Evangelical workers' associations

Hermann von Bezzel: Sermon on the anniversary of the Evangelical Workers' Association in Nuremberg in 1911

The Evangelical Workers 'Associations ( EAV ) emerged after their predecessors essentially since 1882. Since 1890 they have been united in the General Association of Evangelical Workers' Associations. The clubs were strictly anti-Catholic and anti-social democratic. Their exact self-image was controversial and led to internal disputes. The organizational scope was less than that of the Catholic workers' associations . They were dissolved at the time of National Socialism. After the war, the Evangelical Workers' Movement (EAB) was founded as a successor organization.

Emergence

Ludwig Fischer

The movement's roots go back to 1835, when the first Protestant craftsmen's association was founded in Erlangen under the influence of Friedrich von Raumer . A font by Johann Hinrich Wichern was influential in 1849 . According to this, Christian associations are not sufficient for those in need, the union of those in need is also important. Further forerunners emerged in 1848 and in the following years. The Würzburg workers' association has existed since 1854.

But as a movement worth mentioning, Protestant workers 'associations only emerged from 1882. The Christian Social Workers' Association Gelsenkirchen had published an election call in favor of the Catholic Center Party , which led to protests among the Protestant members, who were mostly nationally liberal. In particular, the miner Ludwig Fischer from Gelsenkirchen founded the first Protestant workers' association with others against this background. A short time later another club was founded in Gelsenkirchen-Schalke . As a result, other associations were founded, primarily in the Ruhr area.

Program

The clubs were anti-Catholic and anti-social democratic. They confessed to the monarchy and the Hohenzollern dynasty . The clubs were educational and social clubs with a strong festival culture. In addition, they conducted popular education. There were literary evenings, amateur theater and music played.

The first provincial association was founded for Rhineland and Westphalia in 1884. In a first statute from 1885 it was said: The Evangelical Workers' Association is based on the Evangelical Confession and has the purpose 1. to arouse and promote evangelical awareness among fellow believers, 2. to strive for the moral uplift and general education of its members, 3. to maintain and cultivate a peaceful relationship between employer and employee, 4. to support its members in cases of illness and death, 5. to remain loyal to the emperor and the empire.

At the time of the Weimar Republic, the associations saw themselves as an attitude-building class movement, "which wants to shape social life out of the social spirit of the gospel, to work on the rise of the working class and to carry out the struggle for the establishment of faith in the workers."

Early years

The entrepreneur Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg rejected the associations.

After 1887 there was close cooperation between the workers' associations and the Evangelical Federation . Both saw themselves as a bulwark against social democracy and Catholicism. In view of the economically peaceful program, it is not surprising that the associations rejected strikes such as the great miners' strike of 1889 .

Pastor Ludwig Weber from Mönchengladbach combined the Protestant workers 'associations that had existed up to that point from 1890 into the general association of Protestant workers' associations. He received support from Adolf Stoecker . The clubs spread over the Ruhr area and other areas. However, their focus was in western Germany. In 1890 the Rhenish-Westphalian Provincial Association had 73 member associations with 20,000 members. In total there were around 30,000 members in Germany at that time. In contrast to the Catholic workers' associations , the Protestant associations not only accepted workers, but also pastors, teachers and even entrepreneurs were members. In practice this certainly had different effects. Exact information was available for the Elberfeld workers' association shortly after it was founded in 1885. After that, the association had 88 members at that time. 45 of them were factory workers. Most of the rest were craftsmen such as shoemakers (20), bricklayers (19), joiners (16) or tailors (9). The majority were therefore workers and artisans. In addition, there was a support group of "workers' friends", often from the ranks of wealthy merchants, who generously supported the association financially and thus exerted influence at least indirectly.

Despite the emphasis on loyalty to the state and the aim of understanding between workers and employers, parts of the industry strictly rejected the Protestant workers' associations. Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg declared in 1895: “The evangelical workers' associations are in danger of marching directly into the social democratic camp.” Very similar to Wilhelm von Kardorff : “ The evangelical clergy were certainly filled with the best spirit for the workers, but achieved often only that they bring thousands of supporters to the social democracy . ”The associations protested against these accusations and, on the contrary, emphasized that they had withheld thousands of workers from social democracy. Another obstacle to development was that the Prussian Evangelical Higher Church Council warned in 1895 against “excessive socio-political activity by the clergy”.

Union dispute

Friedrich Naumann played an important role in the fundamental discussion about the direction of the clubs, but could not prevail.

Similar to the Catholic camp the union dispute , it came within the workers' associations soon to disputes about the attitude of the trade unions and over one's self-image. Socially conservative, economically peaceful, national social and liberal directions fought with one another. Ultimately, it was a question of whether the associations should be primarily religious or whether they also saw themselves as socio-political organizations.

Several directions developed within the association. A wing oriented towards national liberalism emphasized the religious and national side of the movement. This Bochum direction, led by a manufacturer Franconia and an editor, wanted to focus on religious and social-charitable work. She refused to do any active socio-political work. Ludwig Fischer, who had been secretary of the National Liberal Party from 1906, also belonged to this group. He argued that the associations had to look after the “ religious and patriotic side of the program, while intensive social activity meant playing with the strike fire, with incalculable consequences for the huge Rhenish-Westphalian industry and for the welfare of the entire fatherland could be " .

A second group spoke out in favor of the workers' union members working in the Christian trade unions. This also included Adolf Stoecker. The Christian miners' association was deliberately founded as an interdenominational organization to organize the evangelical miners. Members of the workers' associations also participated in the formulation of the statutes. This met with criticism from parts of the tops of the workers' associations, but there were also supporters. This also included the chairman of the general association Ludwig Weber. Numerous members of the Protestant workers 'associations were involved in the founding of the Christian miners' association. However, the majority of the members were Catholic. Another group, mostly based on Naumann, spoke out in favor of membership in the free trade unions in the hope of inducing them to be politically neutral.

Within the association, the religious-national direction initially prevailed. The manufacturer Franken was elected chairman of the association in 1896. The internal tensions persisted and in 1898 the Christian-socially oriented pastor Weber was elected chairman. A year later, Friedrich Naumann was able to prevail with a resolution at a delegates' meeting in Altona . In this it was recognized that the associations not only had a religious but also a social character. The conflicts were not resolved and the Bochum direction left the general association in 1901 with 7,000 members. This formed the Protestant workers' union, which only rejoined the general association in 1916. Due to an amendment to the statutes, according to which only the provincial association chairmen and the executive members were allowed to belong to the committee of the general association, Stoecker and Naumann had to resign from the management committee in 1902. In 1902, the Württemberg association to which Naumann was affiliated, with 4,000 members, left the general association. The general association issued a statement on the trade union issue in 1905. Membership in such associations, which were based on the class struggle, was further rejected. However, one acknowledged the union idea and left the "associations and clubs the freedom to bring their members either to Christian organizations or to other organizations that are not dependent on social democracy and let the Christian-national idea free."

The historian Michael Schneider does not see this as a real positive appreciation of the Christian trade unions by the Protestant workers' associations either. It was only when the Christian miners 'association did not take part in the miners' strike of 1912 that the Protestant associations gave up their reluctance towards the Christian trade unions. There were also close ties to the yellow economic associations .

Further development

During the Weimar Republic, Wilhelm Koch was the second equal chairman of the General Union of Protestant Workers' Associations.

The number of members in 1901 was 82,000. It rose to 115,000 by 1911 and to 144,000 in 1915. Other associations and workers' associations that were not affiliated to the general association had a total of 28,000 members in 1915.

In connection with the First World War and the November Revolution, the number of members fell by up to a third. In 1921, a new version of the association's social program was adopted. In the preamble it said: "We want to be a community of working Protestant people."

Until 1922 the association was led by Ludwig Weber. He was followed by Pastor Alfred Werbeck from Elberfeld. The second equal chairman since 1923 was Wilhelm Koch , former Reich Minister of Transport. D. In the following years the association was able to recover. In 1925 a general secretariat was opened in Berlin and internal communication was improved.

As elements of the association's work on site, support facilities, unemployment welfare, the promotion of the settlement system, evening courses and primarily religious activities such as workers' Bibles are named. In addition, there was child and youth work as well as parties and excursions. The associations established holiday and leisure homes and trained the members to participate in church bodies such as synods.

The Reich Association of Protestant Employees' Associations in Germany had existed as the umbrella organization since 1928. This included the General Association of Protestant Workers 'Associations in Germany, the General Association of Protestant Workers' Associations in Germany, the Association of Protestant Journeyman Associations and the Working Group of Protestant Young Workers.

In 1929 there were fifteen regional associations in the General Union of Christian Workers' Associations Germany, which in 1933 had around 100,000 members. The focus was still on Rhineland-Westphalia with 42,000 members. Followed by Silesia with 11,000 and Baden with 10,000 members. Württemberg with over 4,000 and Bavaria with 19,000 members were outside the general association.

At the beginning of the National Socialist rule it was dissolved. After the Second World War, numerous clubs were re-established. In 1952, the Evangelical Workers' Movement was founded as the successor organization to the general association. Currently (2013) there is a Federal Association of Protestant Employees' Organizations. V.

literature

• Alfred Grunz: Confessional workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2. Berlin, 1932 986-992 digitized
• Andrea Hinsche: "Above the parties and alongside the trade unions." The Württemberg State Association of Protestant Workers' Associations (1891–1918) . Frankfurt am Main, 1989

Footnotes

1. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p. 986
2. ↑ Traugott Jähnichen: Institution Church - Association Church - People's Church - Project Church. Transformation processes of the Ruhr area Protestantism since de-industrialization. In: The future of the Ruhr area: Structural change in a region and the shared responsibility of the churches. Münster, 2003 p. 42
3. ↑ History of the EAB district association Gelsenkirchen ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ History of social ideas in Germany: Socialism - Catholic social teaching - Protestant social ethics. Wiesbaden, 2005 p. 948
5. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p. 987
6. ↑ History of the EAB district association Gelsenkirchen ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p. 986
8. ↑ Traugott Jähnichen: Institution Church - Association Church - People's Church - Project Church. Transformation processes of the Ruhr area Protestantism since de-industrialization . In: The future of the Ruhr area: Structural change in a region and the shared responsibility of the churches . Münster, 2003, p. 43.
9. ↑ History of the EAB district association Gelsenkirchen ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ^ Gerhard Besier : Church, Politics and Society in the 19th Century . Munich 1998 p. 33
11. ^ Peter van Dam: Religion and civil society: Christian traditions in the Dutch and German workers' movement (1945–1980) . Münster, 2010 p. 60
12. ^ Peter van Dam: Religion and civil society: Christian traditions in the Dutch and German workers' movement (1945–1980) . Münster, 2010 p. 60
13. ↑ Wolfgang E. Heinrichs : "Forward" in work, with church and fatherland. The evangelical-social workers' movement in Wuppertal and its program . In: Community of Churches and Social Responsibility: The Dignity of Others and the Right to Think Different. Festschrift for Professor Dr. Erich Geldbach . Münster, 2004 p. 297
14. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement . In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions . Vol. 2, Berlin 1932, p. 987.
15. ^ Gerhard A. Ritter , Klaus Tenfelde : Workers in the German Empire 1871 to 1914 . Bonn 1992, p. 824.
16. ^ Gerhard A. Ritter / Klaus Tenfelde: Workers in the German Empire 1871 to 1914. Bonn, 1992 p. 824
17. ^ Helga Grebing : History of the German labor movement. Munich, 1966 p. 136
18. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p. 987
19. ^ Gerhard Besier: Church, Politics and Society in the 19th Century, Munich 1998 p.33
20. ^ Helga Grebing: History of the German labor movement. Munich, 1966 p.136f.
21. ^ Michael Schneider: Evangelical Christians and Christian Trade Unions in the Empire. In: Frank von Auer / Franz Segbers (eds.): Social Protestantism and the trade union movement. Cologne, 1994. p. 84.
22. ↑ Traugott Jähnichen: Institution Church - Association Church - People's Church - Project Church. Transformation processes of the Ruhr area Protestantism since de-industrialization. In: The future of the Ruhr area: Structural change in a region and the shared responsibility of the churches. Münster, 2003 p. 43f.
23. ^ Helga Grebing: History of the German labor movement. Munich, 1966 p.136f.
24. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p.988
25. ^ Michael Schneider: Evangelical Christians and Christian Trade Unions in the Empire. In: Frank von Auer / Franz Segbers (eds.): Social Protestantism and the trade union movement. Cologne, 1994. p. 85.
26. ↑ Gerhard A. Ritter / Klaus Tenfelde: Workers in the German Empire 1871 to 1914. Bonn, 1992 p.824
27. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p.988
28. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 pp.988f.
29. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p.989
30. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 p.989
31. ↑ Handbook of the German Protestant Churches, 1918 to 1949: Organs - Offices - Associations - People. Vol. 1 Supraregional institutions. Göttingen, 2010 p.411
32. ^ Alfred Grunz: Denominational workers 'associations: Evangelical workers' association movement. In: Ludwig Heyde (Hrsg.): International dictionary of trade unions. Vol. 2 Berlin, 1932 pp.989f.
33. ↑ Homepage of the Federal Association of Protestant Workers' Organizations V