Julius Bachem (politician, 1845)

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Nicolaus Heinrich Julius Bachem (born July 2, 1845 in Mülheim an der Ruhr , † January 22, 1918 in Cologne ) was a German lawyer, publisher, publicist and Center Party politician .

Lawyer, journalist and publisher

Bachem studied philology , natural sciences and law in Bonn and Berlin . From 1873 he worked as a lawyer. In connection with the Kulturkampf , he was a defender in particular in church political processes or in questions of press law.

Between 1869 and 1914 Bachem also worked temporarily as editor-in-chief with Hermann Cardauns at the Cologne People's Newspaper . The newspaper was published by the family's own bookstore and book printer JP Bachem . Bachem finally took over the management himself. The paper was in direct competition with the liberal Cologne newspaper of the publisher DuMont . Aided by the Kulturkampf, the Volkszeitung had a remarkable upswing since the 1870s. While their circulation was only seven thousand copies in 1871, in 1914 there were around 30,000 copies three times a day. This made it the leading Catholic newspaper in West Germany. But even in southern or even eastern Germany there was no real equivalent in the Catholic area.

Politician

Between 1875 and 1890 Bachem was a city councilor in Cologne . He was also one of the leading figures of the Center Party in the Rhineland and at the Reich level. Bachem belonged to a new generation of center politicians who, with their influence on the press, Catholic associations and influential clerics, ousted the old notables of the party. Between 1877 and 1891 he was a member of the Prussian House of Representatives for this party , where he represented the constituency of Cologne 4 (Siegkreis - Mülheim am Rhein - Wipperfürth).

He had to end his parliamentary career after the birth of an illegitimate child. Nonetheless, he remained influential in the center. His programmatic writing from 1906: “We have to get out of the tower.” What was meant by this was the criticism of the isolation of the Catholic Center Party from all other political forces outside the Catholic milieu . Bachem criticized the growing overemphasis on the denominational principle, advocated the independence of politics from papal instructions and a strengthening of the laity. With the plea for cooperation with Protestants and ultimately for a non-denominational Christian party, Bachem triggered the so-called center dispute. Under his leadership, the Kölnische Volkszeitung became the mouthpiece of the “Cologne direction”, which Bachem helped to shape. At least in the medium term, he made a decisive contribution to the opening of German Catholicism. However, Bachem was a representative of anti-Semitism in Catholic Germany .

Author and encyclopedist

He was the author of numerous political publications. Bachem was also a co-founder and board member of the Görres Society . As part of the society he was between 1886 and 1912 editor of the " State Lexicon of the Görres Society ".

In recognition of his services, he was awarded a Dr. iur. appointed hc.

Julius Bachem died on January 2, 1918 and was buried in the Melaten cemetery (hallway 82).

literature

  • Simon Apel: Julius Bachem (1845-1918) . In: Simon Apel, Louis Pahlow, Matthias Wießner (eds.): Biographisches Handbuch des Intellectual Property , Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2017, pp. 29–31.
  • Anton Ritthaler:  Bachem, Julius. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 493 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Hugo Stehkämper: Julius Bachem (1845–1818). In: Rheinische Lebensbilder, Volume 5. Ed. By Bernhard Poll . Rheinland Verlag, Cologne 1973, pp. 213-226.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Ulrich Wehler : German history of society. Vol. 3: From the German double revolution to the beginning of the First World War. 1849-1914. Munich 1995, ISBN 3-406-32490-8 , p. 1246
  2. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1866-1918. Power state before democracy. CH Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-34801-7 , p. 345
  3. ↑ Bernhard Mann (arrangement) with the assistance of Martin Doerry , Cornelia Rauh , Thomas Kühne: Biographisches Handbuch für das Prussische Abrafenhaus 1867–1918 (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 3). Droste, Düsseldorf 1988, ISBN 3-7700-5146-7 , p. 51.
  4. ↑ Thomas Kühne: Handbook of the elections to the Prussian House of Representatives 1867-1918. Election results, election alliances and election candidates (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 6). Droste, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-7700-5182-3 , pp. 712-716.
  5. ^ Nipperdey: Machtstaat , p. 553
  6. ↑ Thomas Nipperdey : German History 1866-1918. The world of work and civic spirit. Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-34453-4 , p. 466
  7. ↑ Wehler, pp. 926, 1186; Among other things, Bachem spoke of a "progressive Jewish <n> terrorism" allegedly detectable in Berlin, Breslau and Frankfurt and attested Jews an "excess of impudence" (according to Götz Aly: Why the Germans? Why the Jews? Equality, envy and racial hatred 1800 –1933. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt / M. 2012, p. 111).
  8. ^ Josef Abt, Johann Ralf Beines, Celia Körber-Leupold: Melaten - Cologne graves and history . Greven, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7743-0305-3 , pp. 161f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bachem, Julius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bachem, Nicolaus Heinrich Julius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher, lawyer, publicist and politician (center)
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Mülheim an der Ruhr
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1918
Place of death Cologne