Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg

thumb|Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg.

Ernst Wilhelm Theodor Herrmann Hengstenberg (20 October 1802 in Fröndenberg – 28 May 1869 in Berlin), was a German Lutheran churchman and neo-Lutheran theologian from an old and important Dortmund family.

Career

Hengstenberg was born at Fröndenberg, a Westphalian town, to Johann Heinrich Karl Hengstenberg, who was a minister of the Reformed Church. His mother was Wilhelmine then Bergh. His father was also head of the Fröndenberg convent of canonesses (Fräuleinstift) and educated Ernst at home.

Entering the University of Bonn in 1819, Hengstenberg attended the lectures of Georg Wilhelm Freytag for Oriental languages and of Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler for church history, but his energies were principally devoted to philosophy and philology.