This book explores the importance of Schleiermacher and his place in the history of the church, religion and Christianity. Was he a reformer of Christianity or merely a catalyst who stimulated a change in how the Church appeared and was perceived? Schleiermacher's importance for philosophy is also discussed. Were his views on preserving religion and the practice of faith in the Christian Church merely apologetic in nature, or did they have a reasonable – in other words – scientific, philosophical basis? These were central questions at a symposium which was organized by the Schleiermacher Research Center of the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences in May 2009. The papers collected in this volume deal with these questions from the perspective of various disciplines.