Anton Retzbach

Anton Retzbach (born June 13, 1867 in Berolzheim , † February 23, 1945 in Freiburg ) was a German theologian, economist and member of the Baden state parliament .

Life

Retzbach was born the son of a master mason in Berolzheim. After graduating from high school in Tauberbischofsheim in 1888, he began studying Catholic theology in Freiburg. Shortly after his graduation in 1892, Retzbach was ordained a priest and held his first pastoral position at the Jesuit Church in Mannheim . There he led the young workers' association with the later Archbishop Carl Fritz and thus got to know the social hardship. His growing interest in solving the social question and his turn to the working people moved him to expand his knowledge of economics. In 1895 Retzbach studied economics in Freiburg and Berlin as part of a second degree . In 1898 he completed his dissertation in the political sciences in Freiburg on the Schulze-Delitzsch advance clubs . After his return home, Retzbach took over the editing of the newspaper “Der christliche Arbeiter”. In 1901 he was appointed diocesan president of the Catholic workers' associations of the Archdiocese of Freiburg and also held priestly functions at the Freiburg Minster. 1903 he was appointed cathedral priest and cathedral curator in Freiburg. In addition to his activity in the Catholic professional association movement, Retzbach also campaigned for the diocesan associations of Catholic journeymen, workers and youth associations as well as for the development of the Christian trade unions . He was also involved in early social housing projects in Freiburg. Retzbach had made it his goal to establish bases for the Catholic social movement in the form of workers' secretariats and Catholic people's offices throughout the country. Due to his great practical experience and his scientific approach in the field of social problems, he came into contact with leading personalities in social life at home and abroad. Retzbach often received invitations to speak at international meetings of the Catholic labor movement.

Retzbach also took part in political life. The First World War and the subsequent political upheaval also forced the Catholic labor movement in Baden to reform. In 1919, Retzbach took a stand in favor of the new parliamentary democracy. As a member of the state parliament of the Republic of Baden from 1925 to 1933, he represented the central parliamentary group .

In 1928 he became papal secret chamberlain and in 1932 papal house prelate. In 1930 Retzbach gave up the leadership of the Catholic labor movement. In the last years of his life, Retzbach was confronted with the church's struggle for survival against the anti-church Nazi regime . In 1938 the diocesan association of the Catholic labor movement was banned after a large number of reprisals. Retzbach died in Freiburg in 1945 at the age of 77 while he was working on his last publication, a handbook-like summary of his knowledge of canon law and experience in the Archbishop's Office.

Works

In order to make his experience and knowledge in the field of the social question accessible to others, Retzbach published numerous publications in the field of social ethics , social policy and church law . Between 1906 and 1912 he gave the social revue published in Essen . Magazine for contemporary social issues . Retzbach's main work, the guideline for social practice , published in 1906, serves as an introduction to the theory and practice of church social work . It is considered to be the most important work of Retzbach and creates a "connection between theoretical principles and practical instructions". It thus served clergy and laypeople as a guide for social practice. In 1916, Retzbach obtained his doctorate in theology at the University of Freiburg with his work Der Bokott . In 1928 he wrote the biographies of the folk writer and pioneer of social work Heinrich Sautier, as well as the Baden politician Franz Joseph Ritter von Buß . After the publication of the encyclical Quadragesimo anno (1931) by Pope Pius XI. about the renewal of the social order, Retzbach drew a connection to the encyclical Rerum novarum (1891) by Pope Leo XIII. that deals with the labor question. He tried to bring the postulated thoughts closer to people in the context of modern social and sociological issues. Based on his considerations, the work The Renewal of Social Order was published in 1932 based on the encyclical "Quadragesimo anno" . After Retzbach had accumulated a great deal of canon law knowledge and experience, he wrote the work The Law of the Catholic Church in 1935 according to the Codex iuris canonici .

literature

• Winfrid Halder: "The social question is not just a theoretical question ..." - Anton Retzbach, an important practitioner of Catholic social teaching . In: Freiburg Diocesan Archive . Volume 114. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1994, pp. 191-227.
• Winfrid Halder: Anton Retzbach . In: Fred Ludwig Sepaintner (Ed.): Badische Biographien . Volume NF 5. W. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, pp. 235-237.
• Franz Vetter: Dr. Anton Retzbach . In: Freiburg Diocesan Archive . Volume 70. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1950, pp. 248-251.

Web links

• Speeches by Anton Retzbach in the Baden State Assembly in the Digital Collections of the Baden State Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Winfrid Halder: Anton Retzbach . In: Fred Ludwig Sepaintner (Ed.): Badische Biographien . Volume NF 5. Stuttgart 2005, p. 235 f .
2. ^ Franz Vetter: Dr. Anton Retzbach . In: FDA . tape 70 . Freiburg 1950, p. 248 f .
3. ^ Franz Vetter: Dr. Anton Retzbach . In: FDA . tape 70 . Freiburg 1950, p. 149 .
4. ^ Winfrid Halder: Anton Retzbach . In: Fred Ludwig Sepaintner (Ed.): Badische Biographien . Volume NF 5. Stuttgart 2005, p. 236 .
5. ↑ Winfrid Halder: "The social question is not just a theoretical question ..." - Anton Retzbach, an important practitioner of Catholic social teaching . In: FDA . tape 114 . Freiburg 1994, p. 203 .
6. ^ Franz Vetter: Dr. Anton Retzbach . In: FDA . tape 70 . Freiburg 1950, p. 150 .
7. ^ Franz Vetter: Dr. Anton Retzbach . In: FDA . tape 70 . Freiburg 1950, p. 150 .