Joseph Görres
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Johann Joseph Görres, since 1839 von Görres (25 January 1776 – 29 January 1848), was a German writer, philosopher, theologian, historian and journalist.


Early life

Görres was born in
Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
. His father was moderately well off, and sent his son to a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
college under the direction of the Jesuits. The young Görres' sympathies were initially with the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, and the French exiles in the Rhineland confirmed his beliefs, which would then evolve over time. He began a republican journal called ''Das rote Blatt'', and afterwards ''Rübezahl'', in which he strongly condemned the administration of the Rhenish provinces by
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Johann Joseph Görres." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 31 October 2022
After the
Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The treat ...
(1797) there was hope that the Rhenish provinces would be constituted into an independent republic. He was one of several delegates sent by the Rhine and Moselle provinces to Paris in the fall of the year 1799, to protest against the conduct of the French general Leval in the Rhine country. The embassy reached Paris on 20 November 1799; two days before this
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
had assumed power. After much delay he received the embassy; but the only answer they obtained was "that they might rely on perfect justice, and that the French government would never lose sight of their wants". His stay in Paris cured him of his enthusiasm for the French Revolution, Görres on his return published a tract called ''Resultate meiner Sendung nach Paris'', in which he gave his impressions. During the thirteen years of Napoleon's dominion Görres lived a quiet life, devoting himself chiefly to art or science. In 1801 he married Catherine de Lasaulx, and for some years taught at a secondary school in Koblenz; in 1806 he moved to
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, where he lectured at the
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. British lawyer and diarist
Henry Crabb Robinson Henry Crabb Robinson (13 May 1775 – 5 February 1867) was an English lawyer, remembered as a diarist. He took part in founding London University. Life Robinson was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, third and youngest son of Henry Robinson (17 ...
met Görres during this time. A quote from his diary:
Görres has the wildest physiognomy – looks like an overgrown old student. A faun-like nose and lips, fierce eyes, and locks as wild as Caliban’s. Strong sense, with a sort of sulky indifference toward others, are the characteristics of his manner.
Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...
compared his appearance to that
..of an old lion shaking and pulling his mane caught in the bars of his cage.
As a leading member of the Heidelberg Romantic group, he edited together with Brentano and
Ludwig Achim von Arnim Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism. ...
the ''Zeitung für Einsiedler'' (subsequently renamed ''Trost-Einsamkeit''), and in 1807 he published ''Die deutschen Volksbücher'' (literally, ''The Books of the German People''). He returned to Koblenz in 1808, and again found occupation as a teacher in a secondary school, supported by civic funds. He now studied
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, and in two years published a ''Mythengeschichte der asiatischen Welt'' (''History of the Myths of the Asiatic World''), which was followed ten years later by ''Das Heldenbuch von Iran'' (''The Book of Heroes of Iran''), a translation of part of the '' Shahnama'', the epic of Firdousi.


Editor of the ''Merkur''

In 1813 he again took up the cause of national independence, and in the following year founded '' Der rheinische Merkur''. The outspokenness of its hostility to Napoleon made it influential, and Napoleon himself called it "a fifth power". It campaigned for a united Germany, with a representative government, but under an emperor, Görres having abandoned his earlier advocacy of
republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
. When Napoleon was at
Elba Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National ...
, Görres wrote an ironic imaginary proclamation issued by him to the people. He criticised the second peace of Paris (1815), declaring that
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
and
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
should have been demanded back from France.
Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Aust ...
used the ''Merkur'' at the time of the meeting of the congress of Vienna to give expression to his hopes. But
Hardenberg Hardenberg (; nds-nl, Haddenbarreg or '' 'n Arnbarg'') is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel, Eastern Netherlands. The municipality of Hardenberg has a population of about 60,000, with about 19,000 living in the city. It recei ...
, in May 1815, warned Görres to remember that he was not to arouse hostility against France, but only against Napoleon. There was also in the ''Merkur'' a demand for a constitution for
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, expression of the desire that an Austrian prince should assume the imperial title, and also a tendency to
liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
—all distasteful to Hardenberg, and to his master
Friedrich Wilhelm III Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, w ...
. Görres disregarded warnings sent to him by the censorship, so that the ''Merkur'' was suppressed early in 1816, at the instance of the Prussian government; and soon after Görres was dismissed from his teaching post.


Life as an independent writer

He went back to Heidelberg, but in 1817 returned to Coblenz and founded a relief-society for the alleviation of distress in the Rhenish province. At the same time he continued his work as a political pamphleteer, as shown chiefly in his "Adresse der Stadt und Landschaft Koblenz und ihre Uebergabe beim Fürsten Hardenberg" (1818) and his brochure "Teutschland und die Revolution" (1819). In this work he reviewed the circumstances which had led to the murder of
August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (; – ) was a German dramatist and writer who also worked as a consul in Russia and Germany. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl L ...
, and, while expressing horror at the deed itself, he urged that it was impossible and undesirable to repress the free utterance of public opinion. The success of the work was marked, despite a ponderous style. It was suppressed by the Prussian government, which confiscated his papers and ordered his arrest. He escaped, however, to Frankfort, whence he made his way to
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
. Two more political tracts were ''Europa und die Revolution'' ("Europe and the Revolution", 1821) and ''In Sachen der Rheinprovinzen und in eigener Angelegenheit'' ("In the matter of the Rhine Province and in a matter of my own", 1822). In the former book – read with avidity throughout Germany. – Görres describes the moral, intellectual and political corruption of France in the course of the eighteenth century as the major cause which led to the revolution: In his pamphlet ''Die heilige Allianz und die Völker auf dem Congresse von Verona'' ("The
Holy Alliance The Holy Alliance (german: Heilige Allianz; russian: Священный союз, ''Svyashchennyy soyuz''; also called the Grand Alliance) was a coalition linking the monarchist great powers of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It was created after ...
and the peoples represented at the congress of Verona", 1822) Görres asserted that the princes had met together to crush the liberties of the people, and that the people must look elsewhere for help. The "elsewhere" was to Rome; and from this time Görres became an
Ultramontane Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by th ...
writer. In 1826, he was summoned to
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
by King Ludwig of Bavaria as professor of history in the university, and there his writing enjoyed popularity. There he was visited by Brentano, Lacordaire, Lamennais, and Montalembert. Since his sojourn in Strasbourg, Görres had studied the mystic testimonies of various epochs. He went into the mystical writers of the Middle Ages such as María de Ágreda as well as observing, partly in person, the ecstatic young women of his time (Maria von Mörl, and others), and strove to comprehend more thoroughly the nature of Christian mysticism. His ''Christliche Mystik'' ("On christian mysticism", 4 vols., 1836–1842; 2nd ed., 5 vols., 1879) gave a series of biographies of the saints, together with an exposition of Roman Catholic mysticism. But his most celebrated ultramontane work was a polemical one. Its occasion was the deposition and imprisonment by the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
n government of the archbishop Clement Wenceslaus reportedly due to his refusal to sanction in certain instances the marriages of Protestants and Roman Catholics. In his ''Athanasius'' (1837), Görres upheld the power of the church. ''Athanasius'' went through several editions, and initiated a long and bitter controversy. In the ''Historisch-politische Blätter'' ("Historical-political pages"), a Munich journal, Görres and his son
Guido Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...
(1805–1852) continued to uphold the claims of the church. On New Year's Day of 1839, Görres received the "Civil Order of Merit" from the king for his services.


Death

He died 29 January 1848, the year of the fall of
Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
, and was buried in the Alter Südfriedhof in Munich.


Publications

* ''Der allgemeine Frieden, ein Ideal'' (1798). * ''Aphorismen über Kunst'' (1802). * ''Glauben und Wissen'' (1805). * ''Die teutschen Volksbücher. Nähere Würdigung der schönen Historien-, Wetter- und Arzneybüchlein ' (1807). * ''Schriftproben von Peter Hammer'' (1808). * ''Über den Fall Teutschlands und die Bedingungen seiner Wiedergeburt'' (1810). * ''Mythengeschichte der asiatischen Welt'' (1810). * ''Lohengrin, ein altteutsches Gedicht'' (1813). * ''Rheinischer Merkur'' (1814–1816). * ''Teutschland und die Revolution'' (1819). * ''Beantwortung der in den jetzigen Zeiten für jeden Teutschen besonders wichtigen Frage: Was haben wir zu erwarten?'' (1814). * ''Europa und die Revolution'' (1821). * ''Firdusi'' (1822). * ''Die heilige Allianz und die Völker auf dem Congresse von Verona'' (1822). * Introduction to Melchior von Diepenbrock's ''Heinrich Susos, genannt Amandus, Leben und Schriften'' (1829). * ''Über die Grundlage, Gliederung und Zeitenfolge der Weltgeschichte'' (1830). * ''Nachruf auf Achim von Arnim'' (1831). * ''Vier Sendschreiben an Herrn Culmann, Sekretär der Ständeversammlung'' (1831). * ''Ministerium, Staatszeitung, Rechte und Unrechte Mitte'' (1831). * ''Athanasius'' (1837). * ''Die Triarier H. Leo, Dr. P. Marheinecke, D. K. Bruno'' (1838). * ''Die christliche Mystik'' (1836–1842). * ''Kirche und Staat nach Ablauf der Cölner Irrung'' (1842). * ''Der Dom von Köln und das Münster von Strasburg'' (1842). * Introduction to ''Das Leben Christi'', by
Johann Nepomuk Sepp Johann Nepomuk Sepp (7 August 1816 – 5 June 1909) was a German historian and politician, and a native of Bavaria. Life Johann Nepomuk Sepp was born in Bad Tölz, Bavaria, to a tanner and dyer, Josef Bernhard Sepp and his wife Maria Victori ...
(1843). * ''Die Japhetiden und ihre gemeinsame Heimat Armenien. Akademische Festrede'' (1844). * ''Die drei Grundwurzeln des celtischen Stammes und ihre Einwanderung'' (1845). * ''Die Wallfahrt nach Trier'' (1845). * ''Die Aspecten an der Zeitenwende. Zum neuen Jahre 1848'' (last and unfinished article, 1848).


Works in English translation


''Germany and the Revolution.''
London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1820.


Influences

*
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
was an avid reader of Görres' ''Lohengrin'' introduction, since the 1840s, as well as (less enthusiastically) of the ''Christliche Mystik'' (read in 1875).Richard Wagner: ''Mein Leben. Zweiter Teil: 1842–1850''. Paul List, Munich 1994, p. 315.
Cosima Wagner: ''Die Tagebücher''. Vol. 1: 1869–1877. Piper, Munich 1982, pp. 573, 920.
*
Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...
mentions reading Görres as a young man in his autobiography, ''
Memories, Dreams, Reflections ''Memories, Dreams, Reflections'' (german: Erinnerungen, Träume, Gedanken) is a partially autobiographical book by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung and an associate, Aniela Jaffé. First published in German in 1962, an English translation appeared ...
'' (Pantheon Books, 1963, p. 99) . * The
Görres Society The Görres Society (german: Görres-Gesellschaft) is a German learned society, whose goal is to foster interdisciplinarity and apply scientific principles to different disciplines, based in the Catholic tradition. The Gorres society is divided in ...
was founded on 25 January 1876 in honour of Görres to advance Roman Catholic studies.


See also

*
Guido Görres Guido Görres (28 May 1805 – 14 July 1852) was a German Catholic historian, publicist and poet. Life and works Born in Koblenz, he was the son of Joseph Görres, and made his early classical studies in his native town. During his father's ...


References

* *


Further reading

* Berger, Martin (1921). ''Görres als politischer Publizist''. Bonn und Leipzig: K. Schroeder. * Coker, F. W. (1910)
“The Organismic Analogies of Görres.”
In: ''Organismic Theories of the State.'' Columbia University Press, pp. 44–47. * Dickerhof, Harald (1999). ''Görres-Studien''. Paderborn: Schöningh. * Heuvel, Jon Vanden (2001). ''A German Life in the Age of Revolution: Joseph Görres, 1776–1848,'' Catholic University of America Press. * Menzel, Wolfgang (1840).
German Literature
'
Vol. 2Vol. 3
Boston: Hilliard, Gray and Company. * Münster, Hans A. (1926). ''Die öffentliche Meinung in Johann Josef Görres' Politischer Publizistik''. Berlin: Staatspolitischer Verlag. * Raab, Heribert (1978). ''Joseph Görres, ein Leben für Freiheit und Recht''. Paderborn: Schöningh.


External links


Biography of Joseph Görres, German and English
* ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
Joseph von Görres
* * Joseph Görres
"Something to Sell," 1798
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorres, Johann Joseph Von 1776 births 1848 deaths Politicians from Heidelberg 19th-century German Catholic theologians Writers from Heidelberg Writers from Koblenz Roman Catholic activists Burials at the Alter Südfriedhof