Georg Wohlmuth

Georg Wohlmuth (born April 4, 1865 in Schloßberg near Heideck , Middle Franconia ; † May 2, 1952 in Eichstätt ) was a Catholic priest , professor of philosophy and Bavarian politician .

Training and pastoral work

In 1876, the 11-year-old farmer's son became a student at the Eichstätt Humanistic Gymnasium and a pupil at the Episcopal Boys' College there. In 1885 he passed the Abitur and moved into the Episcopal Lyceum Eichstätt as a student . Upon completion of the philosophical and theological studies, he received on 23 March 1890 by the bishop of Eichstätt Franz Leopold Freiherr von Leonrod the priesthood . This was followed by four years of chaplaincy in Kipfenberg , Deining , Berching and Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate .

From 1893 to 1895 studied Wohlmuth in Rome at the major college Anima and in the Thoma-fish College, where he became a doctor of philosophy doctorate was.

professorship

On October 1, 1895, Wohlmuth was appointed lecturer in practical philosophy at the Episcopal Lyceum Eichstätt, the training center of the Eichstätter diocesan clergy , by the Eichstätter Bishop ; his predecessor was the highly respected and internationally renowned philosophy professor Albert Stöckl in Catholic circles ; Wohlmuth brought out some of his works in revisions. In the following years he proved to be "through his acuteness and the consistency of his line of thought, especially in the lectures on logic and ontology , ... as a master." On October 1, 1897 he was appointed professor. Later he also gave lectures in pedagogy and in 1909 published a series of articles in the Augsburger Postzeitung “On the dispute over the spiritual school supervision in Bavaria” , which in a way laid the foundation for his later political career. In the same year he co-founded the “Regional Association of Catholic Spiritual School Boards of Bavaria” in Augsburg . At his suggestion, the magazine “The Christian School” was founded in 1910, and he worked on it for a decade. In 1920 he resigned from his professorship.

politics

Wohlmuth made himself a representative of the Bavarian peasantry's interests at an early stage. He participated in the movement of Christian farmers' associations and promoted their establishment in Franconia . For many years he was deputy chairman of the regional association of Middle Franconia, which has a large number of members.

In 1911, at the age of 47, he stood up for the constituency of Eichstätt - Hilpoltstein for the Chamber of Deputies and was elected. As a representative of the central Bavarian People's Party (BVP), he was to be a member of the highest Bavarian political body (later the Bavarian State Parliament) for 21 years, from 1912 to 1933. He held the office of cultural advisor in the Bavarian state parliament. Above all, he campaigned for the development of a Christian school system and achieved extensive legal safeguards for the work of the two Christian denominations in this area, for example in the School Supplies Act of August 14, 1919.

Until 1924 he also worked as a member of the State Court and as a state parliament commissioner in the administration of public debt. He also supported the BVP's economic advisory board. In 1924 he succeeded Heinrich Held , who took over the office of Bavarian Prime Minister and was on friendly terms with Wohlmuth, chairman of the BVP parliamentary group. The high point of his political career was the five years of work on the conclusion of the 1924 Concordat , a contract between state and church that is still valid today. Wohlmuth achieved a great deal for his constituency, including the reconstruction of the Eichstätt teacher training institute , the Altmühl regulation, bridge and road construction and the conversion of the Eichstätt railway connection from narrow to standard gauge.

As early as 1929 he turned against the racial ideology of National Socialism in the Bavarian state parliament ; so he said there on June 7th:

“... In my eyes, the German doesn't start with German blood, the German character has to come along, the value is the main thing for me. If I had to make the choice between a man who carries unadulterated and unmixed German blood, but combined with a character of dishonesty, and on the other hand a man who perhaps centuries ago had a few strange drops of blood in his veins has, but is characterized by German honesty, German truthfulness, German chivalry and cleanliness, I would not think for a moment and say: The latter is a German. "

Wohlmuth strictly rejected a merger between the BVP and the NSDAP . Verbal attacks on his person then increased. After Hitler's " seizure of power " , Wohlmuth announced his decision on March 7, 1933 to retire from politics. On June 21, 1933, his home was searched. On June 30, 1933, at the age of 69, he was taken into “ protective custody ” and taken to the Eichstätt regional court prison, but released on July 5, 1933. His ministerial passport was revoked two days later . In November 1933, he and all of his colleagues in Eichstatt signed the German professors' commitment to Adolf Hitler . Until his death almost 20 years later, he lived in Eichstätt in a spirit of freshness to the end, but never intervened in political events.

Honors

Wohlmuth has been honored many times. Since 1913 member of the Eichstätter cathedral chapter , he was on August 1, 1924 by Pope Pius XI. appointed Provost of the Cathedral in Eichstätt and instituted as such on August 27th. He remained provost of the cathedral until 1943. In 1925 he was appointed Apostolic Protonotary . 1926 awarded him the medical faculty of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , the honorary doctorate -Würde. Heideck made him an honorary citizen in 1928 and the city of Eichstätt in 1930 . A street in Eichstätt was named after him. He was also the holder of the golden ring of honor of the Deutsches Museum .

literature

• Benevolence. In: Deutsche Tagespost. No. 57, 1952.
• Georg Wohlmuth. Philosophy professor, provost and politician in Eichstätt. 1865-1952. In: In the service of faith and life. Figures from Eichstätts recent history. Reprint from: Publications of the Society for Franconian History. 7th row: CVs from Franconia. Volume 6. Würzburg 1959, pp. 45-55.
• Florian Breitling: Georg Wohlmuth. Clergy, Bavarian politician and church fighter from Eichstätt between kingdom and republic. Dissertation University of Passau, 1987.
• Wohlmuth, Georg. In: Large Bavarian Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 3, KG Saur, Munich 2005, p. 2126.
• Jutta Franke: Wohlmuth, Georg, philosopher, cathedral provost in Eichstätt. In: Karl Bosl (ed.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 858 ( digitized version ).

Web links

• Georg Wohlmuth in the parliamentary database at the House of Bavarian History

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Quoted from: In the service of faith and life. P. 46.
2. ↑ Quoted from: In the service of faith and life. P. 52f.