Leopold Karl Goetz

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Leopold Karl Goetz (born October 7, 1868 in Karlsruhe , † April 2, 1931 in Bonn ) was a German Old Catholic clergyman and professor of Old Catholic theology , Slavic and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Bonn .

Life

Early years

After studying old Catholic theology in Bonn, Goetz received his doctorate in Bern and was ordained priest in 1891 . The following year he was first parish administrator, then pastor of the old Catholic community in Passau . There he wrote a number of theological works, mainly on questions of canon law . The dispute with the Roman Catholic Church was also the subject of his writings, and a first major work was already on a Slavic theme: in 1897 he published a story of the Slavic apostles Constantine ( Cyrillus ) and Methodius .

theologian

On November 18, 1899, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Theological Faculty of the University of Bern . A year later Goetz was appointed professor at the Episcopal Seminary in Bonn, then in 1902 to the newly established chair for philosophical propaedeutics , today chair for old Catholic theology at the University of Bonn. Goetz published a number of writings, including a picture of the life of his theological teacher Franz Heinrich Reusch , a source-like account of ultramontanism and a study of the worldview and effectiveness of Pope Leo XIII. From 1907 he headed the German Merkur and the Old Catholic Volksblatt .

Slavist

From 1901 Goetz turned more and more to Slavic studies. In 1901 he suggested the founding of a journal for Eastern European history , which appeared ten years later with him as co-editor. In 1903 he first traveled to a Slavist congress in Saint Petersburg . He began to learn and also to teach Russian , Old Bulgarian , Bulgarian , Ruthenian and Serbo-Croatian . His translation of 12th century Russian law was published in four volumes from 1910 to 1913. In 1913, the Faculty of Law of Kiev University made him an honorary doctorate. In the same year he was elected to the "Imperial Society for the History and Antiquities of Russia" in Moscow.

At the request of the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Bonn, the Prussian ministry gave him a teaching assignment for "Eastern European History and Regional Studies" in 1914. However, Goetz became more and more estranged from the old Catholic theology and his church. He came into conflict with Bishop Theodor Weber , the reasons for this can no longer be identified from the sources. In 1912 he fought with leading men of the young teams that Erwin Kreuzer would have liked to see in the episcopate. After heated arguments, he resigned from the editorial office of the Volksblatt and Deutscher Merkurs . In this context, the Protestant theologian Friedrich Nippold , an outspoken friend of Old Catholicism, characterized him as: "a highly gifted, capable, but thoroughly pathological man." Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar lists him in its 1928/29 edition only more as historians and Slavists, but not as theologians.

death

Leopold Karl Goetz died in Bonn in April 1931 as a well-known and respected Slavist; however, his theological work was hardly recognized in the obituaries; it was almost forgotten during his lifetime.

Works

Listed by Urs Küry and DNB.

Theological writings (selection)
  • Basic questions on Roman Catholic social reform. Bonn 1892.
  • Cyprian's doctrine of penance. A Study of the History of the Sacrament of Penance. Koenigsberg 1895.
  • The historical position and task of Old Catholicism. Leipzig 1896.
  • Leo XIII. Its worldview and its effectiveness, represented by sources. A. Perthes, Gotha 1899.
  • Franz Heinrich Reusch (1825–1900). A representation of his life's work. Gotha 1900.
  • Ultramontanism as a world view based on the syllabus is represented by sources. Bonn 1905.
  • Clericalism and secularism. The lay element in ultramontanism. Frankfurt am Main 1906.
Slavic writings (selection)
  • History of the Slav apostles Constantine (Cyrillus) and Methodius. Perthes, Gotha 1897.
  • State and Church in Old Russia. Berlin 1908.
  • German-Russian trade agreements of the Middle Ages. Friederichsen, Hamburg 1916.
  • Folk song and folk life of the Croatians and Serbs. Carl Winter, Heidelberg J.]
  • German-Russian trading history in the Middle Ages. Lübeck publishing company. Otto Waelde, Lübeck 1922.
  • Yugoslavia as a travel destination. Bonn University Buchdr. Gebr. Scheur, Bonn 1925.

literature

  • Matthias Ring : Two careers. Leopold Karl Goetz (1868-1931), old Catholic theologian and Slavist. In: Christians today , issue 1/2007, p. 7 ( online ).
  • Urs Küry : The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns (= The Churches of the World, Volume 3). 3rd edition, Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-7715-0190-3 , p. 515 f.

Web links

  • Goetz, Leopold Karl. In: German biography. Historical commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, accessed on March 15, 2017 (index entry).
  • Entry Goetz, Leopold Karl at Landeskunde Discover Online - Baden-Württemberg (LEO-BW), accessed on March 15, 2017
  • History of the Old Catholic Seminar at the University of Bonn, accessed on March 15, 2017

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Matthias Ring: Two careers.
  2. ↑ Urs Küry: The Old Catholic Church. Their history, their teaching, their concerns , p. 515 f.
personal data
SURNAME Goetz, Leopold Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Goetz, Leopold Carl; Götz, Leopold Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Old Catholic theologian and Slavist
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1931
Place of death Bonn