I asked this question on EL&U and got some good answers, but tend to accept this answer.

IMHO Visionary doesn't really match Vordenker ("Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen" Helmut Schmidt), Mastermind is much weaker than Vordenker. Maybe I explained Vordenker not well enough, but this is hard as the meaning in English seems not to exist according to Wikipedia results. It's often used in a biographical and historical context and user phenry seems spot on here, it simply doesn't exist in English.

I'm asking here, because I want a feedback, how above terms in the title are understood actually by most Germans. Are they basically synonyms? What's next to Vordenker? What are the nuances between my current favorites Pionier and Vorreiter esp. when judging the historical influence and importance of a single person in retrospect?

You can give a own english translation of Vordenker as a side note or better just vote the available on EL&U, but that's not the question here. Answers in English please and vote for best synonym.


"Freidenker" has a connotation of someone who challenges societal and/or the norms of his trade, independent of the actual success of those thoughts.

"Pionier" and "Vorreiter" are synonyms in this context and have a (positive) connotation of someone who not only thinks, but also does something new, like an artist or inventor who lays the groundwork for a new paradigm with their actual work. It can be used for theoretics as well, aslong as they are active in developing their new findings.

"Mastermind" is somewhat known in German, but does not fit at all. It is understood as someone who is the brain, the planning authority behind some operation. It has nothing to do with groundbreaking work in the sense of "Vordenker".

The connotation of "Visionär" differs. In the negative sense, it is someone who only sets a (lofty) goal, but does very little or nothing to achieve that goal and lets others do the work and hard thinking instead. In the positive sense, it is someone who predicted a future development long before it could actually be realized. Therefore, the connotation is typically more positive if the vision has already come true and has had a positive impact, and more negative if the prediction has not yet come true or when it is somewhat controversial or seems unlikely to come true.

Caveat: As usual with so many words with similar meaning, the differences are at best foggy, and there is no guarantee that your choice of words will have exactly the desired effect on most people. The context would probably help.

Edit: In conclusion, "Pionier" or "Vorreiter" should indeed be your first choice when it comes to synonyms for "Vordenker".

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    Agreed. I think Jules Verne is a good example of a Visionär without being a Vordenker. – Hendrik Vogt Aug 31 '11 at 12:58

Translating "Vordenker" to English is a challenge indeed. As always, finding an appropriate term depends much on context. In Germany "Vordenker" is mostly used for people having innovative theories that led to changes in economics or politics. Sometimes the term "Vordenker" is also used for a person who founded a widely accepted theory in natural science.

Having said that we may consider both, "pioneer" - as a translation for "Pionier" or "trailblazer" - as a translation for "Wegbereiter" an appropriate synonym for "Vordenker" even if they may have a slightly different connotation in a given context.

An English term that may come close to "Vordenker" would be "seminal thinker" but this term is not often used.

  • +1 Wegbereiter ist imho das beste deutsche Synonym, wobei Trailblazer leider diesen wörtlichen Pfadfindertouch im Englischen hat :) In eine historische Studie scheint der Begriff nicht ganz zu passen. – Hauser Sep 1 '11 at 15:33

I never really liked the word "Vordenker" because it can carry the connotation of thinking for others too, similar to "vormachen" or "vorlesen".

Ein Vordenker ist einer der vor-denkt und die anderen denken das gleiche nochmal nach.

Vorreiter is someone who is exceptionally advanced in his field and has mastered more skills than all the others.

Freidenker, as Hackworth said, is someone who challenges established ways of thinking, someone who wants and is able to think "outside the box"

Pionier is simply someone who did something for the first time, not necessarily in a very skill- or successful way.

So all-in-all I think neither of the three words is a perfect synonym :-/.

  • Agree and welcome! Your connotation of pioneer would imho more match Entdecker, Erfinder, Begründer. It looks like most understand pioneer as someone being successful and important in his branch for longer time. Maybe in English it carries more the meaning of Entdecker, in German of Vorreiter... – Hauser Sep 1 '11 at 15:29

I would go for Avantgarde. :)

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    Avantgarde, literally "Vorhut", is a group or movement of more than one individual. Some or all of that group can be "Vordenker", but you would not identify a single person with Avantgarde You would call a single person a member or part of the Avantgarde. – Hackworth Sep 1 '11 at 8:24
  • Yes, I agree, that Avantgarde would be not very common for a single person - but maybe for a group of unknown size? And it can be useful as an adjective; describing a person as avantgardistisch. That doesn't imply a group. – user unknown Sep 1 '11 at 16:00

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