Johann Gregor Breuer

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Memorial plaque for Breuer in Wuppertal

Johann Gregor Breuer (born November 20, 1820 or 1821 in Neuss ; † April 2, 1897 in Sanremo ) was a German teacher and social worker.

Live and act

Breuer became a half-orphan at the age of seven. He spent a few years of his childhood in Rosauel , Schloss Auel and school in Neuhonrath . From 1838 he was a teacher at the Catholic girls' school in Elberfeld (Grünstraße) and in 1845 its director. In 1846 he founded the Elberfeld journeyman's association , the first Catholic journeyman's association in Germany and the nucleus of the later Kolping Society, a Catholic social organization with today over 400,000 members in over 60 countries. According to Breuer, "the poor schooling and education of most young craftsmen [...] and, secondly, the extremely great dangers to religion and virtue to which the craftsman [...] is exposed" motivated him to found the company. According to Breuer, the association's task is "to provide instruction, edification, advanced training, and pleasant entertainment and amusement for local and foreign youths and, in particular, journeymen aged 18 to 25 years and above through lectures and appropriate reading." The association was supposed to build a bridge "between Catholic pastoral care and the craftsmen, who were faced with serious existential problems due to the dissolution of corporations, freedom of trade and competition with finished machine production."

In 1845 Breuer also founded the "Parlament" society, which still exists today, as well as other associations such as the "Catholic Sickness Association" (1841), the "Virgins Association" (1847), the "Girls Association" (1845), the church choir association "Cäcilia" (1850), the church building associations "Herz-Jesu" and "St. Suitbertus ”and the“ Savings and Loans Association for St. Joseph ”(1866).

Breuer was married to Sybilla Gertrud, nee Kesseler, since 1847. Five of her seven children died while she was still alive. His son Hermann Josef Breuer founded the machine and armatures factory Breuer & Co., later one of the most important companies in Höchst . Breuer's great-grandson was the priest and resistance fighter Hermann Josef Wehrle .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to the birth certificate; s. Source in the web link
  2. ↑ Article by Hans Warning in the Lohmarer Heimatblättern issue 12, page 40 ff, December 1998 at hgv-lohmar.de
  3. ^ A b Eberhard Illner : Bürgerliche Organisierung in Elberfeld 1775–1850 , Neustadt an der Aisch, 1982

literature

  • Johann Gregor Breuer, What years! - life memories ; ed. by Klaus Goebel, Dortmund 1995.
  • Franz Lüttgen: Johann Gregor Breuer and Adolph Kolping. Studies on the early history of the Catholic Journeyman's Association . Bonifatius-Verlag, Paderborn 1997, ISBN 3-87088-977-2 .
  • August Schmitz-Teske, Johann Gregor Breuer . In: Wuppertaler Biographien, 6th part, Wuppertal 1966; Pp. 29-52

Web links

Commons : Johann Gregor Breuer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Breuer, Johann Gregor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German teacher and social worker
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1820 or 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuss
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1897
Place of death Sanremo