LUDWIG WINDTHORST
LEADEK OF GERMAN CATHOLICS

LUDWIG WINDTHORST

By REV. ROBERT SWICKERATH, S. J.

Professor of History and Pedagogy, Holy Cros^ College,

Worcester, Mass.

Bom in Kyllburg, Rhine-Province, Germany, Jan. 15, 1869. In
this country since 1895.

Dr. Swickerath is rightly regarded as a leading educator of the

United States. To have attended his lectures on Pedagogy before

the teachers of the Archdiocese of Boston was a liberal education

upon the subject. For there into small compass, and in a most

sprightly manner was brought the vast knowledge and deep insight

into the science and art of teaching which are set down profoundly

in two of Father Swickerath’s foremost books, namely:

“Jesuit Education, Its History and Principles In the Light of

Modem Educational Problems.”

“Character and Character Formation.”



No other country has so powerful and well organized a Catholic

party as Germany. Under the leadership of the great Windthorst

it had become the dominant party in the Empire. What is of

special interest is the fact that the Center Party not only defended

the oppressed and persecuted Catholics, but devoted itself with

equal zeal to the welfare of the people at large, especially the laboring

classes. It was mainly through the activity of the Center Party

that a sound social policy was begun in the Empire, and many excel-

lent laws were passed for the protection of labor, the insurance of

workers, etc. For this reason an account of the history of this

party and its activity, and of Catholic organization in Germany in

general, is instructive not only from the religious but also from the

social point of view.

LUDWIG WINDTHORST, ORGANIZER OF CENTRE

PARTY.

The leader was Ludwig Windthorst, one of the greatest Catholics

of the nineteenth century. Some of you, probably, have heard

little of this man, although he deserves to be known by Catholics all

over the world. A few years ago an able Irish writer published a

work on Great Catholic Laymen of the Nineteenth Century.’^

He devotes special chapters to Andreas Hofer, the hero of Tyrol;

Garcia Moreno, the martyr president of Ecuador; Frederick Ozanam,

the founder of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul; Montalembert,

the Peer of France; Louis Pasteur, the Prince^ of Science; Daniel

O’Connell, the Great Liberator; and Ludwig Windthorst, whom he

styles the German Liberator.” At the end of this interesting

book the author compares the great men whose life and work he



has described and compares them with him whom he considers the

greatest of all, namely O^Connell, and he confesses, ^^Windthorst is

O^Conneirs only rival/^ This alone may suffice to show that we all

might profitably acquaint ourselves with the life and work of this

• great man. But there is a special reason why American Catholics,

why the members of the Catholic Federation, should know some-

thing about Windthorst, because the very idea and plan of this

Federation is largely derived from the last creation of Windthorst,

namely the German Catholic People's Union" (Volksverein.)

K we want to understand the life work of Windthorst, we must first cast a
glance at the condition of the Cathohcs in Germany during the period preceding

his activity. It is to Prussia in particular that we must turn. After the down-

fall of Napoleon, Prussia obtained at the Congress of Vienna large provinces,

especially the ecclesiastical territories of the Electorates
.
of Treves and Cologne,

with a population almost exclusively Cathohc.

THE TREACHERY OF PRUSSIA.

The Catholics were solemnly promised the preservation of their

religious rights. But the Prussian government, all through history,

had shown an absolutistic and highly bureaucratic spirit, a firm

belief in the omnipotence of the state, and a pronounced jealousy

of the spiritual power. Almost immediately after the acquisition of

those large and flourishing Catholic provinces the government

made frequent attempts to loosen the ties which bound the Catholics

to the Holy See, to create a national Church, and to make it a

mere tool of the state, a useful ally against rebellious factions,

good enough to do police duties for the state, but without any rights

of its own.
»

The same spirit prevailed to some extent in other German states,

even in the Catholic Kingdom of Bavaria, where the leaven of

Gallicanism, Febronianism and Josephism, or by whatever name the

3



assumptions of the state against religion may be designated, had
'

led the rulers constantly to meddle in ecclesiastical affairs.

There was, and is at present, a close union between Church and’State^in

Germany; the bishops and priests receive their salaries from the government,

Cathohc schools, elementary and secondary, are supported by public funds, etc.

There are advantages, but also serious dangers in this system. The govern-

ments, especially th^at of Prussia, continually interfered in ecclesiastical matters

as in the election of bishops, the administration of seminaries, the examination

of candidates for the priesthood, and the very exercise of priestly functions.

BISHOPS’ RIGHTS REFUSED.

The bishops had hardly any influence in the appointment of

professors in seminaries; men were appointed by the government

whose orthodoxy was rightly suspected; a strict supervision and

censorship was exercised over Catholic books; catechisms could be

introduced into Catholic schools only ^vith the permission of govern-

ment officials. A royal Placet” or sanction, was required before

any ecclesiastical decree, of the Pope or the bishops, could be

published. In some parts Protestant officials decreed how many

candles were to be used in Catholic services! In regard to mixed

marriages it was law that the children invariably should follow the

religion of the father; as in Prussia mixed marriages were usually

contracted between a Protestant man and a Catholic woman,

especially by Protestant officials who were sent from the East to the

Catholic provinces in the West, Rhineland and Westphalia, it is

evident what the object of the law was. Catholic priests were

forbidden to exact any promise of Catholic education. Many other

facts could be quoted to prove that the Church was held in iron

chains, in a condition of unworthy and intolerable bondage. Jt

was a slow and silent, but most insidious persecution all along.

At last the Catholics were roused to resent the indignities inflicted

on their Church. ^ In 1837 the Archbishop of Cologne, a dauntless

4



and zealous prelate, fearlessly insisted on the laws of the Chm-ch

concerning mixed marriages. The result was that he was im-

prisoned; but this outrage on the part of a heartless bmeaucracy led

to a revival of Cathohc hfe in Germany. The great Goerres, in

a fiery pamphlet called the Archbishop a new Athanasius, and

stirred up Catholic feeling and enthusiasm everywhere.

VICTORY OF CATHOLICS^ PATIENCE.

This w^as the Easter day of the Church in Germany, when it rose

as it were, from the grave. The patience of the Cathohcs had been

tried long enough. They tell the story of a German nobleman who

travelled through the Bohemian forests in the beginning of last

century, wdth Michael, his German coachman. Suddenly two

robbers approach the carriage; the nobleman bravely defends himself,

but finally is overpowered and robbed of all.l And in the meantime,

Michael, a big, strong fellow, vras sitting quietly on the box and

smoking his pipe. The nobleman, full of indignation,
.

cries out to

the highwaymen: ^‘You have my money and all, do me one fav.or;

give that lazy fellow a sound thrashing.’’ The robbers thought

this a good idea, pulled down Michael and hammered lustily on

him. Michael endured it for a little while. But suddenly he rose,

and higher he rose; a blow to the right, a blow to the left, and before

him lay the robbers. The nobleman stood aghast for a moment, then

exclaimed, ‘‘But why on earth did you not do that before?” Michael

had recovered his composure and calmly replied : “ Sir, I must warm up

first.”

THE CATHOLIC AWAKENING.

This Michael is in some way representative of the German Catho-

lics of those early days. The}" had patiently, too patiently, tolerated

the encroachments of the government on their rights. They had,



indeed, become warm, had been beaten warm, but from now on

they were thoroughly roused to action. Indifference and apathy

were shaken off and the period of their organization began.

In 1848j^the|first congress of representatives of Catholic societies

met. Those annual congresses of the Catholics have been styled

by Windthorst the Autumn Manoeuvres of the Catholic Arrhy.’^

They bring together every year Catholics from all parts of the

country, from all classes, members of all Catholic societies. In

the year 1909 over a hundred thousand people flocked to the city

pf Dusseldorf and 60,000 delegates of workingmen’s societies paraded

on one day. These assemblies are not mere shows, not mere page-

ants; nor is their object only to rouse the enthusiasm of Catholics

by stirring appeals. Their object is a far more important one:

Careful and detailed plans are laid for Catholic activity during the

coming year. The work is divided into different departments:

the liberties of the Church, the missions (foreign and domestic),

the labor question, charity, school and education. Their various

departments are looked after by permanent committees, and their

reports are the basis of detailed directions; new fields are assigned,

fresh lines of development of Catholic activity are pointed out in

these great congresses.

One of the men who were chiefly instrumental in founding this

effective institution was a German prelate, later bishop of Mainz,

Monsignor Ketteler. It has well been said that he sounded the

call to arms to the Catholic army in German}^ It was Bishop

Ketteler, too, who roused the interest of the German Catholics for

organized social effort, and became the founder of the Catholic Social

movement.

Pope Leo XIII has rightly been called ^Hhe workingmen’s Pope,”

because in his splendid Encyclicals he explained so lucidly the

6



principles which alone can satisfactorily settle the pressing social

question, the relation between employer and employee, between

capital and labor. But Pope Leo himself acknowledged his indebted-

ness to the great Bishop of Mainz, when he declared: “Ketteler was

my great precursor.’’

The next step of prime importance in the field of Catholic activity was the

foundation of the Center Party, the greatest Catholic political party in any

countiy, whose battles and victories have called forth the admiration of the

whole world. This party’ was foimded in 1870 by prominent Catholic leaders

of Rhineland and Westphalia. It was intended to fight for the independence

of the Catholic Church, for her guaranteed rights, for the denominational character

of the schools, and for the legitimate and effective influence of the Church on

education.

It is weU to remember that activity of the Center Party was not con-

fined to these spheres. It was not merely ah opposition party with destructive

aims; its objects were eminently constructive; it became the most vigoroi^

defender of the rights of the laborers, and took an active and prominent part in

all important movements. Its motto was: ‘Truth, Liberty, Justice,’ and the

Party has conscientiously and nobh’ lived up to its motto.

Soon after its formation the party gained a member, who was to become

its brilliant leader, namely Windthorst. Windthorst was bom in the kingdom
of Hanover. When we hear of a great man we usually picture him to ourselves
as great and imposing in phj’sical appearance. The very contrary was true of

Windthorst. He was unusually diminutive in size. Xor was there anything
pre-pK>ssessiQg in his appearance. On an insignificant bodywas seen an imusually
large head with a large mouth. He was a useful subject for the caricature of
comic papers and, unlike most little people, who resent any dlusion to their

smallness and other physical defects, he thoroughly enjoyed caricatures of him-

self. Nor did he resent any jest about his appearance. On the contrary, he
himself made many a joke on it. One time he met with an accident in RctIui.
He wrote to his wife, telling her that no serious harm had been done. ‘For the
rest, don’t be alarmed, dear, my beauty has not been spoiled.’

After the completion of his law studies he became a judge, and later minister

of justice in the kingdom of Hanover. After the downfall of this kingdom,

Windthorst remained mc^t loyal to the dethroned Guelf family; but he was

now a Prussian subject and was elected for the Prussian Diet as representative
of Meppen. •

WINDTHORST JOINS CENTER PARTY.

At first he was a sort of pohtical free lance, joining no party, and as even

then his striking political abilities made themselves Imown, he was called the
• One-Man-Party’ or the ‘Party Meppen.’ Soon after the formation of the

Center Party he joined it. It was well that the Catholics had gained a political

party to represent them, and a leader who was to organize their forces, and lead
them to battle and to victorj'. For the German Catholics were on the eve of

oppression more brutal, and a persecution more violent, than they had suffered

before.



Anti-Catholic feeling had been revived everywhere, fostered by

certain Protestant societies. The anti-Catholic party, too, had

found a leader in the person of Bismarck. We cannot deny that

this man, the ^^Iron Chancellor,^’ as he was called, possessed great

qualities of mind. He was one of the most cunning diplomats, a

man full of energy, which however degenerated into brutality; he

shrank from no means for obtaining the realization of his ambitious

schemes: European supremacy and absolute power at home.

After he^had defeated the Catholic states of Germany and Austria,

had humiliated France and founded the new German Empire, he

tried his strength against the Catholic Church, blinded with success,

like the first Napoleon. Filled with the principles of Prussian

absolutism and brought up in the traditional Protestant miscon-

ceptions' regarding the Catholic Church, he saw in^her the enemy

of national development. He wanted to enslave the Church. As

Windthorst once said: ^^You want to make of the Church a police

department.” In his war against the Church he could count on

all parties, the small band of Catholics excepted. For^Liberals and

Conservatives, divided on all other issues, made common cause

against the Catholics. Herod and Pilate once more have become

friends,” as one exclaimed at the time.

BEGINNING OF KULTURKAMPF.

Then began what is called the ^^Kulturkampf,” that is the

struggle for culture. It was such indeed, but in a sense different

from that which was implied by its origihators. It was a struggle

between two cultures, not, as they said, between German and Latin,

but between Catholic and anti-Catholic; nay more, as the very

Protestants later realized, a struggle between Christian and anti-

8



Christian culture, the world-old struggle between religion and

infidelity.

The famous laws were enacted which go by the name of. May laws

because passed in the month of May of successive years. First the

Jesuits, and the orders allied with them, as the law said, among

them the Redemptorists, were banished from Germany, later the

other religious orders. Finally, Violent attacks were made on the

rights of the bishops and secular clergy. All ecclesiastical penalties

were forbidden, the education of the clergy and the appointment

to ecclesiastical positions were to be controlled by the government;

priests were allowed to appeal from the regulations of the bishops

to a special government court, whose decision should be final.

These were flagrant violations of the sacred liberties of the Church

for which a Thomas a Becket had died a martyr, for which a Gregory

VII had gone into exile. And the German Bishops were worthy

successors of those martyr bishops of old. They all strenuously

resisted the intolerable arrogance of the government. Catholics,

sneeringly, but justly, said that Bismarck wanted to play the pope

and that he wanted Catholics to learn their theology from his pro-

fessors. Several bishops were sent to prison, the archbishop of

Cologne for' six months. The venerable bishop of the diocese of

Treves was imprisoned three months and died soon after his release.

Most touching scenes were witnessed on the occasion of the

imprisonment of these prelates. When the bishop of Treves w^as

arrested and led to the prison, thousands of people assembled before

the prison gate. When the bishop was just about to enter the

prison, he turned around, and gave his episcopal blessing to the

multitude, men and women weeping as they knelt. That moment a

photograph was taken of the scene and the picture was hung in

almost every Catholic home in the diocese, where it wonderfully

9



strengthens even to this day the love for the Church and the attach-

ment to the spiritual shepherd.

But did not the Catholics resist the imprisonment of their pre-

lates? Not in one instance. These German Catholics were a law-

abiding people; there was no resistance to police force, no riot, no

tumult. Yet they were not indifferent. The men went away from

such heart-rending scenes, more determined than ever to fight for

their right, but to fight with lawful weapons. They went to the

ballot box and voted for the most loyal Catholics, and election after

election the number of Catholic representatives in parliament

increased, until at the end of the struggle their number exceeded

one hundred. The Center Party became the dominant party; it

had to be reckoned with, it could compel the government to abolish

the iniquitous laws.

The attitude of the secular clergy was as heroic as that of their

bishops. Those who refused to obey the government regulations,

or who carried out the ordinances of their bishops, were deprived

of their salary. And yet, of over 4,000 priests, not more than 30

accepted the government salary; these men, called the state pas-

tors,’’ were shunned and ostracized by the people, who would rather

walk many miles on Sunday than to hear Mass of one of those cow-

ardly priests. The prisons were soon filled with priestly confessors of

the faith; hundreds were driven into exile. Others again came, at

dead of night, to their parishes to say Mass in the early morning.

They were hunted by the police, warned by boy spies, hidden in

barns and cellars by the people. Scenes were enacted which remind

one of those witnessed in Ireland under the penal laws.

lO



There was no bloody persecution; the times were over for such,

though the spirit of the persecutors was the same. Yet these men

would have laid down their lives as heroically as did the martyrs

in former times. It was a memorable spectacle and one of the

most remarkable struggles in the history of the Church.

The Catholic laity too, had to suffer. The loyal nobility and

wealthier people were blacklisted and ostracized socially; Catholic

business, men who voted for the Center Party were boycotted; the

sons of faithful Catholics could not expect promotion in the army

or in government positions
;
Catholic officials were annoyed in the

meanest manner and forced out of their positions. But it was all

in vain.

We have still to witness another scene, equally remarkable, that

enacted in Parliament. There the champion of the Catholic cause

fought for years a mighty duel with the man who had at his com-

mand all the resources of the empire, all the determination of a

brutal and unscrupulous diplomacy, and all the applause of the non-

Catholic world. A memorable battle, indeed, between the giant

Bismarck, towering in size above every one,’ and the little man

who appeared to be almost a dwarf. But it was not a test of

physical strength, but of mind, and of principle, and there the little

man had the ascendency over the giant. It was a repetition of David

encountering Goliath. Bismarck used all the invectives so common

in attacking the Catholic Church: Misrepresentation, slander,

the bugbear of ^Waticanism,’^ which he represented as the incubus

on German national life. Windthorst met him with keen logic,

with sharp irony, and with an earnestness which only a defender

of right and justice can have.

II



BISMARCK FEARED WINDTHORST.

Bismarck admitted that he feared no one but Windthorst, and ^

he was frequently seen in Parliament, now trembling with excite-

ment, then shaking with rage, while Windthorst never lost self-

control. Endowed with an almost Celtic wit, he frequently turned

the arguments of his adversaries into ridicule. One day an opponent

said that they all admitted that the Church in the past had done

great things, that she had been a mother to the nations; but that

was, he added superciliously, when the nations were in their infancy.

When children grow ^up they can no longer follow their mother;

they even bury their mother. Windthorst exclaimed: ^^Do you

bury your mother before she is dead? We don’t; the Catholic

Church is not dead, not will she ever die.”

In his struggles he was loyally supported by his party, by the

people and by the Catholic nobility. He often spoke in an almost

prophetic manner, predicting that the powerful chancellor would

have to come to terms. They laughed at him, and yet it came

sooner than anyone had expected. Bismarck became convinced

that his warfare against the Church was a failure. He noticed with

dismay the increase of socialism, which spread in a disquieting

manner in Protestant districts. Finally, after the death of Pope

Pius IX he began negotiations with Leo XIII, and gradually, one

piece after the other of the iniquitous legislation was broken away.

Bismarck, in the height of the struggle had proudly and defiantly

declared: “We shall not go to Canossa,” as Henry IV. had done to

seek reconciliation with the Pope. But he went to Canossa. He

had tried to crush the Church, and had failed like many another

12



giant before him. His raving against the Rock of Peter had been

fruitless. Goliath had met David, and was defeated. The final

outcome was: Bismarck was dismissed by the Emperor and retired

to his lonely home in the Saxon forests, and Windthorst was the

most prominent figure in the German parliament. For him, too,

the time came for retiring, but not into solitude, but to his reward.

The Center Party, when he assumed its leadership, had been the

smallest of all parties and despised by all; now it was^theMominant

.
political body.

Windthorst had consummated his work; he could leave it to others

to build on the foundations which he had laid, and to battlejn^^the

spirit which he had infused into the German Catholics.

The Center Party now has about 100 members, and^has still^to

fight for the rights of Catholics; for the spirit of bureaucracy and

anti-Catholic feeling have not died out in Germany. But the Center

Party and the Catholics of Germany in general still find inspiration

in the noble work of their great leader, whose memory is cherished

by all, and is deeply imbedded in the hearts of the simplest Catholic

peasant in the empire.

I can say only a few words about the last days of Windthorst.

When he was taken ill in Parliament there was general sympathy

expressed ever^^here. At midnight of the same day the Emperor

sent his military aid to inquire about the sick man. Next morning

the Emperor called in person, and the Empress sent flowers. Daily

bulletins had to be forwarded to the royal palace. As the champion

of Cathohcism was sinking, he saw himself still engaged in the

struggle for the great cause; in his delirium he made a speech for

13



the recall of the religious orders; the ruling passion of his life was

strong in death. He died with the words: Father, into Thy hands

I commend my spirit,’^

V The Protestant president of Parliament declared that his death

was the greatest loss this body had ever suffered. The journals

of the whole|empire, of whatever creed or political conviction, paid

a glowing tribute to the ability and character of the man with

whose principles many had nO sympathy. They called him a genius,

a statesman of the first rank, the most upright of men. His funeral

was such as seldom has been witnessed in modern times. Repre-

sentatives of every prince of the empire were present to do homage

to the leader of the Catholics. He was buried in the Church of St^

Mary in Hanover, which had been erected through his efforts, and

for which he had spent every penny that was given him by Catholics

on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.

WINDTHORST^S SELF-SACRIFICE.

He died a very poor man, although he had many an opportunity

to enrich himself. A few weeks before his death he uttered to a

prominent ecclesiastic words which should be deeply engraven in

the hearts of Catholics. I have it from the lips of this ecclesiastic

that at the railroad station in Berlin, Windthorst held his hand for

a long, time, saying with great emotion: Father, I shall never see

you again in this life. I want to tell you one thing. From the day

I have belonged to the Center Party I have never sought my own

interest.’^

14



Nor was this a mere boast on his part. Many remarkable oc-

currences prove the truth of his statement. Emperor Francis

Joseph of Austria had offered Windthorst a position with a salary

of 100,000 marks, about $25,000—and if we take into consideration
the greater value of money in Germany, we might say, almost

$50,000. Windthorst was poor; he had nothing to leave to his

wife and daughter. What a temptation in such an offer! Yet it

was no serious temptation to a man like Windthorst. He asked a

Bishop, a personal friend of his, whether it was not rather his duty

to remain at his post as leader of the Catholic party, and when the

prelate answered in the affirmative, he declined the flattering and

enticing offer without hesitation. What a glorious exampleXof

unselflshness, of sel|-sacriflcing spirit, of noble devotion to a^great

cause! Surely, ^Hhe age of chivalry is not gone.^^ Only after his

death it became known how poor he really was. It was found that

in order to support his family properly h^ had to do private w^ork,

solving difficult cases for lawyers; and as during the last four or

five years of his life he w^as almost totally blind, his only child, his

daughter Marie, read the cases to him and then took down his

dictation. She had remained single to stay with her father. She

was a heroine, and a worthy daughter of such a father.
*

LESSON FOR AMERICAN CATHOLICS.

There are several important lessons for us, for American Catholics,

contained in the life and work of the Catholic Liberator of Germany.

The first is the necessity of loyalty to the great Catholic cause,

loyalty to the leaders in the struggle for the rights of Catholics.

15



It is a truth, however sad it may be, that Catholics invariably have

to fight for their rights. If I use the word “ fight,

I

wish it to be

understood that we are not, as some think, pugnacious and bellicose,

ever spoiling for a fight. We are peaceful people, and do not want to

fight. But often we have to say with Windthorst: ^^If you want

war, well you may have it.^^

Read New Edition

SOCIALISM: The Nation of Fatl\prless Children

By

DAVID GOLDSTEIN

and

MARTHA MOORE AVERY
Price, $1.25

RT. REV. EDMUND M. DUNNE, Bishop of Peoria
Polemic Chat/ 1912, p. 112):

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BOSTON SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

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Boston, Mass.

i6