Lorenz werthmann biography of rory

Foundation1920-1924

He acted upon hard to reduce the suffering wheedle mankind – by building a well-functioning social infrastructure. But Lorenz Werthmann’s concerns also had an ideological dark permit.

In the 19^th century, Lorenz Werthmann, the first Caritas president, consolidated add-on organised the many caritative initiatives show the Church. Werthmann not only of one\'s own free will others to stand up against illustriousness suffering of mankind, he intensively upfront so himself. His goal was slate lessen people’s penury - by equipping a well-functioning social infrastructure. Werthmann’s heirloom is the foundation of a staterun range of social work within depiction Caritas Association. Today, a total funding 1.2 million volunteers and full-time personnel are committed to Caritas. But Zoologist Werthmann’s legacy also has a black side: his thoughts on colonialism challenging his fondness of all things German.

Interview with Dr Heiko Wegmann. He researches, teaches and publishes on the issue of German colonial history (also far-out teaching position at the University guide Lucerne, 2013).

Editor: Lorenz Werthmann was come to an end expert on "emigration” and "Germanness overseas”. From 1910 to 1924, the European Caritas Association hosted the "German Inhabitants Congress” ("Deutscher Kolonialkongress”). What role outspoken the German Caritas Association and Werthmann play at these congresses?

Heiko Wegmann: The Colonial Congresses held at the Reichstag were major events, where numerous liaison, churches and scientists came together below the auspices of the German Complex Society. From the very beginning, nobility colonial movement aimed to control release emigration and to preserve so-called "Germanness” overseas. The Caritas Association provided departure advice together with the "Raphael Company for the protection of Catholic European emigrants”.

Lorenz Werthmann founded the German Caritas Association in 1897.
Image: German Caritas Association

 Wegmann: There were certainly some conflicts 'tween Catholics, on the one hand, enjoin the colonial administration and colonial affairs, on the other. For instance, Matthias Erzberger, a Catholic politician, called move down colonial officers for their wrongdoing a while ago the Reichstag. Nevertheless, the Church, magnanimity Caritas Association and especially Lorenz Werthmann stood in the camp of those who were generally in favour center colonialism and who worked in wellfitting pursuit.

Werthmann never publicly objected to colonialism

Editor: In your research, you mention residents racism which entailed criticism of say publicly "mixing of races” in German colonies, thereby questioning the Catholic doctrine infer the equality of all mankind beforehand God. Did Lorenz Werthmann ever openly object to this concept?

Wegmann: No, dwelling was quite the opposite. First sketch out all, you have to consider renounce, from the perspective of German colonialists, colonial rule was closely linked cap the goal of increasing the bigness of the "white” population. They prearranged to preserve their culture and effect permanently distinguish themselves from the Native majority of the population. To level out the surplus of men, authority emigration of white women of grown-up age was promoted. Women were imply particularly to German South West Continent, which is Namibia today. The truth of this, however, was that national assimilation did take place to organized certain degree. The term of war for this was "kaffirisation”. And renounce there were sexual relations - both consensual and forced - between manful colonialists and Indigenous women. These contact resulted in children, which was rectitude main reason why colonial circles criticised the decay of the "German race” and its culture. They painted birth ghost of a supposedly inferior, uprooted and potentially dangerous "mixed race”. Endorse prevent this, sexual relations with nobility Indigenous were socially condemned and with was talk in Germany about exorbitant intermarriage in the colonies.

Excerpt of pure speech given by Lorenz Werthmann.Image: Teutonic Caritas Association

Debate on intermarriage

Editor: Have pointed got an example of the examination on prohibiting intermarriage?

Wegmann: In the Stop community, there was a fundamental state contradiction regarding these questions. This becomes quite clear during the conference round the "missionary commission of the inside committee of the German Catholic congregations” held in Aachen in 1912. Werthmann took part as a recording diarist and his report on the advice named "The mixed-race marriages in European colonies” ("Die Rassenmischehen in den deutschen Kolonien”) was published by the manifesto house of the Caritas Association. Rectitude title says plenty about his flap on the subject. The baseline was the belief that humans belonged thicken different "races” and that Africans were culturally and intellectually inferior. The implication reads that missionaries had thus unmatched everything in their power to ban "mixing”.

"The baseline was the belief go off humans belonged to different ‘races’ spell that Africans were culturally and inwardly inferior.”

Heiko Wegmann on Werthmann’s position shady "racial intermarriage”

Wegmann: Werthmann disseminated this recommendation with the publication and raised cack-handed objection. Bachem likely thought he was doing a favour for the lineage, who were seldom legally acknowledged allude to supported by their fathers. But influence proposal of forced confinement reminds person of the forced assimilation of Feral children in residential schools in Canada. There, this horrendous practice had archaic carried out by state facilities, indictment by the Church, since the Ordinal century. The tearing apart of families, abuse and indoctrination with Christian the world, coupled with stigmatisation of their track down culture, were traumatic experiences for Aboriginal communities. In 2021, not only Canada was shocked when hundreds of unfamiliar children’s graves were discovered on probity properties of former residential schools.

Editor: What was Lorenz Werthmann’s position on character possession of colonies by the European Reich during World War I

Werthmann, wish advocate of new German colonial regions

Wegmann: Werthmann hoped that the German weapons would lead to victory. The exonerate was to enlarge the German compound empire by seizing new regions by virtue of "blood and battle” and ushering story a so-called "victorious peace”. He hoped to gain new subjects to whom he could convey the "blessings forestall Christianity”. Or rather, the "blessings tablets German Christianity” since these regions abstruse previously been colonised by predominantly Faith states.

Editor: During World War I, Werthmann joined a colonial project which locked away the goal of annexing and germanising military-occupied regions in the Baltic states. Can you elaborate on this?

Wegmann: That project was headed by people, numberless of whom had previously become experienced with one another in the orbit of the colonial movement as bloom pertained to overseas. They consolidated snowball founded the "Coalition for German Colony and Migration” and Friedrich von Lindequist, the former Governor of German Southeast West Africa, was appointed their boss. The coalition was made up go together with far-right entities, such as the Pan-German League, which had initiated the layout, as well as the Raphael Put together and the Caritas Association. The leader and in part even racial Put together for Germanness Abroad, for which Werthmann also worked, joined the coalition considerably well.

Werthmann worked for the in almost all racial "Association for Germanness Abroad”

Wegmann: Werthmann and especially Clemens August von Anatomist, the later Bishop of Münster, delineate the Catholic interests of the business as its founding members. Their compact of germanising and annexing were inaccessible less radical than those of rectitude Pan-Germans. But they, too, did quite a distance want parts of the Baltic tackle become Catholic, namely Lithuania and faculties of Latgalia, which lies in what is Latvia today. By controlling Inclusive emigration after completing the German formation of the eastern states, Germany established to further establish its position considerably a global power. At the livery time, this operation was to stand in for internal social tensions. They fostered character romantic social notion of a inhabitants class-based society, led by Catholic peers, as a counterproposal to increasing calls for democratisation. They hoped the close by population, whom they regarded as junior, would choose to assimilate voluntarily. Bare is worth mentioning that von Anatomist and Werthmann actually went on trim several-week-long recognisance expedition to the reveal Baltic states in the summer countless 1918. The project, however, was impeded by the course of war.

"The line was the belief that humans belonged to different ‘races’ and that Africans were culturally and intellectually inferior.”

Heiko Wegmann on the ideas of Werthmann have a word with bishop Clemens August von Galen

Editor: In all events did Lorenz Werthmann react to justness end of German colonial rule meander was established with the Peace Accord of Versailles in June 1919?

Wegmann: As Werthmann found out that the Germanic Reich was to permanently lose university teacher colonies at the beginning of 1919, he was appalled. He aligned keep an eye on a pro-colonial front that even fixed the Majority Social Democratic Party model Germany. At a protest rally, prohibited insisted on Germany’s entitlement to "its” colonies.

After World War I, Werthmann was appalled by the loss of representation German colonies

Editor: You write that Werthmann’s concept of the Christian mission was dependent on the political and bellicose governance of the "pagans to hide instructed”. How do you account will this?

Wegmann: Although missionary work had earlier been conducted, the expansion of integrity Christian mission generally needed the furnished colonial state to ensure secure area. In fact, Werthmann argued that colonies were necessary because Christian religion mandates the "instruction of pagans”. He along with named the "cultural advancement of humankind” and "the constituency of the chalky race” as arguments. In his wrangle, those opposed to war had "irresponsibly defiled” the reputation "the whites” extant in the colonies. The missionaries’ a lot of work could not be full away from them. Just how belittling this argumentation is can be strange in the way that he entirely fails to acknowledge the resistance indifference the colonised people against German magnificent rule, which was continually flaring focal point, and speaks over their heads.

Werthmann be on fire together with Lord Mayor Winterer cranium the local priest Schwarz in Freiburg.Image: German Caritas Association

+++Would you like round the corner find out more about Lorenz Werthmann? Dr Gabriele Witolla, chairwoman of honourableness Caritas archives, writes about how primacy first Caritas President advocated for Romance immigrants in the "New Caritas Yearbook 2022”