Maximilian Kaller (10 October 1880 – 7 July 1947) was Roman Catholic Bishop of Ermland () in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

from 1930 to 1947. However, ''de facto'' expelled from mid-August 1945, he was a special bishop for the homeland-expellees until his death.

Early life

Kaller was born in Beuthen (Bytom),

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (; ; ) was a provinces of Prussia, province of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1742 and established as an official province in 1815, then became part ...

, into a merchant family, the second of eight children. With the population of Beuthen being of German and Polish ethnicity he grew up bilingual in German and Polish. He graduated from the '' Gymnasium'' in 1899 with ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' and started theological studies in Breslau (today's Wrocław) at the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

of his then home Prince-Bishopric of Breslau. There he was consecrated a priest in 1903."Bischof Maximilian Kaller"
''Apostolischer Visitator Ermland'', the website of the Apostolic Visitator for the Ermland Diocesans in Germany. He was the chaplain in the parish of Groß Strehlitz (today's Strzelce Opolskie) in the Breslau diocese. Between 1905 and 1917, he practised as a missionary priest at St. Boniface parish in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

Island in the Hither Pomeranian Catholic

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

within Breslau's Prince-Episcopal Delegation for Brandenburg and Pomerania. He raised the necessary donations to erect St. Boniface Church there in 1912. From 1917, he was the priest at Berlin's second oldest Catholic Church, Saint Michael's Garrison Church.

Career as prelate and bishop

In 1926, he succeeded Robert Weimann (1870–1925) as

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Schneidemühl (today's Piła).Georg May, ''

Ludwig Kaas Ludwig Kaas (23 May 1881 – 15 April 1952) was a German Roman Catholic priest and politician of the Centre Party during the Weimar Republic. He was instrumental in brokering the Reichskonkordat between the Holy See and the German Reich. ...

: der Priester, der Politiker und der Gelehrte aus der Schule von Ulrich Stutz'': 3 vols., Amsterdam: Grüner, 1981–1982 (Kanonistische Studien und Texte; vols. 33–35), vol. 1, p. 175. . Kaller's jurisdiction comprised Catholic parishes of the dioceses of Chełmno and of Gniezno -Poznań, which had been separated from their episcopal sees by the new Polish border in 1918 and 1920, respectively. On Kaller's instigation, the seat of the apostolic administration had been moved from Tütz (Tuczno) to Schneidemühl on 1 July 1926. Following the Prussian

Concordat A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 Northern, Middle and former eastern territories of Germany">Eastern Germany had been reorganised. In 1930, the Apostolic Administration of Tuczno">Tütz was reconstituted as the Territorial Prelature of Schneidemühl (, , existing until 1972, and from 1945 under apostolic administrators) with Kaller being promoted to prelate. On 2 September 1930, Kaller was invested as bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warmia, Roman Catholic Diocese of Ermland (an archdiocese since 1992) by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

and consecrated in Schneidemühl, afterwards taking the episcopal see in Frauenburg (today's Frombork).Cf
"Bishop Maximilian Josef Johannes Kaller †"
''Catholic Hierarchy'' Franz Hartz succeeded Kaller as Prelate of Schneidemühl. From 1925, Ermland diocese comprised all of the Prussian

Province of East Prussia East Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's Free State of Prussia, ...

in its borders of 1938. In the year of Kaller's investiture, his diocese, which had turned exempt in 1566 when its original metropolitan Archbishopric of Riga, had become

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

and was ''de jure'' dissolved, became again

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

to an archdiocese. Ermland diocese, together with the new Berlin diocese and Schneidemühl prelature joined the new Eastern German Ecclesiastical Province () under the newly elevated Metropolitan Archbishop Adolf Bertram of Breslau. In 1932, Kaller consecrated the new diocesan

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for priests in Braunsberg in East Prussia (today's Braniewo). Under his jurisdiction, Ermland diocese issued a new diocesan

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...

and a diocesan ritual (cf. Rituale Romanum) in Latin and the three native languages of the diocesan

parishioner A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

s (German, Lithuanian and Polish). Kaller was also appointed apostolic visitator to the then 8,000 Catholic faithful in Memelland, a Lithuanian-annexed formerly East Prussian area, whose then four Catholic parishes had been seceded from Ermland diocese and subsequently formed part of the Territorial Prelature of Memel (Klaipėda), ; ; ) existing between 1926 and 1991. Kaller and other members of the German Catholic and Protestant Churches formulated their opposition to the policy of Nazi mysticism early on (cf. Struggle of the churches). German clergy who opposed

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

or supported refugees were strongly persecuted under the Nazi dictatorship. On 10 June 1939,

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

appointed Kaller apostolic administrator of the Territorial Prelature of Memel, after

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

had ceded Memelland under German pressure to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

in March the same year. In 1942, Kaller applied to

Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

Cesare Orsenigo to resign from episcopate in order to administer services at Theresienstadt, but his wish was not granted. On 7 February 1945, during World War II, the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

forced Kaller out of his episcopal office while the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

was overrunning Ermland diocese. Kaller had appointed Frauenburg's Cathedral dean Aloys Marquardt (1891–1972) as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

to the see.

After World War II

After World War II, most Germans were expelled to

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

, including Marquardt who had to leave in July. Frauenburg's

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

then elected the aged Canon Johannes (Jan) Hanowski, a German of Polish ethnicity and long-term archpriest of Allenstein (today's Olsztyn), as capitular vicar, i.e. provisional head of the see, on 28 July 1945. Kaller, who had been stranded by the end of the war in Halle upon Saale, made his -long way back to his see and arrived on one of the first nights of August 1945 in Allenstein/Olsztyn, taking on the jurisdiction from Hanowski. He started to develop new plans for his diocese especially aiming at overcoming the nationalist antagonism between Catholics of the German and Polish languages, reshaping the diocese in the spirit of German-Polish reconciliation. He appointed Franciszek Borowiec, his close collaborator, as new vicar general for the Diocesan area under Polish occupation and Paul Hoppe (1900–1988), Königsberg in Prussia (today's

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

), as vicar general for the diocesan area under Soviet occupation."Paul Hoppe"
''Apostolischer Visitator Ermland, the website of the Apostolic Visitator for the Ermland Diocesans in Germany. Kaller further appointed an ethnic Pole as new cathedral provost, since his predecessor provost, Franz Xaver Sander (also

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

), and five more fellow cathedral canons had been killed by the invading Soviets. (The other killed canons were Andreas Hinzmann, Dr. Franz Heyduschka, Dr. Wladislaus Switalski, Anton Krause and Dr. Bruno Gross.) Addressing the Polish authorities in the annexed area of his diocese, Kaller declared that he wanted to continue his episcopate within

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, but officials said it was for neither him nor them, but Warsaw to decide that. Kaller chose four ethnic Poles as canon candidates to replenish the chapter so that ethnic Poles and Germans would each have half the seats. With these activities and plans Kaller was unique among the German bishops in the eastern territories. On 14 August, he received a telegramme from August Hlond for the expelled Marquardt. Polish Primate Hlond had invited the vicar general for a meeting on the diocesan future to

Pelplin Pelplin () is a town in northern Poland, in the Tczew County, Pomeranian Voivodship. Population: 8,320 (2009). Pelplin is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in Pomerania. It is home to one of the finest collections of medieval art ...

, not knowing that the Polish authorities had expelled him, let alone that the deported Kaller had managed to return. A Polish government car was provided and Kaller and Borowiec travelled the next day to Pelplin. When, on coming for the general vicar, the Polish government representatives learned the bishop himself was coming, they sent an advance party to Pelplin in order to inform Hlond. As Pelplin's canon and chancellor, Franciszek Kurland recalled, Kaller was not welcomed in priestly fraternity. It was difficult enough to urge a general vicar to resign, but the papally-invested bishop was another task. In fluent Polish, Kaller and Hlond, his chaplain Bolesław Filipiak, his brother Antoni Hlond SDB, Leon Kozłowski (Chełmno's vicar general) and Kurland conversed while taking lunch, discussing the situation. Kaller explained that he wanted to stay with his diocese in Poland and talked about his plans. Hlond replied that Kaller was no Polish citizen and thus unacceptable as bishop in the Polish area, avoiding the term "state", since Ermland diocese was only Polish-occupied German territory. Afterwards, in a private conversation, Hlond urged Kaller to resign which he did for the jurisdiction in the Polish-occupied diocesan area, but retained the office of Bishop of Ermland, which rather turned quite void, especially since in the Soviet-occupied diocesan area no Catholic ecclesiastical activity whatsoever was tolerated. Later in Poznań, Hlond praised Kaller for how he had complied with the demanded resignation from jurisdiction. On his way back, accompanied by Borowiec, Kaller cried and told him that the jurisdiction in the Polish-occupied diocesan area would be passed on to Teodor Bensch, a German-born naturalised Pole, who would arrive within days officiating as apostolic administrator. They returned home in the evening on 16 August. Kaller could not appoint the four new canons for the chapter any more but was expelled the next day, transferred by lorry to Warsaw, accompanied by Borowiec, who also joined him on the train to Poznań on 18 August. Then Borowiec, who had not been expelled, returned to the diocese, while Kaller had to leave via

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

for Allied-occupied Germany.

Kaller's last years

Kaller found asylum in what became Bizone in 1947. On 26 September 1946, Pius XII appointed him Papal Special Commissioner for the homeland-expelled Germans (). In November 1946, Pius XII invited Kaller to Rome. Both were personally acquainted since their common time in Berlin (Pius as Nuncio to Germany and Kaller as priest), and the latter reported to the pope on the destitute situation of the expellees from eastern Europe. On 7 July 1947, Kaller died suddenly of a heart attack in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and was buried besides St. Mary's Church in

Königstein im Taunus Königstein im Taunus (, ) is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location ...

Succession of Kaller until 1972

On 11 July 1947, the Ermland chapter, residing in the Allied Bizone, then elected Provost Arthur Kather (1883–1957), officiating before his exile at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Elbing (today's Elbląg), capitular vicar, as provided by canon law in case of ''

sede vacante In the Catholic Church, ''sede vacante'' is the state during which a diocese or archdiocese is without a prelate installed in office, with the prelate's office being the cathedral. The term is used frequently in reference to a papal interre ...

''."Arthur Kather"
''Apostolischer Visitator Ermland'', the website of the Apostolic Visitator for the Ermland Diocesans in Germany. The Holy See later confirmed him and thereafter Kather represented Ermland diocese in the Fulda Conference of Bishops until his death. On 29 July 1957, the Ermland chapter, with the surviving capitulars living in what had become

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, elected Hoppe as capitular vicar, who had been expelled from the Soviet-occupied Ermland diocesan area (

Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast () is the westernmost federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is a Enclave and exclave, semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea within the Baltic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, surrounded by Pola ...

) in 1947. Hoppe held that post until

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

terminated the apostolic administration of Ermland diocese and finally appointed again a bishop to the see on 28 June 1972, then named Warmia (Polish for Ermland), however, not comprising the former diocesan area within the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Paul VI then elevated Hoppe to Apostolic Visitator of Ermland taking care of Ermland's diocesans living in Germany.

Legacy

In July 1979, Kaller's successor, Warmia's Bishop

Józef Glemp Józef Glemp (18 December 192923 January 2013) was a Polish Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was List of bishops and archbishops of Warsaw, Archbishop of Warsaw from 1981 to 2006, and was elevated to the cardinalate ...

, visited Straelen, where he had earlier improved his German. On his way to

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, Glemp stopped in Königstein to visit Kaller's grave. On 10 October 1980, Kaller's 100th birthday, Glemp celebrated a pontifical requiem in honour of Kaller in Frombork's Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Andrew, Frombork, commemorating in his preaching Kaller's personality as priest and his benedictory work for the diocese. In 1997, Archbishop Edmund Michał Piszcz of Warmia and the community of Ermlanders in

Western Germany The old states of Germany () is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic's 5 states, which are giv ...

commemorated Kaller and placed busts of him in Germany and

. On 4 May 2003, the procedure for his

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

started.

References

*Based on ''Mitteilungen'', German minority newspaper of Ermland.

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaller, Maximilian 1880 births 1947 deaths People from Bytom Bishops of Warmia Clergy from the Province of Silesia German refugees 20th-century German Roman Catholic bishops German people of World War II 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests