A talented pianist trained by a student of Clara Schumann, he originally aspired to become a symphony director. Engagement with the history of thought in the light of Revelation would henceforth remain an important feature of his work.Įven as a child, Balthasar was devoted to music. It was there that, in 1928, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the “History of the Eschatological Problem in Modern German Literature,” which formed the basis of his first trilogy, the Apocalypse of the German Soul (1937-1939). After finishing high school in 1923, he studied literature and philosophy in Vienna, Berlin, and Zurich. The future theologian began his secondary education as a boarder at the Abbey School of Engelberg, Switzerland, but later transferred to the Jesuit school located just over the Austrian border in Feldkirch. His mother, Gabriele née Pietzker-Apor, was descended from Hungarian barons. Hans Urs’ father, Oskar, ran the cantonal department of public works. The Balthasars were a patrician family with a long record of distinguished service to the city and canton of Lucerne. Hans Urs von Balthasar was born on Augin Lucerne, Switzerland.
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