Theodor Klauser

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Theodor Klauser (born February 25, 1894 in Ahaus ; † July 24, 1984 in Bonn ) was a German Catholic theologian , liturgy historian , church historian and Christian archaeologist .

Life

The son of a cadastral officer spent his school days in Essen and Münster. After graduating from high school Paulinum in Münster in Westphalia in 1912 , he first studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau , then entered the Benedictine monastery of Gerleve , where he was ordained a priest on April 3, 1918. In 1919 he was sent to Münster to study with Franz Joseph Dölger . In 1921 he left the Benedictine order and entered the clergy of the Archdiocese of Paderborn as a secular priest . In 1925 he received his doctorate with the thesis The Cathedra in the cult of the dead of pagan and Christian antiquity (published in Münster 1927) for Dr. theol. Years of school service followed, alongside which he was preparing for his habilitation. In the winter semester 1930/31 he received because of the work Das Roman Capitulare Evangeliorum. Texts and studies on its oldest history (published in Münster 1935) in Bonn the license to teach church history including Christian archeology, religious and liturgical history. 1931–1934 he worked as an assistant for Christian archeology at the Roman Department of the German Archaeological Institute . When he returned to Bonn, since he did not join the NSDAP, he could not count on an appointment to a chair.

Together with the archaeologist Helmut Kruse (also a pupil of FJ Dölger) and the Leiden Latinist Jan Hendrik Waszink , he began planning the real dictionary for antiquity and Christianity , which lexically describes the transformation process of ancient cultures through Christianity and their influences explored on the development of Christianity. The first delivery of the Reallexikon appeared in 1941; it is now being continued by the Franz Joseph Dölger Institute at the University of Bonn.

Only after the end of the Third Reich was Klauser able to take over the Bonn chair from his teacher Dölger, who died in 1940. As dean of his faculty in 1946/47, as prorector since February 1948 and then twice rector of the University of Bonn in 1948/49 and 1949/50, as president of the German Academic Exchange Service and member of a large number of scientific policy committees, most of his work was focused on the reconstruction of the Scientific enterprise in post-war Germany. In addition, he developed a teaching activity that also attracted listeners from the neighboring disciplines of other faculties. In 1955 he founded the Franz Joseph Dölger Institute for the study of late antiquity , which is supposed to ensure the continuation of the real dictionary for antiquity and Christianity . He himself headed this institute until 1972, and remained editor-in-chief of the Reallexikons until his death. In 1958, together with Eduard Stommel and Alfred Stuiber, he founded the Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity .

Klauser was a member of the German Archaeological Institute and from 1948-1965 a member of its central management, since 1951 a corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences , since 1952 a full member of the Working Group for Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (today's North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences ) in Düsseldorf , Holder of the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1954) with a star (1974) and the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy (1956); In 1969 the University of Cologne appointed him Dr. phil. hc His peers honored him with two extensive commemorative publications.

Publications (selection)

  • The cathedra in the cult of the dead of pagan and Christian antiquity (= research into the history of liturgy. Volume 9). Münster 1927 (dissertation).
  • The Roman Capitulare Evangeliorum. Texts and studies on its oldest history (= sources and research on liturgy history . Volume 28). Münster 1935 ( habilitation thesis ).
  • The Roman Petrus tradition in the light of the new excavations under St. Peter's Church (= Working Group for Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Volume 24). Cologne / Opladen 1956.
  • Studies on the genesis of Christian art. In: Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity . Volumes 1-10, 1958-1967.
    • Studies on the history of the development of Christian art I. In: Yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Volume 1, 1958, pp. 20-51.
    • Studies on the genesis of Christian art II. In: Yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Volume 2, 1959, pp. 115-145.
    • Studies on the history of the origins of Christian art III. In: Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity. Volume 3, 1960, pp. 112-133.
    • Studies on the history of the development of Christian art IV. In: Yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Volume 4, 1961, pp. 128-145.
    • Studies on the history of the development of Christian art V. In: Yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Volume 5, 1962, pp. 113-124.
    • Studies on the History of the Development of Christian Art VI. In: Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity. Volume 6, 1963, pp. 71-100.
    • Studies on the history of the origin of Christian art VII. In: Yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Volume 7, 1964, pp. 67-76.
    • Studies on the history of the origins of Christian art VIII. In: Yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Volume 8/9, 1965/66, pp. 126-170.
    • Studies on the genesis of Christian art IX. In: Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity. Volume 10, 1967, pp. 82-120.
  • Little history of the occidental liturgy. Report and reflection. Hanstein, Bonn 1965.
  • with Friedrich Wilhelm Deichmann : Early Christian sarcophagi in pictures and words. Graf, Olten 1966.
  • Collected works on liturgy history, church history and Christian archeology. Edited by Ernst Dassmann (= Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity. Supplementary Volume 3). Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1974 (2nd edition 1977).
  • Henri Leclercq , 1869-1945. From autodidact to compiler on a grand scale (= yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Supplementary volume 5). Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1977.
  • Franz Joseph Dölger , 1879–1940. His life and his research program "Antiquity and Christianity" (= yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Supplementary volume 7). Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1980.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alfred Hermann , Alfred Stuiber (Ed.): Mullus, Festschrift Theodor Klauser (= Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity . Supplementary Volume 1). Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1964; Ernst Dassmann , Klaus Thraede (ed.): Vivarium, Festschrift Theodor Klauser on his 90th birthday (= yearbook for antiquity and Christianity. Supplementary volume 11). Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1984.
personal data
SURNAME Klauser, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic theologian, liturgical historian, church historian and Christian archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Ahaus
DATE OF DEATH July 24, 1984
Place of death Bonn