Josef Rüther

Josef Rüther (born March 22, 1881 in Assinghausen , † November 16, 1972 in Brilon ) was a German homeland researcher in the Sauerland , an activist in the Peace Association of German Catholics and a left-wing Catholic publicist.

education and profession

He was the son of the Sauerland traveling merchant Theodor Rüther and his mother Elisabeth (née Rothemann). The father died in 1888, so that his youth was marked by material hardship. After elementary school, he attended high school in Paderborn with the aim of becoming a priest. He completed a theology degree in Paderborn in 1904. This was followed by studying classical philology in Münster and turning to the teaching profession. Despite this change, he retained his interest in theological and philosophical questions. From 1909 Rüther worked first as an assistant teacher and finally as a teacher at the grammar school in Brilon . He married Maria Potthast in 1911.

Change of worldview

It was initially shaped by an anti-modern, national and conservative worldview. In doing so, he leaned on Houston Stewart Chamberlain without adopting his racial thoughts. In 1913 he took over the editing of the magazine Heimat in the new department of the Association for History and Archeology of Westphalia in Brilon. This appeared as a supplement to the Sauerländer Zeitung.

In 1916 he was drafted into military service. In connection with the experiences during the First World War , his view of the world changed. He now represented increasingly anti-capitalist, pacifist and democratic ideas. In 1920 he published his book Capitalism and Christianity . In it he committed himself to anti-capitalism , influenced by Wilhelm Hohoff .

Sauerland Heimatbund

In addition, he was still active in the Sauerland homeland movement. In 1919 he became patron of the Brilon school group of the Association of Studying Sauerlanders . This organization founded by Franz Hoffmeister was an important personal basis for the Sauerland Heimatbund . In 1920 Rüther published his historical local history of the Brilon district . Although there were still strong elements critical of civilization and conservative values ​​in his concept of home, he was already setting himself apart from the national trend of the home movement.

After the founding of the Sauerland Heimatbund in 1921, Rüther was very active in it and at times also belonged to the board. From 1923 to 1928 he was editor of the magazines Trutznachtigall and Heimwacht . He was considered a connoisseur of the dialect poet Friedrich Wilhelm Grimme and encouraged the poet Christine Koch to name her contributions in the Heimatbund magazines. He himself published Low German contributions that became more and more political.

Politics and Peace Movement

Rüther was a member of the Center Party . He was a city councilor in Brilon and a member of the provincial council . He was on the socio-politically oriented wing of the party. In 1925 he participated in a series of publications on political Catholicism published by Wilhelm Marx .

As early as 1923, in the Germania newspaper, he had accused the ethnic Catholics of devotion to the fatherland, the war cult and their anti-Semitism. He saw it as a neo-pagan apostasy from Christianity. He also criticized two Sauerlanders , namely Lorenz Pieper and Maria Kahle . In the same year he was instrumental in building the Peace Chapel on the Borberg near Olsberg . A year later he was involved in founding a local group of the Peace Association of German Catholics. His brother, the priest Theodor Rüther, became chairman. He himself was active in the Catholic peace movement beyond the town and helped set up various local groups in Westphalia. He also gave lectures in schools. In 1931 he helped prepare a large peace meeting on the Borberg, in which Franz Stock also took part. He was also involved in the Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold .

After the Center Party changed course to the right in 1928, Rüther became involved in the Christian Social Reich Party around Vitus Heller . Around this time, attempts by the right to exert influence on the Sauerland Heimatbund increased. Rüther criticized the founder of the Confederation, Franz Hoffmeister, for not opposing this decisively. He gave up the editorship of the home watch .

Period of National Socialism and the post-war period

In 1931 he published under the pseudonym J. van Hilbrinxen the work Deeds and Opinions of Mr. Fox and other Fables . In it he tried to enlighten people about the militaristic seduction of the masses and the cult of the leader in the form of easily understandable parables. In 1932 he wrote an article on National Socialism and peace education. From 1931 the local National Socialists began to put him under massive pressure. There were nightly crowds in front of his house, threatening letters, and in 1932 someone shot through his bedroom window. The local National Socialists had the Rüther brothers spied on by students and collected material against them.

After the start of the National Socialist era , he was suspended from teaching. Fearing further persecution, the Rüther couple moved from one place to the next in western and southern Germany for months. After returning to Brilon, he was constantly monitored by the Gestapo . In 1938 a final writing ban was imposed on Rüther. He was temporarily arrested in 1944 in connection with the Grid Action . He then hid from further persecution.

After the war, he became involved again in the Sauerland Heimatbund from 1949 at the latest, but withdrew again in the mid-1950s. A tacit rehabilitation of people who, like Maria Kahle, had been close to National Socialism also played a role.

He wrote numerous independent and dependent publications on various topics. In addition to local history and political texts, this also includes philosophical writings. In 1969 he was awarded the Ring of Honor of the City of Brilon. The Gebrüder-Rüther-Strasse also commemorates him and his brother.

Fonts (selection)

• The fight for high school. Hamm 1915.
• Roman trains in the Sauerland and their relationship to the "saltus Teutoburgiensis". Arnsberg 1915.
• Fight capitalism, the enemy of the people. Limburg 1919.
• Local history of the Brilon district. Olsberg 1920.
• Capitalism or christianity. Graz 1920.
• In the mirror of things. Paderborn around 1920.
• In God's footsteps. 3rd edition Bigge 1925.
• The catholic idea of ​​the state, a representation of the church doctrine of the nature, aim and limits of state authority and of the duties of the citizen. Berlin 1925.
• Community and economy based on selected pieces from the works of Thomas Aquinas. Paderborn 1925.
• Imprints. From the honesty of the terms. Munster 1946.
• The road of humanity. Reflections on history. Munster 1950.
• Local history of the Brilon district. 2nd edition Münster 1956.

literature

• Peter Bürger (arrangement): Josef Rüther (1881–1972) from Olsberg-Assinghausen. Left Catholic, Heimatbund activist, dialect author and Nazi persecuted. Eslohe 2013 online version (PDF; 7.6 MB)
• Sigrid Blömeke: Only cowards back away. Josef Rüther (1881–1972). A Biographical Study of Left Catholicism. Brilon 1992.
• Reinhard Richter: National thinking in Catholicism of the Weimar Republic. Münster 2000, p. 136f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Josef Rüther in the catalog of the German National Library
• Josef Rüther in the Lexicon of Westphalian Authors (with bibliography)