Catholic milieu
The Catholic milieu is a term used in modern history. It mainly refers to the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. It is particularly important in the area of historical election research and the (historical) investigation of political culture . The term was introduced into the German discussion in the context of cultural-historical research in the 1960s by Mario Rainer Lepsius , but did not gain importance until the 1980 / 90s with the inclusion of cultural-historical approaches in social and societal history.
Catholic milieu in Germany
Not least in order to investigate Catholic society, the concept of milieu has developed into one of the central social and cultural-historical analysis instruments in recent years and has in a certain way replaced an economically narrow concept of interests and class. Instead of linear explanatory patterns for social processes along socio-economic determinisms, there was a socio-cultural reshaping of socio-economic, regional, denominational and other dispositions.
The Catholic milieu was first and foremost primarily local, parochial , and oriented towards the parish. The central binding force was the faith imparted by the clergy, supported and consolidated in the ritualization of the everyday world. This included attending church services regularly, participating in the "popular missions" that take place from time to time, participating in processions, pilgrimages and other piety exercises.
However, the “Catholic milieu” as a historical term should not be confused with the term Catholic denomination, although the relationships are of course great.
The formation of the milieu was not least the result of primarily political processes in German domestic politics. Originally Protestant Prussia , for example, found it difficult to integrate the inhabitants of the Catholic areas into the new western provinces of Rhineland and Westphalia , because Prussia's state church claims were in conflict with the Catholic self-image. The first climax of the conflict between church and state was the so-called Cologne turmoil in the 1830s . It was not until the state persecution, which had already hit democrats, socialists and Catholics since the pre-March period and reached its climax in the Kulturkampf and in the socialist laws, that the strong solidarity effects that remained effective for a long time despite internal heterogeneity. The German Catholics experienced the beginnings of the German Reich as a state structure that disadvantaged and discriminated against them and disregarded the “legitimate interests” of their church. The struggle with the Protestant state became the most important basis for the formation of the interests of the Catholic milieu.
After the end of the Kulturkampf, the inner cohesiveness gradually decreased in the 1890s. While the Catholic milieu still appeared unanimous to the outside world - especially towards the “godless” social democracy - inside, tense processes of differentiation took place. In the process, certain currents developed, partly along social fault lines, which over time became increasingly weighty. There was an urban-bourgeois wing, a populist wing made up primarily of small farmers and craftsmen, a conservative (large) agrarian-aristocratic wing and an increasingly strong working-class wing.
In the industrial areas and large cities, the mainly religiously mediated milieu ties were soon no longer sufficient to integrate the immigrant workers into the local milieu. In these areas in particular, a "postponed" association environment developed. These included, for example, the People's Association for Catholic Germany , the Catholic workers' associations and, despite their interdenominationalism, also the Christian trade unions . There were also associations for young people, women and numerous other groups. At the university level, as a counterweight to the beating corps and fraternities, more and more non-beating Catholic student associations , namely the CV and the KV, formed . The reach of the clubs and associations, together with the traditional prayer brotherhoods and similar groups, was finally so dense that one rightly speaks of an organization from the cradle to the grave .
Nevertheless, the binding force of the milieu gradually began to wane in the 20th century. In particular, the extensive elimination and harmonization of the Catholic clubs and associations that were now enormously important for the milieu under National Socialism weakened the binding force of the milieu enormously at times, as the National Socialist rulers tried with great pressure to limit the influence of the Catholic Church as far as possible to the religious area. After the end of the war, however, the Catholic milieu experienced a phase of restoration, the binding force increased and the associations flourished again. Last but not least, the terrible experiences of war and dictatorship were the trigger for this trend back to church and religiosity as a counter-image to National Socialism, which was perceived as “godless”, but also to communism against the backdrop of the approaching Cold War. With the 1960s and the international upheaval that began with society as a whole, the power of integration of the Catholic milieu also declined noticeably. The reasons were the long-term secularization process and the general trend towards individualization, which, fueled by increasing economic power, manifested itself in new opportunities for leisure and consumer offers, as well as new media, and which was diametrically opposed to the collective structure of the milieu. The effects of the Second Vatican Council also contributed to the gradual dissolution of the milieu. However, the long-term voting behavior in Catholic regions shows how strong the influence of the Catholic milieu is even today.
literature
Environment concept
- Working group for contemporary ecclesiastical history: The Catholic milieu as a research task ; in: Westfälische Forschungen 43 (1993); Pp. 588-654.
- Michael Klöcker: The Catholic Milieu. Basic considerations - in particular with regard to the German Empire of 1871 ; in: Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte 44 (1992), pp. 241-262
- Michael Klöcker: The Catholic milieu as a historical research perspective - with special consideration of the Rhineland (conclusion 2010) ; in: Michael Klöcker: Religions and Catholicism, Education and History Didactics, Workers' Movement - Selected Articles, Frankfurt am Main 2011, pp. 477–495
- M. Rainer Lepsius: Party system and social structure: On the problem of the democratization of German society ; in: Gerhard A. Ritter (Ed.): German political parties before 1918 ; Cologne, 1973; Pp. 56-80
- Antonius Liedhegener: Market Society and Milieu. Catholics and Catholic Regions in the Economic Development of the German Empire 1895–1914 ; in: Historisches Jahrbuch 113 (1993), 1st half volume; Pp. 283-354
- Karl-Egon Lönne: Research on Catholicism ; in: GG 1/2000; Pp. 128-170
- Wilfried Loth : Integration and Erosion: Changes in the Catholic Milieu in Germany ; in: Wilfried Loth (Ed.): German Catholicism in transition to modernity ; Denomination and Society, 3; Stuttgart, Berlin, Cologne 1991; Pp. 266-281
- Medien-Dienst GmbH: "Religious and ecclesiastical orientations in the Sinus-Milieus 2005": Milieu Handbuch ; Munich: MDG, 2005
- Carsten Wippermann and Marc Calmbach: Worlds of Life for Catholic Adolescents and Young Adults. Basic orientation, communalization, commitment, attitude to religion / church against the background of the Sinus-Milieus 2007. Heidelberg: Sinus Sociovision 2007.
Sample studies
° Linus Hauser: Chapel wagons and vehicles of God. Milieu Catholic experiences, in: Bäumer, F. - J. / Hampel, A. / Hauser, L. / Prostmeier, F. (Ed.), Europassion. Church - Conflicts - Human Rights, Bad Schussenried 2006, 195–221
- Michael Hirschfeld: Catholic milieu and displaced persons. A case study using the example of the Oldenburger Land 1945–1965 . Dissertation. Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2002. 620 pp.
- Doris Kaufmann : Catholic milieu in Münster 1928–1933. Political forms of action and gender-specific behavioral spaces ; Düsseldorfer Schriften zur Modern Landesgeschichte and the history of North Rhine-Westphalia, 14; Düsseldorf 1984
- Arnold Klein: Catholic milieu and National Socialism. The district of Olpe 1933–1939 ; 1995
- Hans-Jürgen Smula: Milieus and Parties. A regional analysis of the interdependence of political and social milieus, party system and voting behavior using the example of the Lüdinghausen district from 1919 to 1933 ; Münster 1987
- Maria Anna Zumholz: Popular piety and the Catholic milieu - Marian apparitions in Heede 1937–1940 in the field of tension between popular piety, National Socialist regime and church hierarchy ; Writings of the Institute for History and Historical Research, 12; Cloppenburg 2004 (formation and development of the Catholic milieu in Emsland)
- Maria Anna Zumholz: Adaptation - Refusal - Resistance? Catholic milieu in Emsland 1933–1945 ; in: Emsländische Geschichte , Vol. 13; Haselünne 2006; Pp. 22-104