Wilhelm Emmanuel Von Ketteler: His Social and Political Philosophy

This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 67-3970 BOCK, Edward Cornelius, 1922- WILHELM EMMANUEL VON KETTELER: HIS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1967 History, modem University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE WILHELM EMMANUEL VON KETTELER: HIS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillm ent of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY EDWARD CORNELIUS BOCK Norman, Oklahoma 1967 WILHELM EMMANUEL VON KETTELER: HIS SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY ^PROVED BY U) lJULlo^ ki-• [VUuJlP U~. L ■ DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PREFACE Circumstances and environment are important in the determination of interests. Born into the lowest social class, I experienced the ravages of the Great Depression in my early youth. My father took a lively interest in the various proposed solutions to the Great Depression, Because of this 1 acquired a desire to study social and political history. Above all, I felt that, since the roots of the Great Depression lay in the past, history could teach means to avoid future p itfa lls for society. Men of the past who proposed solutions to social and economic problems always challenged my curiosity. In early youth I studied the encyclicals Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII and Quadraqesimo Anno of Pope Pius XI wi th the aid of commentaries. During the same period I read every history book in the small village library, I main tained this interest, especially in social history, until senior college, when Thomistic philosophy began to take most of my attention. In I963- 6A I wrote a Master's thesis on the organi zation of the German Catholic Center party, since it had i i i a key position in the political history of modern Germany. In the early days of the second Reich its function was pre dominantly one of opposition to Bismark, Yet, the Center party promoted a social program through which it aligned its e lf with the social legislation of Bismark, as long as Bismark's social legislation did not strengthen the domi nance of the imperial government over the federal states. During the Weimar Republic the Center party consistently held the balance of power, although in its e lf it was in effective as a political entity. At present the topic is of interest because of its influence upon the principles of the Christian Democratic Union of the West German Repub lic, which is the kind of political party that Bishop Wilhelm von Ketteler idealized.^ In the research for the Master's thesis the name of Bishop Ketteler appeared so very frequently that it aroused my curiosity. When I recognized that the scat tered ideas of Ketteler which I encountered were identical with those of Rerum Novarum and Quadraqesimo Anno and Thomistic philosophy, my interest was further increased. Who was this man, Ketteler? Where was his niche in the history of Catholic social thought? What was his complete social system? Upon what was it based? What was ^Karl Buchheim, Geschichte der chri stlichen Parteien i n Deutschland (München: Kbsel Verlag, 1953), 10; also cf. Politisches Jahrbuch der C.D.U. und C.S.Ü. (Frankfurt am ManTi K. G. Lohse, 1950), 1Ü0-Ü4. his relationship with the Center party? What was his importance in the history of modern Germany, if any? German Catholic authors, such as Karl Bachem and Otto PfUlf, were too involved in ecclesiastical affairs and in hagiography to answer all of the questions about Ketteler, Karl Bachem wrote a nine-volume history of the Center party. He points out the relationship of Ketteler to the Center party in general terms, but does not clearly develop his social system, Otto PfUlf, the o fficial Catholic biographer of Bishop Ketteler, places emphasis upon his ecclesiastical work. Other German authors merely mention Ketteler as a Catholic leader during the mid nineteenth century, English-speaking authors, even Catholic ones, barely mention Bishop Ketteler, One credits him as one of the founders of Catholic liberalism,^ Many mention him briefly as the forerunner of Leo X I11 and that he is important in Catholic social thought,^ Nowhere could I find a concise analysis of the life and social thought of Wilhelm Ketteler. This led to my decision to learn as much as I could about Bishop Ketteler, For this purpose I went to Germany in the summer O Cf, George Mosse, The Culture of Western Europe (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1961), 246-4?, ^ Ibi d, ; and for an example of a Catholic author: Ernest Kilzer and others. The History of Western Social Thought (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co,, 1959),Ih. of 1965. I soon realized that to obtain all of the neces sary materials on Ketteler was impossible, since during the Nazi regime resources were destroyed or secretly dispersed to the smaller Catholic institutions of rural Germany, 1 estimate that two or three years of research would be necessary in order to gather all the sources for a definitive biography of Wilhelm von Ketteler,^ The head librarian of St. Boniface Abbey in Munich gave me this explanation. From 1934 to 1938, the libraries and archives of Germany were "purified" by the Gestapo. Books and manuscripts of prominent Catholics, especially those who participated in the activities of the Center party, were on the Gestapo's priority list. To prevent destruction these books and manuscripts were secretly dispersed throughout rural Germany. At present efforts are being made to collect and return these to their respec tive libraries and archives. Encountering these d iffic u lties , I decided to study Ketteler's social and political ideas instead of writing a biography. The principal sources I utilized in this study are Bishop Ketteler's published sermons and books. These were d iffic u lt to find. I used other primary sources ^James J. Sheehan, The Career of Lujo Brentano (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, i 960), TJ , n. 19, verifies this difficu lty. He complains of the lacunae in the diocesan archives of Mainz concerning material on Ket teler. He was merely attempting to find a letter of Bishop Ketteler to Lujo Brentano. when they were available, 1 accomplished my research p ri marily in St. Boniface Abbey and the Stadtbibliothek in Munich, the diocesan archives and Stadtbibliothek in Mainz, and two rural libraries of Andechs and Eichstëtt in south ern Bavaria, After I left Germany, Adrian Vorderlandwehr, an American student at the University of Munich, continued my search for primary source material and found several manuscripts at Eichstëtt, 1 wish to thank Mr, and Mrs, James J, Kelly, Lake- view Towers, Apartment 810, 6001 North Brookline, Oklahoma City, who sponsored the European trip . Without their generosity the trip would have been impossible, I must especially acknowledge the encouragement of Kenneth Irving Dailey, Ph, 0,, Associate Professor of His tory, Oklahoma University, and of Robert L, Reigle, In structor in the Department of History, Oklahoma University, who devoted much time to constructive criticism, I express gratitude to Adrian Vorderlandwehr for the many days of assistance which he gave me in the libraries and archives of Germany, V 1 I TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ................................................................................................................ i i i Chapter I. WILHELM EMMANUEL FREIHERR VON KETTELER: AN INTRODUCTION AND A SYNOPSIS OF HIS LIFE ... 1 Introduction Bi rth and Early Life Education "Conflict of Cologne" The Book, Symbolic University of Munich Final Influences Toward the Priesthood The "Peasant Pastor" The Frankfort Parliament Bishop of Mainz Early Work in Mainz Further Ecclesiastical Affairs Last Active Years The Bishop's Silver Jubilee and Death Conclusions II, GERMAN UNITY AND GERMAN NATIONALISM ....................... 48 Introduction Grossdeutsch-Klei ndeutsch Acceptance of Prussian Leadership Soester Conferences Immediate Causes for a Catholic Party Results of Ketteler's Leadership German Unity and Ketteler's Nationalism Cone lus i ons I I I . GERMAN LIBERALISM AND KETTELER'S THOUGHT .......... 66 The Liberalism Which Ketteler Opposed Ketteler: The Thomist viii The Freedom of Man The Church and Liberalism German Liberalism Prior to 1848 Balance of Power Freedom for All Liberalism, the Father of Socialism Socialism Logical on Liberal Premises The Equali ty of Men The Inequality of Liberalism Equality, a Moral Issue The Result of German Liberalism Const i tut iona1i sm Freedom of Press and Speech England: Ketteler's Ideal Freedom for All Although Misused The Press Freedom of Religion Freedom of Assembly and Speech Suffrage Representati on Federali sm Education Marriage Church-State Relationship Conclusions IV. KETTELER'S SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION .............................. 114 Introduction Christian Charity The Church's Duty Basic Concepts of Christianity Applied to Modern Problems Economic Isolation of the Workingclass The Dangers of Meehanization Class Cooperation A Defender of the Essence of Capitalism Ketteler and Karl Marx Man-power vs Economi c-power Just Wages The Economic Instability of the Worker The Church and the Worker The Value of the Worker Private Property Women Laborers and Child Laborers Shorter Work Hours The Just Wage and Human Values Right of Workingmen's Associations Co-operatives Trade Unions Ketteler and Lassai le Conclus i ons ix V. BISHOP KETTELER AND THE CENTER PARTY .................... 160 A Catholic Political Party The Center Party and German Catholics The Center Party's General

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