Benedict Kreutz

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Grave of Benedikt Kreutz in the Freiburg main cemetery

Benedikt Kreutz (born January 15, 1879 in St. Peter (Black Forest) , † July 25, 1949 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German Catholic clergyman and second president of the German Caritas Association .

Life

Benedikt Kreutz was born into a family of craftsmen. After graduating from high school in Freiburg im Breisgau, he first studied philosophy in Eichstätt , then Catholic theology in Freiburg. In 1902 he was ordained a priest. In 1904 he became a member of the student union KDStV Hercynia Freiburg im Breisgau . Initially, he was a chaplain in Birndorf, Durlach and Freiburg , and since 1910 a pastor in the industrial community of Untergrombach near Bruchsal . There he built a social center with a kindergarten, nursing ward, public bath, library and training room (Elisabethenhaus).

From 1915 he was mainly employed as a chaplain . In 1919 he was commissioned to set up and manage the main agency of the German Caritas Association in Berlin . During this time he was also a member of the board of directors and the management of the St. Raphaels Association. He also studied economics at the University of Berlin. In 1922 he was awarded a doctorate degree from the University of Münster on the subject of “welfare in rural areas”. rer. pole. PhD. The co-speaker was the social and Caritas scientist Heinrich Weber , who became Kreutz's strong scientific support in the German Caritas Association. In 1921 he was appointed to the headquarters of the German Caritas Association in Freiburg to succeed Lorenz Werthmann as President. He held this office until his death.

During the time of National Socialism , the German Caritas Association came into conflict with the National Socialist rulers, but also spoke out in favor of their goals. Kreutz was able to fend off the synchronization , and Caritas was able to continue its work under difficult conditions, but it did not succeed in protecting the handicapped and so-called hereditary diseases entrusted to it from murder in the euthanasia measures known as Aktion T4 (between 1939 and 1941 alone from Catholic institutions about 12,000 people). Kreutz, however, identified three goals of National Socialism, which are very welcome from the point of view of Caritas, specifically in welfare care: the new state wants to resign as a welfare state, which again brings free charity to the fore, he emphasizes self-help and opposes the constant demands on the state and Social security and, finally, he exercised lively care for the genetically healthy family structure and for the large family.

plant

Kreutz managed the professional structuring of the association and built up a dense network of training and further education offers. He founded the seminar for welfare workers, the youth leader seminar and the seminar for pastoral care in Freiburg. He was a co-founder of the Caritas Institute for Health Care with the affiliated St. Elisabeth Teaching Hospital in Cologne-Hohenlind and the Institute for Caritas Science at the University of Freiburg .

As President of Caritas, he was able to help shape the welfare legislation of the Weimar Republic by means of numerous memoranda and reports . In addition, he campaigned for cooperation with the Inner Mission and the other welfare associations and was one of the initiators of the foundation of the German League of Independent Welfare Care . Kreutz was also a driving force in establishing the international Caritas.

Kreutz's work received numerous church and state honors during his lifetime.

Awards (selection)

Fonts

See the typewritten bibliography BK (until 1939), compiled by v. H. Rolfes (64 pages), in the archive of the German Caritas Association in Freiburg.

  • The community home in the country. A study of its history, social and economic importance, and feasibility . Dissertation Münster 1922
  • Caritas and the German Caritas Association. In: Handwortbuch der Wohlfahrtspflege , ed. v. O. Karstedt et al., 1924, 102-110
  • The social and charitable significance of land reform, 1925
  • Caritas work in the new Germany. In: Social Work and Community , ed. v. H. Althaus, 1936, 244-255
  • Numerous speeches, presentations, statements, addresses and short articles can be found in the magazine Caritas 16, 1910–1947.

literature

  • Benedikt Kreutz in memory , ed. v. Karl Borgmann, undated (1949)
  • Karl Borgmann: Dr. Kreutz, Benedict. In: Freiburg Diocesan Archive 71, 1951, 233–236
  • Karl Borgmann: Benedikt Kreutz. On the 10th anniversary of his death. In: Caritas 60, 1959, 231-236
  • Eckhard Hansen, Florian Tennstedt (Eds.) U. a .: Biographical lexicon on the history of German social policy from 1871 to 1945 . Volume 2: Social politicians in the Weimar Republic and during National Socialism 1919 to 1945. Kassel University Press, Kassel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7376-0474-1 , p. 104 f. ( Online , PDF; 3.9 MB).
  • Manfred Hermanns : Heinrich Weber. Social and Caritas scientist in a time of upheaval . Würzburg 1958, especially pp. 22-25, 64-68, 77-82.
  • Manfred Hermanns: Worldwide service to people on the move. Advice and welfare for emigrants through the Raphaels factory 1871-2011 . Friedberg 2011, pp. 88, 89, 97, 109, 111, 145, 220
  • Gustav v. Mann-Tiechler: Benedikt Kreutz (1879–1949). In: ders., Menschen als Helfer , 1966, 23–27
  • Hans-Josef Wollasch: Contributions to the history of the German Caritas in the time of the world wars. On the 100th birthday of Benedikt Kreutz , 1978
  • Hans-Josef Wollasch: Benedikt Kreutz (1879–1949), President of the German Caritas Association , 1979
  • Hans-Josef Wollasch: Benedikt Kreutz (1879–1949). In: Contemporary History in Life Pictures , ed. v. J. Aretz, R. Morsey, A. Rauscher, Vol. 5, 1982, 118-133
  • LThK2 VI, 605 (Borgmann)
  • Hans-Josef Wollasch: Benedikt Kreutz . In: Baden biographies . NF 1, 193-195
  • StL7 III, 701-703 (Wollasch).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Hammerschmidt: The welfare associations in the Nazi state. The NSV and the denominational associations Caritas and Innere Mission in the structure of welfare work under National Socialism. Opladen 1999, p. 143.
  2. ^ Karl Borgmann: Kreutz, Benedikt. In: Lexicon for Theology and Church , Herder, Freiburg, 2nd edition 1961, Volume 6. Sp. 605.
  3. ^ Caritas. Journal for Caritas Science and Caritas Work , ed. from the German Caritas Association Freiburg, Volume 31, Issue 8, August 1926, p. 257.
personal data
SURNAME Kreutz, Benedict
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic clergyman, second President of the German Caritas Association
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Peter (Black Forest)
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 1949
Place of death Freiburg in Breisgau