Eduard Brenner

Johann Wilhelm Eduard Brenner (October 4, 1888 – January 16, 1970) was a professor of English at the University of Erlangen. From 1951 to 1954, he had been state secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Culture.

Biography Brenner was born in Munich, studied philosophy and modern languages at the universities of Munich and Würzburg and earned his PhD degree from the University of Würzburg. From 1913 to 1914, he was working on the New English Dictionary (Vol. 8) in Oxford. After the World War he taught as lecturer at the University of Erlangen and the College of Economics and Social Sciences in Nuremberg which got university status in 1930. In 1925, Brenner became director of the adult education center (Volkshochschule) Nuremberg and one year later Professor of English at the College in Nuremberg. In 1927 he founded the German-English Cultural Office for academic exchange in London and became its director until 1929, when he was member of the executive committee of the World Federation for Adult Education until 1933. The Nuremberg college became Hindenburg University in 1933. Brenner was dismissed by the National Socialists. In 1934, he made a lecture tour through the United States.

Brenner died in Oberaudorf on January 16, 1970 at age 81.

Politician Brenner became member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From 1924 to 1926, he was member of the Erlangen city council and after the war member of the city council in Nuremberg. From 1951 to 1954, he served for his party as state secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Culture under the government of Hans Ehard (CSU).