Ferdinand Heribert von Galen

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Ferdinand Count von Galen

Ferdinand Heribert Graf von Galen (born August 31, 1831 in Münster , † January 5, 1906 in Dinklage ) was a politician of the Center Party .

family

Galen belonged to the old Westphalian noble family Galen and came from a deeply religious family. He was born as the fourth of 13 children and grew up on the family seat, Dinklage Castle in the Oldenburger Münsterland . His parents were the treasurer Johann Matthias Graf von Galen (1800–1880) and Anna geb. Freiin von Ketteler zu Harkotten (1803–1884), sister of the social politician and Bishop of Mainz Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler (1811–1877).

On May 7, 1861, he married Countess Elisabeth Friederike von Spee (1842–1920), a daughter of the court official August von Spee . He was married to Ferdinand's sister Maria Anna (1826–1939) for the second time. Ferdinand's wife Elisabeth gave birth to thirteen children: Elisabeth Ferdinanda (1862–1870), Maria Anna (1863–1930, religious sister), Friedrich Mathias von Galen (member of the Reichstag), August Graf von Galen (district administrator, ⚭ 1896 Countess Livina von Korff gen. Schmising), Maria Franziska Christina (1869–1938 in St. Louis, religious sister), Maria Franziska Elisabeth (1869–1876), Wilhelm Emanuel von Galen (Augustinian monk), Maria Gertrud Agnes (1872–1943, ⚭ 1901 Conrad Freiherr von Wendt ) , Joseph Ferdinand Hubert (1873–1876), Maria Paula Antonia (* 1876; † 1923, religious sister), the Bishop of Münster and Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen , the estate administrator and politician Franz von Galen and Maria Monika von Galen (1886– 1896).

Live and act

Galen attended the Rheinische Ritterakademie in Bedburg , then the grammar school in Münster and then studied law in Munich , Leuven and Bonn . Various trips took him to France, Italy and Spain. In 1849 he began a military career in the 1st Guard Uhlan Regiment . In 1853 he joined the 11th Hussar Regiment in Düsseldorf, and in 1858 resigned as Prime Lieutenant of the 13th Landwehr Regiment in Warendorf. In the following years von Galen worked in the administration of the family estate in Dinklage. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 he participated in the war.

Between 1872 and 1875 he was a member of the Oldenburg Parliament . From 1874 to 1903 he was a member of the Reichstag for the Center Party. As a member of parliament, he represented the constituency of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg 3 (Delmenhorst – Vechta – Cloppenburg). From 1898 to 1903 von Galen was a member of the parliamentary committee.

In 1880 he took over the family estates in Oldenburg and Westphalia and, in addition to his work in the Reichstag, worked as a leader in several Catholic organizations and associations. Von Galen was Vice President in 1883 and President of the German Catholic Congress from 1893 . In addition, since 1890 he was a board member of the People's Association for Catholic Germany , belonged to the Association of Catholic Nobles and the Mainz Association of German Catholics . Between 1898 and 1906 von Galen was chairman of the Provincial Committee of the Center Party in Westphalia.

Of political importance was the "Galen Application", which was introduced in the Reichstag in 1877, in which Galen supported demands for worker protection and Sunday rest. The originator of this request was, however, the Westphalian central politician Burghard von Schorlemer-Alst , whose proposals were edited by a small group of MPs. At his suggestion, the center faction commissioned Galen, due to his high reputation among the other parties, to submit the application. The motion was introduced in the Reichstag plenum on March 19, 1877. In addition to the ban on Sunday work, the application also contained demands for restrictions on child and women's labor , restriction of freedom of trade , the introduction of corporate organizations in the craft sector and protection of the family. In the justification for the application, Galen developed his Christian, ethical, social, romantic, transfigured worldview. The demands were viewed by the government and the parties that supported them as an attack on previous economic policy, and further examination and treatment by the competent Reichstag committee were rejected. Even if the “Galen proposal” did not produce any immediate practical results, it was at the beginning of the social policy of the Center Party.

honors and awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael Hirschfeld:  Galen, Ferdinand Heribert Graf von. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 31, Bautz, Nordhausen 2010, ISBN 978-3-88309-544-8 , Sp. 477-481.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  2. ^ Eckhard Hansen, Florian Tennstedt: Biographical Lexicon for the History of German Social Policy. Kassel 2010, p. 57.
  3. ^ Fritz Specht, Paul Schwabe: The Reichstag elections from 1867 to 1903. Statistics of the Reichstag elections together with the programs of the parties and a list of the elected representatives. 2nd Edition. Carl Heymann Verlag, Berlin 1904, p. 278.
  4. ↑ Printed in: Collection of sources for the history of German social policy 1867 to 1914 , Department I: From the time when the Empire was founded to the Imperial Social Message (1867-1881) , Volume 3: Workers' protection , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Stuttgart a. a. 1996, No. 102.
  5. ^ Karl Gabriel, Hermann-Josef Grosse Kracht: Franz Heat (1851-1921), Social Policy and Social Reform. Schöningh, 2006, ISBN 3506729209 , p. 20 ( digitized version )

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Galen, Ferdinand Heribert von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Galen, Ferdinand Heribert Ludwig Maximus Antonius Hubertus Maria Graf von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobleman and politician (center), MdR
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Muenster
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1906
Place of death Dinklage