Georg Schreiber

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George Schreiber
Born8 January 1882 (1882-01-08)
Germany
Died24 February 1963 (1963-02-25)
Münster (NRW), West Germany
Alma materMünster
Berlin
Occupation(s)Politician
church historian
priest
university professor and rector
Political partyCatholic Centre party
Parent(s)Franz Ignaz Schreiber (1835–87)
Marie Freckmann (1860–1942)

Georg Schreiber (5 January 1882 – 24 February 1963) was a German politician (Catholic Centre party) and church historian. He spent fifteen years as a student which, even by the standards of Wilhelmine Germany,was exceptional. Following ordination he increasingly combined his student career with chaplaincy work. He nevertheless ended up with an unusually broad university-level education. He held a full "ordinary" professorship at the University of Münster between 1917 and 1935, and again between 1945 and 1951, also serving as University Rector during 1945/46. He served as a Member of Parliament, representing electoral district 19 – later 17 (Westphalia North) – between 1920 and 1933.[1][2][3][4]

Life and works

Provenance and early years

Georg Schreiber was born in Rüdershausen, a small yet ancient village set in the wooded countryside to the north of Duderstadt (Göttingen).[3] Franz Ignaz Schreiber (1835–87), his father worked in forestry. His grandfather, Ignaz Fromm Schreiber (1760–1846), is described as a manufacturer.[2] He attended a church school at Duderstadt between 1885 and 1895,[5] then moving on to the "Gymnasium Josefinum" (catholic secondary school) in Heidesheim till 1901[1] and then enrolled at the University of Münster where he studied Theology.[2] In or around 1901 he joined the catholic student fraternity "Unitas Frisia".[6] The next year he was elected to chair the university student committee.[7] On 7 April 1905 Georg Schreiber was ordained into the priesthood at Heidesheim.[4] He now broadened the scope of his university education, studying History and Germanistics.[2] In 1906 he switched to the Friedrich Wilhelm University (as the Humboldt was known at that time) in Berlin where he combined his studies with chaplaincy work at the "Elisabeth-Stift" philanthropic-recuperative institution run by the "Grey sisters".[2] He received his first doctorate from Berlin University on 26 June 1909,[a] and then in 1911 - still at Berlin - switched to the study of Jurisprudence. Throughout this period, between 1909 and 1913, Schreiber was also undertaking priestly duties at the Royal St. Joseph Hospital in Potsdam.[9] On 29 November 1913 he received his Doctorate in Theology from the University of Freiburg. The qualification was provided in return for work on "the use of language in the Medieval Oblation System: a contribution to the History of the Church Taxation System and Church Law".[10] Unusually, he submitted his dissertation and received his Theology doctorate at Freiburg University despite never having enrolled as a student there or studied there.[5] Then of 1 April 1915 he received his Habilitation (higher degree) in Church History from the University of Münster, thereby opening the way for a lifelong career in the universities sector.[9]

Professor

Between 1915 and 1917 he taught as a full-time associate professor at the Royal Lyceum (later relaunched as the

Church Charity and Virtue ("Caritas").[9] He retained his professorship without a break till 1933, despite his election to the Reichstag (national parliament) in 1920,[1] and his church promotion to the (probably largely honorary) rank of Papal Domestic Prelate in 1924.[4][9] Nevertheless, described later by his biographer Rudolf Morsey as a "worker bee of parliament" and a "key figure in the politics of culture and the arts at a national level", Schreiber needed a reliable deputy for his university teaching duties, a role undertaken by the church historian Ludwig Mohler (1883–1943).[5]

In 1927, with financial backing from the Foreign Ministry, Schreiber set up the university's research centre for "Auslandsdeutschtum und Auslandkunde" (German communities abroad).[11] That was followed up in 1929 with the establishment of an "Emigration Advice Centre", also at Münster.[12] In March 1933 he founded a "Deutsche Institut für Volkskunde e.V" (German Folklore Institute), closely linked to the "Auslandsdeutschtum und Auslandkunde" research centre.[11]

Under National Socialism

Meanwhile, in January 1933 the

party membership a couple of years later.[14][15]

Schreiber remained under intense

the party.[2][11]

After 1942 the prospect of the promised

before 1933
.

In 1940 the prosecutor's office in Münster had launched a criminal investigation against Schreiber in respect of supposed violation of technical and administrative regulations at the institutes confiscated from him the previous year. Embezzlement was alleged. Many details of the case remain unclear, as are the circumstances under which it was dropped, probably for lack of evidence, on 9 May 1942.

The party did not give up, however, and Schreiber was now placed under house arrest, while the security services continued to try and find reasons to reopen the case against him.[5] Schreiber avoided capture in the aftermath of the assassination attempt, already aware that he was likely to be at heightened risk of detention, and having evidently received timely warnings from insiders. There are references to security service reports describing him as "passionately opposed to Nazism" (though it is not clear precisely what he might have done to attract such comments). In any event, during the second half of the summer in 1944 he fled south, taking refuge initially in Osterhofen and nearby Arbing. It seems reasonable to suppose that his choice of location was connected with the still dominant role of the church in the district.[5] In January 1945 he found a more permanent place of refuge, hiding for the rest of the war with the Benedictines in the monastery at Ottobeuren.[2][5][16]

Münster after the war

Early in 1947 Georg Schreiber reached the then conventional retirement age of 65. In a letter addressed to the university trustees on 24 February 1947, the Dean of the Catholic-Theological faculty at the university asked that the minister for Education and Culture should be approached with a request that Schreiber's term of service might me extended. He gave three reasons in support:

Mit Schreiben vom 24. Februar 1947 an den Kurator bittet der Dekan der Katholisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Münster diesen, sich beim Kultusminister dafür einzusetzen, die Dienstzeit von Georg Schreiber zu verlängern. In seinem Schreiben führt er folgende Begründungen an:

1. Mr. Schreiber is still in full possession of his physical and mental powers. He still has a formidable capacity for work.
2. He is able to access a highly unusual breadth of knowledge in the fields of Medieval and Modern Church History, Medieval Legal History, Religious Folklore and
'Caritas'
.
3. Mr Schreiber still has plans for a number of academic projects which will be best implemented if he himself is able to undertake them in parallel with his teaching duties.
1. Herr Schreiber ist noch in vollem Besitz seiner körperlichen und geistigen Kräfte und noch von einer gewaltigen Arbeitsfähigkeit.
2. Er verfügt über ein seltenes, umfassendes Wissen, namentlich auf dem Gebiet der mittelalterlichen und neueren Kirchengeschichte, der mittelalterlichen Rechtsgeschichte, der religiösen Volkskunde und der Karitaswissenschaft.
3. Herr Schreiber hat noch eine Reihe von wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten geplant, die er am besten im Zusammenhang mit seinem Lehramt durchführen kann.[5][17]

In July 1945 Schreiber was able to return to Münster. The southern part of Germany in which he had been hiding for more than six months had been part of the US occupation zone since

Hitler years. The other members of the emergency senate were university professors who had all been determined to be "unencumbered" (in the phrase used at the time) by Nazi links. Following election by the university professors, Schreiber's appointment as rector was confirmed by Rudolf Amelunxen who had been installed as First President of the newly reconstituted Province of Westphalia, though Amelunxen written confirmation came through only on 26 October 1945, following formal agreement from the British military administrators. Meanwhile, the university authorities had already, in August 1945, restored his professorship.[5]

His term as rector lasted a year. Sources report the unstinting commitment with which he launched the massive reconstruction process necessary. More broadly he dedicated his energies to restoring the relationship of mutual respect and collaboration between the church, society and the world of politics which had existed before 1933. He believed the integration of the proper spiritual dimension was fundamental to the operation of a modern society, and was able to call on his deep knowledge of the Medieval church and legal history in promoting his own visions for foreign and cultural policy.[2] Georg Schreiber eventually retired on 1 April 1951, a couple of months after celebrating his seventieth birthday. In the formal letter releasing him from his professorial duties, the minister paid warm tribute in respect of his work and achievements. There are indications that he remained closely involved with the University of Münster for the rest of his life.[5]

He also joined the boards of a number of academic institutions, working to rebuild German academic tradition in the western part of the now divided country. Between 1951 and his death in 1963 he was an academic member of the Heidelberg-based Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.[18] Between 15 February 1946 and 23 June 1962 he chaired the Westphalia Historical Commission, following which, during the final months of his life, he retained his link in his capacity as honorary chairman.[19]

Politics

Towards the end of 1918, with

constitution that provided for the establishment of new federal states through the roguish device of a referendum, but it had significantly helped raise Schreiber's public profile in the regions concerned. The first national election of the new Republican Germany was held early in June 1920. Schreiber stood as a candidate for the "Westphalia North" electoral district (which included his home region of Münster) and was directly elected (without recourse to the "second preference votes" of losing candidates).[5][20]

During his twelve years in the Reichstag a not unsympathetic journalist described Georg Schreiber's political style:

"He's never still, always in receiving mode, a master listener. He's so skilful at it that he quickly knows a lot about a lot, and retains an impartial assessment of the essentials. He's a better speaker than he thinks he is. His great 'state of the nation' speeches are, perhaps, too well prepared, over-thought through and syntactically embellished – when he improvises he comes across more strongly. He loves to play with irony. But he also demonstrates a measured temperament, and brings to private discussion an amiable sarcasm. Then he assumes an innocent expression on his face even as he serves up a shot of telling malice. But always perfectly graciously."
»Er ist immer in Bewegung, immer aufnehmend, ein Meister der Rezeption. Das macht er so geschickt, daß er sich in vielem rasch auskennt und den unbefangenen Sinn für das Wesentliche behält. Er kann rednerisch mehr, als er sich zutraut. Seine großen Etatreden sind vielleicht etwas zu gut vorbereitet, überlegt und geschmückt – wenn er improvisiert, kann er stärker wirken. Er liebt den ironischen Vortrag. Aber er hat auch eine gute Portion Temperament und für den Privatgebrauch liebenswürdigen Sarkasmus. Dann macht er ein unschuldsvolles Gesicht und serviert verbindliche Bosheiten. Das macht er recht graziös.«[5][21]

As a Centre party Member of Parliament between 1920 and 1933, Georg Schreiber's focus was on cultural issues, broadly defined. He sought to improve collaboration between religious and worldly elements. Naturally he also represented church interests. He was an influential member of the parliamentary budget committee. At the same time he tried to reduce what he saw as an unnecessary distancing between Centre Party and the universities establishment, to stand up for the interests of "intellectual and spiritual workers", and to reconcile the traditionalist church community with the new republican order.[2]

He was keen to sustain the

empire tradition, despite recent evisceration by foreign armies and internal fissures, but still a "great power spiritually, culturally and scientifically". Along with his own carefully targeted journalistic contributions Schreiber, as self-appointed "emergency rescuer of German scholarship," was able to trigger a more extensive surge in public editorialising, and to promote a culturally oriented foreign policy in support of German minorities abroad. It is testimony to the effectiveness of his "academic politics" that five universities and university departments in Germany and a further three in Austria awarded him honorary doctorates as marks of gratitude,[4][5] most notably, in 1928, the respected law faculty at Heidelberg
.

As a

the church and modern Germany
today.

In the summer of 1933, facing intolerable pressure from various levels of the National Socialist government, the Centre Party dissolved itself. When Georg Schreiber thereby lost his parliamentary mandate, he lost a number of other representative role and responsibilities at the same time. But as a respected former member of the former Centre Party he remained in the sites of the security services, and his name soon appeared on a list of persons against whom further "appropriate measures" should be taken.[5]

After the war he sought to return to politics, in 1947 standing for election to the

Soviet imperialist ambitions. A number of parties formerly of the centre and centre-right had nevertheless come together in the western zones, leading to the formation in 1945 of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU party). One of these was the old Catholic Centre party. It was accordingly as a CDU candidate that Georg Schreiber stood for election in 1947. He failed to gain a seat, and thereafter concentrated on his work at the university, also taking a number of significant positions at the interface between the universities sector and politics.[5]

Authorships

Goerg Schreiber was one of the most eminent culture and church historians of his generation. His 1951 2-volumes on the Council of Trent quickly became a "standard work" and, some would contend, has yet to be supplanted.[25] He also produced several important works on German administrative history and on socio-cultural themes. His work on the history of wine making in Germany and central Europe was a case in point. In respect of church history, his writings on the history of the church tax system, the history of miracles and of popular piety, all deserve particular mention. All his work is characterised by a careful combining of different approaches, in ways which at the time were far from usual, notably in terms of the way he incorporates folkloric material, giving rise to a pioneering interdisciplinary view of historical research.

Published output (selection)

  • Mutter und Kind in der Kultur der Kirche. Studien zur Quellenkunde und Geschichte der Caritas, Sozialhygiene und Bevölkerungspolitik. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1918.
  • Deutsche Kulturpolitik und der Katholizismus. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1922.
  • Deutsches Beamtentum und deutsche Kulturpolitik. In: Werner Friedrich Bruck, Heinrich Weber (Caritaswissenschaftler)|Heinrich Weber (Hrsg.): Beamtenschaft und Verwaltungsakademie: Festschrift zur Tagung des Reichsverbandes Deutscher Verwaltungsakademien am 1. und 2. Juni 1928 in Münster i. W. und Bochum. Westfälische Vereinsdruckerei, Münster 1928, pp. 81–90.
  • Das Auslandsdeutschtum als Kulturfrage. Aschendorff, Münster 1929.
  • Nationale und internationale Volkskunde. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1930.
  • Volkstum und Kulturpolitik: Eine Sammlung von Aufsätzen. Gewidmet Georg Schreiber zum fünfzigsten Geburtstage. Hrsg. von Heinrich Konen und Johann Peter Steffes. Gilde, Köln 1932.
  • Deutsche Bauernfrömmigkeit in volkskundlicher Sicht. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1937.
  • Die Sakrallandschaft des Abendlandes mit besonderer Berücksichtigung von Pyrenäen, Rhein und Donau. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1937. Digitalisat
  • Deutsche Mirakelbücher: Zur Quellenkunde und Sinngebung. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1938.
  • Zwischen Demokratie und Diktatur. Persönliche Erinnerungen an die Politik und Kultur des Reiches 1919–1944. Regensbergsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Münster 1949.
  • Iroschottische und angelsächsische Wanderkulte in Westfalen. In: Heinrich Börsting, Alois Schröer (as compilers): Westfalia sacra. Quellen und Forschungen zur Kirchengeschichte Westfalens. vol. 2. Aschendorff, Münster 1950, pp. 1–132.
  • Das Weltkonzil von Trient. Sein Werden und Wirken. 2 vols. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1951.
  • Deutsche Wissenschaftspolitik von Bismarck bis zum Atomwissenschaftler Otto Hahn. Westdeutscher Verlag, Köln 1954.
  • Westdeutsche Charaktere. Daten und Erinnerungen an die Wissenschaftsgeschichte und Sozialpolitik der letzten Jahrzehnte. In: Westfälische Forschungen. vol. 9, 1956, pp. 54–82.
  • Deutsche Weingeschichte. Der Wein in Volksleben, Kult und Wirtschaft. Rheinland-Verlag, Köln 1980,
    ISBN 3-7927-0331-9
    .
  • Bernd Haunfelder: Die Rektoren, Kuratoren und Kanzler der Universität Münster 1826–2016. Ein biographisches Handbuch. (= Veröffentlichungen des Universitätsarchivs Münster. 14). Aschendorff, Münster 2020,
    ISBN 978-3-402-15897-5
    , pp. 224–228.
  • Rudolf Morsey: Schriftenverzeichnis Georg Schreiber (Catalogue of the writings of Georg Schreiber). Alber, München/ Freiburg 1953.

Awards and honours (selection)

Notes

  1. ^ Georg Schreiber's doctoral dissertation concerned church history and was entitled "Kurie und Kloster im 12. Jahrhundert" ("Curia and Monastery in the twelfth century"). When it was adapted for publication in 1910 it ran to two volumes.[5][8]
  2. France and Pol and, leaving Catholics outnumbered by Protestants in a ratio of approximately 2:1 in what remained of Germany.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Schreiber, Georg D." Reichstags-Handbuch, Wahlperiode Bd.: 1932, [2]. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München. 1933. pp. 398–399. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Rudolf Morsey [in German] (2007). "Schreiber, Georg". katholischer Kirchenhistoriker, Kulturpolitiker, * 5.1.1882 Rüdershausen (Eichsfeld), † 24.2.1963 Münster (Westfalen). Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften / HiKo (Neue Deutsche Biographie), München. pp. 529–530. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Georg Schreiber, deutscher Kirchenhistoriker". Internationales Biographisches Archiv 20/1963. Munzinger-Archiv GmbH, Ravensburg. 6 May 1963. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-3-402-15897-5
    . Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Norbert Schäfers. "Zum Gedekken as Georg Schreiber: * 5. Januar 1882 in Rüdershausen† 24. Februar 1963 in Münster" (PDF). Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. ^ Dr. Peter Josef Hasenberg (compiler-publisher) (January 1954). "Unitarisches Schrtifttum". Unitas: Monatsezeitschrift des Verbandes der wissenschaftlichen katholischen Studentvereine Unitas. pp. 20, 25–26. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  7. ^ Ludwig Freibüter: Georg Schreiber. In: Wolfgang Burr (compiler): Unitas Handbuch. vol 2. Verlag Franz Schmitt, Siegburg 1996, p. 242.
  8. ISBN 978-0484554770
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-3-451-80140-2
    .
  10. ^ Otto Lerche [in German] (1916). "Schreiber, Georg, Untersuchungen zum Sprachgebrauch des mittelalterlichen Oblationenwesens". review. Theologische Literaturzeitung, Leipzig & Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen & Index Theologicus. pp. 225–226. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  11. ^ a b c "Geschichte des Instituts für Religiöse Volkskunde e.V." Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  12. ^ Hans-Peter Johannsen; Norbert Schäfers (19 December 2013). "Die Auswandererberatungsstelle in Münster" (PDF). Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  13. ^ Rudolf Morsey (26 October 2015). "Georg Schreiber". Kirchenhistoriker, Kulturpolitiker Dr. phil., Dr. theol., Dr. h. c. mult. January 5, 1882, Rüdershausen/Kreis Duderstadt February 24, 1963, Münster/Westfalen. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V., Berlin. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  14. ^ Wilhelm Baum (1987). "Lortz, Joseph". Neue Deutsche Biographie. Duncker & Humblot. p. 188. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  15. ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8
    , p. 381
  16. ISBN 978-0-8021-9649-1
    .
  17. ^ Universitätsarchiv Münster, Bestand 207, Nummer 526, und Bestand 23, Nummer 32, vol. 1. The request arrived with the backing of the University Rector and duly received ministerial assent.
  18. ^ Hermann Mosler [in German] (1962). "[Nachruf um] Georg Schreiber" (PDF). Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht). Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Prof. Dr. Georg Schreiber". Ehemalige Mitglieder. Historische Kommission für Westfalen, Münster. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-3-03910-857-2
    .
  21. ^ Universitätsarchiv Münster, Bestand 342, Nummer 10. from: Der Staat Seid Ihr, Nummer 7, 1. Jg., 13.4.1931, p. 107.
  22. ISBN 9783657720255
    . Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  23. ^ Marie-Emmanuelle Reytier (1 July 2006). "L'Allemagne, l'Europe et le Monde .... La hantise du bolchevisme et le refus du socialisme" (PDF). Les catholiques allemands et la Republique de Weimar: Les Katholikentage, 1919–1932 .... 6: La tentation du repli: Les années de stabilisation, 1925–1929, puis de radicalisation, 1930–1932. Universit ́e Jean Moulin – Lyon III. pp. 669–769. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  24. ^ "Vertrag des Freistaates Preußen mit dem Heiligen Stuhle nebst Schlussprotokoll [Preußenkonkordat]". (Preußische Gesetzessammlung p. 152). Společnost pro církevní právo, z. s., Praha. 14 June 1929. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  25. ^ Roger Aubert (1958). "Das Weltkonzil von Trient. Sein Werden und Wirken, herausgegeben von Georg Schreiber [compte-rendu]". review. Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire & Persée. pp. 541–544. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
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