Georg von Kopp

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Georg Cardinal von Kopp, Prince-Bishop of the Diocese of Breslau
(painting by Paul Beckert, 1912)

Georg Kopp , from 1881 Georg von Kopp (born July 25, 1837 in Duderstadt im Eichsfeld , † March 4, 1914 in Opava ) was bishop of Fulda from 1881 to 1887 , prince-bishop of Breslau from 1887 to 1914 and cardinal from 1893 .

Origin and career

Georg Kopp's parents were the weaver Ignaz Kopp and his wife Wilhelmine, b. Oppermann. After graduating from the community school and the Progymnasium in Duderstadt, he attended the Josephinum grammar school in Hildesheim . After graduating from high school, he joined the Hanoverian civil service as a railway assistant telegraphist in 1856 , which he left prematurely after two years.

From 1858 to 1861 he studied at the Philosophical-Theological School in Hildesheim . After being ordained a priest on August 28, 1862, he worked as a chaplain and teacher of religion. In 1865 he was appointed to the Hildesheim Vicariate General , where he was promoted to assessor in 1868. Bishop Wilhelm Sommerwerck appointed him cathedral capitular and vicar general in 1872 .

In the following years of the Kulturkampf , Kopp administered his office carefully. Out of patriotic sentiments, he attached great importance to a good understanding with the Prussian government and Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , with whom he had already contacted in 1872.

Bishop of Fulda

Coat of arms of the Bishop of Fulda 1881–1887

When, after eight years of vacancy, a new bishop of Fulda was to be elected in 1881, Kopp was the only candidate Prussia could approve. Confirmation by Pope Leo XIII. took place on November 15, 1881, the episcopal ordination took place on December 27, 1881 Wilhelm Sommerwerk, his former teacher; Co- consecrators were Franz Joseph von Stein , Bishop of Würzburg , and Michael Felix Korum , Bishop of Trier . In his diocese, which had been badly affected by the Kulturkampf, Georg von Kopp campaigned for the renewal of pastoral services and the church's organizational structures. Despite the hostility from the ultramontane press, Kopp tried to establish a peaceful relationship between the Church and the Prussian government and supported the Pope in the negotiations on the revision of the May Laws .

His appointment to the Prussian State Council in 1884 was followed in 1886, with the consent of the Pope, as a member of the Prussian manor house . This enabled him to play a decisive role in the preparation and adoption of the church laws of 1886 and 1887, but subsequently had the majority of the bishops and the center against them, who demanded an uncompromising withdrawal of the consequences of the culture war and a restoration of the original church positions.

Bishop of Wroclaw

Georg Cardinal Kopp, Prince-Bishop of Wroclaw, 1912

At the request of the Prussian government and against the opposition of the cathedral chapter , which had proposed other candidates for election, Pope Georg Kopp appointed Prince-Bishop of Breslau on August 9, 1887. Since the Breslau diocese also included areas in what was then Austrian Silesia , he became a member of the Austrian manor house and the Troppauer Landtag at the same time as he was appointed .

As the chief shepherd of the largest and richest diocese of the German Empire in terms of area, Kopp devoted himself to the reorganization and expansion of his diocese and supported Catholic club life. He promoted the next generation of priests by expanding the religious educational institutions, building the theological Konvikt and the boys' convents in Beuthen , Glogau and Gleiwitz as well as the Konvikt and seminary in Weidenau . More than 650 churches, monasteries and ecclesiastical institutions were built during his tenure. For the Polish-speaking population in Upper Silesia , he advocated the use of the mother tongue in church and religious instruction and in 1908 fought against the anti-Polish expropriation law.

In 1882, Kopp took a public position against allegations of ritual murder against Jews. In 1900 his statements were reprinted.

On January 16, 1893 Pope Leo XIII took him. as a cardinal priest with the titular church Sant'Agnese fuori le mura in the cardinals college.

Coat of arms of the Prince-Bishop and Cardinal

When he took over the leadership of the Fulda Bishops' Conference in 1900, which he held until his death, he rose to the top of the German episcopate . The Göttingen Society of Sciences made him an honorary member in 1902.

Although his influence in Berlin and at the Roman Curia after the death of Pope Leo XIII. In 1906 he received the Order of the Black Eagle from Kaiser Wilhelm II for his mediating role between the government and the Pope , with which he was admitted to the hereditary Prussian nobility.

Judgment, Achievement, and Death

Monument to the Fulda bishop Georg von Kopp at the foot of the Milseburg

Due to his influence on the settlement of the Kulturkampf and the integration of the Catholic Church in the German Empire , Kopp can be counted among the most important church princes of his time. On the other hand, precisely because of these achievements, his work was not without controversy. His agreement and his cooperation with the state authorities weakened the aims of the Catholic Center Party and alienated him from some of his fellow officials. Due to a lack of understanding of the aims of the Catholic labor movement, he also lost contact with the faithful. His irreconcilable positions during the Polish school strikes as well as in the trade union dispute , which dominated his public perception in the last years of Kopps' term in office, brought him into sharp opposition both to representatives of the Prussian state and to all progressive forces inside and outside Catholicism, what cemented his reputation as an extremely conservative, ultramontan church prince who determined his image in the German public when he died.

Monument to Georg von Kopp in front of the St. Cyriakus Basilica in Duderstadt

Kopp was a great patron of art and science. He created the Wroclaw Diocesan Archives and the Diocesan Museum and renewed the Cathedral Library. Numerous scientific projects and excavations were supported by him. The universities of Breslau and Münster awarded him an honorary doctorate . He was a knight of the Knightly Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem .

On June 10, 1882, the Catholic student association VKDSt Rhenania Marburg, located in the diocese of Fulda, accepted him as an honorary member of the Cartell Association of Catholic German student associations , and on October 25, 1887, the KDStV Winfridia (Breslau) Münster .

Von Kopp publicly advocated the Catholic temperance movement and tried to promote its acceptance within the church.

He died in 1914 and was buried in the Breslau Cathedral .

literature

Web links

Commons : Georg von Kopp  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Jürgen Brandt: Jerusalem has friends. Munich and the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, EOS 2010, page 61 f.
  2. ↑ From the summary of a speech by Kopps at the 54th Katholikentag 1907, where he said that while the movement of moderation in secular circles was gaining more and more scope, its successes in the church area were unfortunately far behind, and indeed that in church circles there was a lot of interest and understanding for the matter of temperance is absent ; quoted from Johannes Abeler, Rainer Müller-Broders: Der Kreuzbund historical retrospect, online publication, last updated on July 31, 2013; accessed on January 16, 2017.
predecessor Office successor
Philipp Cardinal Krementz Chairman of the Fulda Bishops' Conference
1897–1913 		Felix Cardinal von Hartmann
Robert Herzog Prince-Bishop of Breslau
1887–1914 		Adolf Cardinal Bertram
Christoph Florentius Kött Bishop of Fulda
1881–1887 		Joseph Weyland
personal data
SURNAME Kopp, Georg von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kopp, Georg Cardinal von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German clergyman, bishop of Fulda and prince-bishop of Breslau
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Duderstadt near Göttingen
DATE OF DEATH March 4, 1914
Place of death Troppau