boehme sold his shoemaking equipment. He assisted his wife in her yarn trade.
Friends persuaded Boehme to write again in 1618. He wrote with newfound confidence. He had familiarized himself with Paracelsus and Neoplatonism. His second work appeared in 1619. It was called “Description of the Three Principles of Divine Being.”
The 1624 publication of “The Way to Christ” triggered renewed attacks. Although Richter died, Boehme faced growing hostility from the community. He defended himself in “Theosophical Letters.” These writings sparked great interest among his followers. Even on his deathbed, Boehme faced interrogation about his beliefs. Richter’s successor denied him a Christian burial. Finally, he was buried. The enraged townspeople defiled his grave in the Nikolaikirchhof.
Boehme’s philosophy often gets labeled as pantheism. He vehemently rejected this accusation. His worldview reflected early bourgeois ideas. He lived through the Reformation’s aftermath. He saw the Peasant War and the rise of Protestantism. Boehme opposed the rigid Protestantism of his time.
Boehme’s teachings resonated with the petty-bourgeois opposition. Some Silesian nobles joined. Key influences included Nikolaus von Kues and Paracelsus.
Böhme’s thoughts weren’t always obvious in his writings. They intertwined with mystical and alchemical ideas. Lacking formal education, he used a blend of Lutheran and alchemical terms. His vivid language appealed to the common people.
Even Hegel called Boehme’s language “barbaric.” Yet, Boehme’s ideas revolved around the origins of the world. They touched on good and evil. They explored contradiction as essential. Boehme emphasized Sophia, the feminine principle of wisdom. He also valued human freedom.
The principles of light and darkness permeate life. Heaven and hell are ever-present. It is only a matter of will.
Standing here at the Jakub Boehme Installation remember the legacy of a Görlitz shoemaker who dared to think beyond his trade. He challenged conventions. He delved into the mysteries of existence. Jakob Boehme’s spirit of independent thought still inspires us today.