Anti-Socialist Laws
Mainländer's work was not well received by authorities. In Imperial Russia, Mainländer's essay on the esoteric meaning of the Trinity was banned. In the German Reichstag, "Die Philosophie der Erlösung" was brought up to the rostrum on occasion of the Anti-Socialist Laws. Prominent socialists however took interest in his work. The socialist leader August Bebel refers to and uses the arguments of the pessimistic philosopher in his feminist work "Woman and Socialism". Bebel mentions Mainländer's sister in his autobiography. Also Eduard Bernstein wrote that he was "very interested" in Mainländer. Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis (1846-1919), the first prominent Dutch socialist, considered Mainländer's work a "great contribution" for socialism.