Peter Norrenberg

Portrait of Peter Norrenberg

Peter Norrenberg (born December 1, 1847 in Cologne , † May 29, 1894 in Rhöndorf ) was a German priest , historian and social politician.

Career and writing activities

After visiting the Marzellengymnasiums in Cologne Peter Franz Xaver Norrenberg began in 1867 his studies in Bonn with the subjects Catholic theology and philosophy , graduated from the Cologne Seminary and received the 1871 ordination . He earned his doctorate in philosophy at the University of Rostock . He took up his first chaplaincy in Viersen , where he worked for 20 years. His workload was immense; in 1873, for example, he published six books alone, including a treatise on Germany's Catholic poetry, a study of Cologne's literary life in the first quarter of the 16th century , a comedy and a translation of a novel from English. He later published a three-volume general history of literature, but also plays and dramas for amateur theaters, and a folk song collection under a pseudonym. Some of his local history works are still cited today, for example his history of the parishes of the Mönchengladbach dean's office, published in 1889. In 1894 his book about Saint Irmgard von Süchteln was published posthumously . From 1891 to 1894 he was pastor in Süchteln , where he was buried.

Pastor and social politician

Norrenberg took his pastoral work very seriously. He taught at the grammar school, was a local school inspector and founded a workers' association in Viersen in 1876 , which after two years had almost 450 members. Above all, he took care of the hard fate of the women working in the spinning and weaving mills , including - due to his knowledge of English - the workers recruited from England, some of whom, like many factory workers, live in inhumane conditions with an average weekly working time of 78 hours had to. In 1880 his historical treatise on women's labor was published. In 1881 Norrenberg was a co-founder of the Arbeiterwohl Association . He broke away from him later because it saw the state as the duty to solve the social question , but he saw the key to it “on the basis of the Christian social order” in the spirit of Caritas . In his pastoral careers in Süchteln, he joined the Center Party ; he built a club house, founded an organ club and got new church windows. He got into a violent dispute with the local interdenominational patriotic women's association and encountered such " liberalism ", which he considered "worse for addicts than social democracy ", with the establishment of a Catholic "Elisabethen" association.
He died of a stroke at the age of 46 .

In 1999 the 33rd commemorative medal of the district of Viersen was dedicated to him.

Works (selection)

• Germany's Catholic poetry of the present 1847–1873. Munster 1873.
• Literary life in Cologne in the first quarter of the 16th century. Leipzig 1873.
• From old Viersen. A contribution to the cultural history of the Lower Rhine. Viersen in 1873, digitized the ULB Dusseldorf .
• Chronicle of the city of Dülken. Their history and their folk life. Baedeker's Verlag, Viersen 1874 Digitalisat the ULB Dusseldorf .
• History of the city of Süchteln. Contributions to the local history of the Lower Rhine. Vol. 2. Viersen 1874, digitized version of the ULB Düsseldorf .
• History of Glory Grefrath. Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine. Vol. 4. Viersen 1875, digitized version of the ULB Düsseldorf .
• Under the pseudonym "Hans Zurmühlen": Des Dülkener Fiedlers songbook. 150 folk songs. Viersen 1875 ( online ).
• Women's work and workers' associations in prehistoric Germany. In: Annual report of the workers' association Viersen. Viersen 1877.
• The amateur stage. Collection of plays for journeyman's clubs . 7 issues, Düsseldorf 1877/78.
• Women’s work and upbringing of workers in prehistoric times in Germany. JB Bachem, Cologne 1880.
• Handbook for the establishment and management of workers' associations. Mainz 1881.
• General history of literature. A manual of the history of the poetry of all peoples. Vol. 1. Russel, Münster 1882.
• General history of literature. Vol. 2. Russel, Münster 1882.
• General history of literature. Vol. 3. Russel, Münster 1884.
• From the Viersener spell book. Viersen 1886 Digitalisat the ULB Dusseldorf .
• History of the parishes of the deanery M. Gladbach. History of the parishes of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Vol. 21. Cologne 1889; Unchanged reprint, Antiquariat am St. Vith, Mönchengladbach 2005.
• Saint Irmgardis of Süchteln. (= From Rhenish history. Vol. 19.) Bonn 1894, digitized .

literature

• Hildegard Föhl: Peter Norrenberg as a writer. In: Heimatbuch des Grenzkreis Kempen-Krefeld. Kempen 1962.

• Elisabeth Kremers: Pastor Norrenberg against the patriotic women's association Süchteln. In: Home book of the district of Viersen. Viersen 1987.
• Wolfgang Löhr:
  • The introduction of Peter Norrenberg as pastor of Süchteln in 1891. In: Heimatbuch des Kreis Viersen. Viersen 1978.
  • Peter Norrenberg (1847-1894). In: Home book of the district of Viersen. Viersen 2001, pp. 47-52.
  • Peter Franz Xaver Norrenberg (Internet portal Rheinische Geschichte - Landschaftsverband Rheinland online)

Web links

• Literature by and about Peter Norrenberg in the catalog of the German National Library

Footnotes

1. ↑ through a critical edition of the spiritual play Homulus by Jasper von Gennep .