Rebuilding the Soul: Churches and Religion in Bavaria, 1945-1960
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REBUILDING THE SOUL: CHURCHES AND RELIGION IN BAVARIA, 1945-1960 _________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _________________________________________________ by JOEL DAVIS Dr. Jonathan Sperber, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2007 © Copyright by Joel Davis 2007 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled REBUILDING THE SOUL: CHURCHES AND RELIGION IN BAVARIA, 1945-1960 presented by Joel Davis, a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. __________________________________ Prof. Jonathan Sperber __________________________________ Prof. John Frymire __________________________________ Prof. Richard Bienvenu __________________________________ Prof. John Wigger __________________________________ Prof. Roger Cook ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe thanks to a number of individuals and institutions whose help, guidance, support, and friendship made the research and writing of this dissertation possible. Two grants from the German Academic Exchange Service allowed me to spend considerable time in Germany. The first enabled me to attend a summer seminar at the Universität Regensburg. This experience greatly improved my German language skills and kindled my deep love of Bavaria. The second allowed me to spend a year in various archives throughout Bavaria collecting the raw material that serves as the basis for this dissertation. For this support, I am eternally grateful. The generosity of the German Academic Exchange Service is matched only by that of the German Historical Institute. The GHI funded two short-term trips to Germany that proved critically important. The first was to take part in a summer seminar that helped familiarize me with the intricacies of German handwritten documents and the inner workings of German repository facilities. I would particularly like to thank Astrid Eckert, now at Emory University. She made the seminar a true joy and has since provided excellent advice and a receptive ear. The second allowed me to take part in the Trans-Atlantic Doctoral Seminar in Freiburg. Comments from Richard Wetzells, Roger Chickering, and Ulrich Hebert made there have considerably improved large sections of this dissertation. I thank them for their insight. In Germany, a number of people deserve special thanks for their help with my research. Prof. Dr. Werner Blessing of the Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg agreed to be my Betreuer and shared his wealth of knowledge about Bavarian Catholicism. He also ii worked to get an article of mine published in the Jahrbuch für fränkische Landesforschung. For this, I am especially grateful. My research took me to a number of church archives across Bavaria and I am deeply indebted to the staffs of all of them. A few in particular must be noted. Dr. Jurgen König and Frau Annamarie Müller at the Landeskirchliches Archiv Nürnberg helped make my descent into the often bizarre, labyrinth like world of German archives a smooth one. Dr. Johannes Merz at the Diözesanarchiv Würzburg pointed me to a treasure trove of unexplored documents and subsequently worked to get an article of mine published in the Würzburger Diözesangeschichtsblatt. Finally, Susanne Kornacker at the Erzbischöfliches Archiv München shared her wealth of information about the papers of Cardinal Faulhaber. A year abroad can be a lonely time, but this was certainly not the case for us. We were befriended by a number of people, whose kindness, friendship, and concern was very much appreciated. Special thanks go to Volker Eggert and Isa Karbstein for letting two people they barely knew use their apartment and all their belongings for a whole year while they were off traveling the world. Mike Kirstein got more than he bargained for when he agreed to help us get things turned on and off, but he did it all without complaint and greatly smoothed over a number of potentially disastrous problems. Frank and Eriko Kraus and Karl and Chie Schneeberg also proved to be the best of friends. All together they made our year in Germany an incredibly rich and rewarding experience. In Missouri, I have been greatly assisted by several people. Jonathan Sperber, my Doktorvater, has always been available and provided the soundest of advice. Without his confidence and help this project, and indeed this historian, would have never gotten off iii the ground. One could not ask for a better advisor. John Frymire also deserves considerable thanks for reading over an endless number of my papers and letters of application and making excellent suggestions on how to improve them. His buoyant spirit has made my time in Columbia much more enjoyable. Chad Ross has served as a mentor in all things and for this I am deeply appreciative. Nancy Taube, John Bullion, Richard Bienvenu, Huayin Li, John Wigger have provided considerable guidance and support. I would also like to thank Rick Lee, Lawrence Hatter, Clayton Douglas, and Kyle Miller for helping keep me sane. Finally, I would like to thank the people who have affected my life most deeply. The unconditional love and support of my parents has given me the confidence to pursue my dreams despite all those who said they were foolish or impossible. They also had the strength to step back and let me find out for myself that many really were foolish or impossible. Both are essential. They have also given me much more. From my father I learned that no matter what our beliefs about religion may be, we must accept that it is an important part of life and that people can and do take it seriously. From my mother I learned how to write, how to organize, and how to see something through to its completion. All of these have proved tremendously valuable during the course of this project. My brother has always shown me an open ear and open mind. Over the course of a few excellent beers at a quiet Passau street cafe he helped me sort through things during a particularly difficult time in my life. I deeply value his friendship and love. Most of all, I would like to thank my wife and son, Michiyo and Martin, for all the joy, love, and happiness they so freely give. Without them there would be only this, and that is very little indeed. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………….............ii A NOTE ON TRANSLATION……………………………………………………..........vi INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………….......1 Chapter 1. MATERIALISM AND THE RETURN TO CHRIST: CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE PAST AND PLANS FOR THE PRESENT AS SEEN IN SERMONS……………………….........27 2. BACK TO CHURCH………………………………………………….........144 Sunday is for Church Holidays, Festivals, and Special Events 3. PARENTAL DUTY: CONFESSIONAL SCHOOLING AND THE NEXT GENERATION OF THE FAITH……………………………...........291 4. MARRIAGE AND MARITAL STATUS……………………………..........376 Marriage Preparation Civil Marriage and “Renting the Hall” Uncle-Marriage Divorce and Remarriage Mixed Confessional Marriage 5. THE CONFESSIONAL PEACE: PROTESTANT-CATHOLIC RELATIONS FROM 1945 TO THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL…………………..503 CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………....563 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………588 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………608 v A NOTE ON TRANSLATION Unless otherwise noted, all translations are the author’s own. In general, literal translations have been avoided in favor of idiomatic English. The exceptions to this are official words, offices, and office holders. These are consistently translated the same. In the case of the Catholic Church, the title Pfarrer is translated as “priest.” Where it is attached to the name of a particular priest, “Father” is used. For example, Pfarrer Franz Rathgeber is rendered as “Father Franz Rathgeber” or simply “Father Rathgeber. To clearly denote the confessional distinction, the term Pfarrer when referring to Protestants is translated as “Pastor.” Where it is attached to the name of a particular pastor, “Pastor” is used. Kaplan or Vikar, both referring to young (and sometimes not so young) clergymen who did not have a permanent parish of their own, has been translated as “Curate” when talking about Catholics and “Vicar” when mentioning Protestants. Distinctions must also be drawn when translating the title Dekan. In both cases, these were agents of a structure of ecclesiastical administration. For Catholics, it will be translated as “Dean.” For Protestants, it is rendered as “District Superintendent.” The subsequent term Dekanat is translated as “deanery” in regards to the Catholic Church and “district” for the Protestant Church. In the case of both the Catholic and Protestant churches, the term Pfarramt is translated as “Pastorate.” It refers to the office of the clergy in a given parish. The Pfarramt is represented by the member of the clergy who currently serves the parish, but it is not subsumed in that particular individual. Others can be assigned to the position. Denominational markers are always provided to ensure clarity. vi Throughout this study, the German word Evangelisch is translated as “Protestant” rather than as “Evangelical.” This is done in order to distinguish German evangelisch churches from “Evangelical” churches in the United States. Whereas in the United States “Evangelical” usually refers to churches affiliated with the conservative and fundamentalist