Teaching
A Dominican theologian and preacher. In his German sermons and treatises he speaks of detachment (abegescheidenheit) and of letting go, and of the birth of the Word in the ground of the soul, where the soul is united with God. In his Talks of Instruction he says that holiness should rest on being, not on doing. 1, 2
Who it is for
For readers drawn to Christian mysticism and its language of detachment and the ground of the soul, who are willing to read medieval texts in a translation or with a commentary.
Life and places
- He was born around 1260, most likely in or near Tambach near Erfurt, probably entered the Dominican order in Erfurt and studied theology in Paris; in 1293/94 he became prior of the Dominican house in Erfurt. 1
- In 1302 and again in 1311 he held the Dominican chair of theology in Paris; in between he was provincial of the newly established Dominican province of Saxony. 1
- From 1313 he worked in Strasbourg as vicar of the master general of his order, in close contact with women's convents and Beguine communities; around 1323/24 he moved to Cologne. 1
- He most likely died on 28 January 1328, while propositions from his works were being examined at the papal court in Avignon. In 1329 Pope John XXII condemned 28 of them in the bull In agro dominico, without declaring Eckhart himself a heretic. 1
Works
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Daz buoch der götlîchen trœstunge (Book of Divine Consolation)
Text · Franz Pfeiffer (ed.), Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. 2, Göschen, Leipzig 1857
A book of consolation in German, which opens with Paul's blessing of the God of all comfort in his second letter to the Corinthians.
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Die rede der underscheidunge (Talks of Instruction)
Text · Franz Pfeiffer (ed.), Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. 2, Göschen, Leipzig 1857
Talks on obedience, prayer, letting go of oneself, detachment and the inner life, which according to their heading he held as prior of Erfurt with 'children' who asked him many things.
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Predigten (German Sermons)
Text · Franz Pfeiffer (ed.), Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. 2, Göschen, Leipzig 1857
His sermons in Middle High German. Pfeiffer's edition of 1857 prints 110 of them; the critical edition is Die deutschen Werke I–IV.
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Von abegescheidenheit (On Detachment)
Text · Franz Pfeiffer (ed.), Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. 2, Göschen, Leipzig 1857
A treatise in which he asks which virtue brings a person closest to God and finds it in pure detachment, which he praises even above love.
The short summaries are ours.
In their own words
Short passages in the words of Meister Eckhart, each with its source. Where the quoted text is not in the language of this page, a translation follows and says whose it is.
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Bist du gerecht, so sind auch deine Werke gerecht. Denke nicht, dein Heil zu setzen auf ein Tun: man muß es setzen auf ein Sein. Denn die Werke heiligen uns nicht, sondern wir müssen die Werke heiligen.
If you are just, your works are just too. Do not think to place your salvation in doing: one must place it in being. For the works do not sanctify us; we must sanctify the works.
Translation: ours
Die rede der underscheidunge (Talks of Instruction) · Büttner, vol. 2 (Jena 1921), p. 10, chapter 3 'Werk und Wesen' · archive.org Quoted translation: Modern German translation by Herman Büttner, Meister Eckeharts Schriften und Predigten, vol. 2, 'Geistliche Unterweisung' (Eugen Diederichs, Jena; first edition 1909, here the printing of 1921). Checked word for word by eye on the page scan; the OCR of the Fraktur type is unusable. Corresponds to Pfeiffer 1857, p. 546, lines 21–24. -
Fahnde auf dich, und wo du dich findest, da gib dich auf! Das ist das Heilsamste.
Seek yourself out, and wherever you find yourself, there give yourself up! That is the most wholesome thing.
Translation: ours
Die rede der underscheidunge (Talks of Instruction) · Büttner, vol. 2 (Jena 1921), p. 10, lines 2–4 (end of chapter 2) · archive.org Quoted translation: Modern German translation by Herman Büttner, Meister Eckeharts Schriften und Predigten, vol. 2, 'Geistliche Unterweisung' (Eugen Diederichs, Jena; first edition 1909, here the printing of 1921). Checked word for word by eye on the page scan; the OCR of the Fraktur type is unusable. Corresponds to Pfeiffer 1857, p. 546, lines 8–9. -
Und wenn ich allem, was darüber geschrieben ist, auf den Grund gehe, soweit meine Vernunft mit ihrem Zeugnis und ihrem Urteil reichen mag, so finde ich keine andere als lautere, alles Erschaffenen ledige Abgeschiedenheit.
And when I go to the ground of all that has been written about it, as far as my reason can reach with its testimony and its judgement, I find nothing other than pure detachment, free of everything created.
Translation: ours
Von abegescheidenheit (On Detachment) · Büttner, vol. 1 (Jena 1921), p. 57, 'Von der Abgeschiedenheit' · archive.org Quoted translation: Modern German translation by Herman Büttner, Meister Eckeharts Schriften und Predigten, vol. 1, 'Von der Abgeschiedenheit' (Eugen Diederichs, Jena; first edition 1903, here the 9th to 11th thousand of 1921). Checked word for word by eye on the page scan; line-end hyphen removed. Corresponds to Pfeiffer 1857, p. 484, lines 4–6.
Sources
- Meister Eckhart (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) Academic encyclopedia article. accessed 13 Oct 2026
- Franz Pfeiffer (ed.), Deutsche Mystiker des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts, vol. 2: Meister Eckhart, Leipzig 1857 · archive.org First collected edition of his German works (public domain); scanned copy of a library book accessed 13 Oct 2026
Compiled by us from the sources listed. Last checked 13 Oct 2026.
This description is factual. It contains no recommendation, ranking or assurance. Statements about effects are those of the respective source.