August Rohling

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August Rohling (born February 15, 1839 in Neuenkirchen , † January 23, 1931 in Salzburg ) was a Prague canon and professor of Catholic theology . He was considered an eloquent anti-Semite of his time, who stood out above all with his inflammatory pamphlet The Talmud Jew from 1871.

Academic education and life path

After graduating from high school, Rohling began studying theology at the academy in Münster in 1858 . After studying in Paris, he was ordained a priest under Bishop Johann Georg Müller in Münster in 1863 . He then worked as a private tutor in Brussels and Paris . 1865 theological licentiate , then habilitation for Old and New Testament in Münster, doctorate in Jena 1867. 1871 honorary doctorate and extraordinary professorship for exegesis at the University of Münster . In 1874 Rohling received a professorship in Milwaukee , Wisconsin, USA. In 1875 he returned to Europe and lived in Italy, England and Prague. In 1892 he became a canon at the collegiate church in Prague . In 1897 August Rohling published Der Zukunftsstaat , which was indexed. In 1899 he resigned from his teaching post. He moved to Gorizia, later to Freistadt (Upper Austria) and finally to Salzburg.

Rohling was an honorary member of the student associations Ferdinandea Prague and AV Austria Innsbruck .

Anti-Talmudism and Anti-Semitism

Rohling has made a name for himself above all as an anti-Judaist author, in particular with the text “The Talmud Jew”. In it he listed Talmudic quotes that were out of context and interpreted them negatively. In doing so, he tried to proceed against the "Jewish race" by theological means. He relied mainly on the work of Johann Andreas Eisenmenger , "Discovered Judenthum or Thorough and True Report, which shape the stubborn Jews blaspheme and dishonor the Holy Drey Unity". Another source by Rohling was the Jewish convert Aron Israel Brimann , who had excelled through anti-Semitic inflammatory writings. “The Talmud Jew” had a far-reaching effect at the time, and Julius Streicher also resorted to Rohling's argument in his anti-Semitic hate speech Der Stürmer . According to Rohling, the Jewish religion commands its followers to damage and kill Christians whenever possible - this is how Rohling defended the medieval legend of ritual murder .

Ritual murder trials

August Rohling appeared as an expert witness in many ritual murder trials. In the trial of the case of Tiszaeszlár (Hungary) , the Protestant theologian Franz Delitzsch proved the falsifications and distortions in Rohling's handling of the Talmud . After Rabbi Joseph Samuel Bloch had accused Rohling of forgery and perjury, he reported him for defamation. When the court admitted Delitzsch as a counter-expert and it turned out that Rohling was not even able to read the original Talmud, Rohling withdrew the lawsuit. Although Rohling lost his teaching license and the Vatican put parts of his writings on the index of books forbidden to Catholics , they were widely used among Catholics in Central and Eastern Europe.

Rohling was supported by the two Austrian members of the Reichstag, Georg Ritter von Schönerer (1842–1921) and Karl Lueger (1844–1910), who were also anti-Semites. In Germany, Rohling's ideas were popularized primarily through the Bonifatius Association .

Publications

  • The Talmud Jew. To the heart of Jews and Christians of all classes , Münster 1871 ( ULB Münster )
  • My answers to the rabbis or five letters on Talmudism and the blood ritual of the Jews , Prague 1883

literature

  • Theodor Kroner: Disfigured, untrue and invented in the "Talmud Jew" Professor Dr. August Rohling's. 2 volumes. Obertüschen, Münster 1871.
  • Franz Delitzsch : Rohling's Talmud Jew. Dörffling & Franke, Leipzig 1881.
  • Isak Arie Hellwing: Denominational anti-Semitism in the 19th century in Austria (= publications of the Institute for Church Contemporary History at the International Research Center for Fundamentals of Science, Salzburg. II. 2). Herder, Vienna / Freiburg / Basel 1972, pp. 71–183.
  • Christoph Schmitt:  ROHLING, August. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 8, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-053-0 , Sp. 577-583.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Helmut Walser Smith: The Butcher's Tale. Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town . Norton, New York 2002.
  • Peter R. Frank: The way of an anti-Semitic inflammatory pamphlet. August Rohling's “The Talmud Jew”. In: From the second-hand bookshop. Magazine for antiquarians and book collectors. Edition 2/2004, pp. 91-101 (with table on p. 96/97 about the editions and translations from 1871 to 2003).
  • Elke Kimmel: Rohling, August. In: Handbook of Antisemitism . Volume 2/2, 2009, p. 692 f.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Graf: "Los von Rom" and "Heim ins Reich": the German national academic milieu at the cisleithan universities of the Habsburg Monarchy 1859 - 1914. Zugl. Diss. Univ. Graz 2014, Lit, Berlin / Münster 2015, ISBN 978-3-643-12834-8 , p. 163, note 69
  2. ↑ Helmut Walser Smith: The Butcher's Tale. Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town . Norton, New York 2002, pp. 116 .
personal data
SURNAME Brute, August
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prague Canon and Professor of Catholic Theology
DATE OF BIRTH February 15, 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuenkirchen
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1931
Place of death Salzburg