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 into 20 sections, in which members meet at the annual general meeting
Contents
History
The Görres Society was founded on January 25, 1876 by Catholic scholars and publicists in Koblenz under the name Görres-Gesellschaft zur Pflege der Wissenschaft (Görres Society for the Cultivation of Science). Co-founder and main initiator was the later Bavarian Prime Minister and German Chancellor Georg von Hertling, who also became the first president of the Görres Society.
The Görres Society is named after the philosopher Joseph Görres. The Theological Faculty of the Archdiocese of Salzburg, the German-speaking Benedictine Confederation, the Catholic Academic Society and the Görres Society first held the Salzburg University Weeks (SHW) from August 3 to 22, 1931; also known as universitas catholica in nuce. Subsequently, there was a rift with the Görres Society. At this time it was authoritatively led by Heinrich Finke. His predecessor from 1919/1920-1924 was Hermann von Grauert.
In 1941 it was dissolved by the National Socialists and reestablished in Cologne in 1948.
Organization
The society is organized as an association under private sponsorship and is administered by an honorary board of directors. Membership is free and not bound to any particular status. The Görres Society is now divided into 20 sections (including law and political science, history, Christian Orient, pedagogy and philosophy), which meet for annual general assemblies and also provide information on the state of current research.
As successor to Paul Mikat and Wolfgang Bergsdorf, Bernd Engler has been president since 2015. The seat of the Society is Bonn. Since its foundation, some Görres Institutes have been established abroad (the Roman Institute of the Görres Society at Campo Santo Teutonico/Rome in 1887, Jerusalem in 1908, Madrid in 1926, Lisbon in 1962). It has about 3,000 members (as of 2022). In 1925, the number of members had reached a peak of 4,600.
The main field of work of the Görres Society consists in the philosophical examination of contemporary research results on the basis of Christian ethics and the Christian conception of man. To this end, the Görres Society promotes young scholars, is dedicated to the cultivation of academic life in Germany, and also participates in larger research projects.
The Görres Society is the publisher of numerous journals, including the Vierteljahrsschrift für wissenschaftliche Pädagogik, the Philosophisches Jahrbuch, the Historisches Jahrbuch, and the Jahrbuch für Europäische Ethnologie.
The oldest institute of the Görres Society is the Roman Institute of the Görres Society (also the Historical Institute of the Görres Society), which was founded in 1888, initially as a "station". It is at the same time the oldest institute abroad and has been located at the College for Priests of the Campo Santo Teutonico (Vatican) since the beginning. Its task is basic research in the field of church history and Christian archaeology. Together with the Priests' College it publishes the Römische Quartalschrift für Christliche Altertumskunde und Kirchengeschichte. The director of the institute is Stefan Heid.
The Institute for Interdisciplinary Research of the Görres Society is a scientific institution of the Görres Society. Its mission is interdisciplinary research and the unification of the various sciences, especially theology, philosophy and the natural sciences. The Institute was founded on May 12, 1957. The board of directors is composed of a director and four vice-directors. Currently, Ulrich Lüke is the director of the institute, and the deputy directors are Stephan Borrmann, Christoph Horn and Gregor Maria Hoff. According to Josef Kälin's address at the founding event,[1] the Görres Institute was to have 20 to 40 members, at least half of whom were to be German speakers. In 2013, the Institute had 20 active members, 16 emeritus members, as well as three permanent guests and two young guests. The Institute holds an annual working conference on a general theme. With the founding of the Institute in 1967, a publication organ was also established. The series Naturwissenschaft und Theologie (Natural Science and Theology) published the results of the annual workshops. After twelve issues, the series was replaced in 1972 by the series Grenzfragen.
Furthermore, there is the Jerusalem Institute of the Görres Society, whose director since 2011 is the Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel. Its foundation was prepared by Konrad Lübeck between 1909 and 1910.[2]
Honour Ring of the Görres Society
Since 1977, the Honour Ring of the Görres Society has been awarded annually to "deserving personalities of scientific and public life". The first recipient was the historian Clemens Bauer.
Presidents
- Georg von Hertling (1843–1919), politician and philosopher, founding president of the Görres Society from 1877 to 1919
- Hermann von Grauert (1850–1924), historian, president of the Görres-Gesellschaft from 1920 to 1924
- Heinrich Finke (1855–1938), church historian and medievalist, president of the Görres Society from 1924 to 1938
- Hans Peters (1896–1966), jurist, president of the Görres Society from 1940/41 and 1948 to 1966
- Paul Mikat (1924–2011), jurist and politician, President of the Görres Society from 1967 to 2007
- Wolfgang Bergsdorf (born 1941), political scientist, president of the Görres Society from 2007 to 2015
- Bernd Engler (born 1954), Americanist, President of the Görres Society since 2015
Research Fellows
<templatestyles src="Div col/styles.css"/>
- Anton Pieper (1854–1908), church historian, 1880 to 1882
- Johann Peter Kirsch (1861–1941), church historian and Christian archaeologist, 1888 to 1890
- Joseph Schlecht (1857–1925), historian, 1890 to 1891
- Stephan Ehses (1855–1926), church historian, 1891 to 1895
- Sebastian Merkle (1862–1945), church historian, 1894 to 1898
- Emil Göller (1874–1933), church historian, 1900 to 1903
- Franz Joseph Dölger (1879–1940), church historian, 1909 to 1910
- Franz Xaver Glasschröder (1864–1933), Bavarian historian and archivist
- Andreas Evaristus Mader (1881–1949), biblical scholar, 1911 to 1917
- Ludwig Arnold Mohler (1883–1943), church historian, 1912 to 1915
- Hubert Bastgen (1876–1946), church historian, 1925 to 1927
- Johannes Pohl (1904–1960), Judaist and Hebraist, 1932 to 1934
- Hubert Jedin (1900–1980), church historian, 1928 to 1930, 1933 to 1936
- Hermann Hoberg (1907–1992), church historian, 1938 to 1950
- Johannes Heinrich Emminghaus (1916–1989), liturgical scholar, 1950 to 1952
- Ludwig Voelkl (1899–1985), Christian archaeologist, 1950 to 1952
- Walter Nikolaus Schumacher (1913–2004), Christian archaeologist, 1951 to 1953
- Konrad Repgen (1923–2017), historian, 1952 to 1953
- Andreas Kraus (1922–2012), historian, 1956 to 1958
- Otto Feld (1928–2011), Christian archaeologist, 1961 to 1964
- Hermann Josef Roth (born 1938), art historian and natural scientist, 1961
- Peter Lorbacher (born 1936), medical doctor, 1963 to 1964
- Burkhard Roberg, historian, 1963 to 1964
- Kurt Körbel (1930–1969), theologian, 1964 to 1968
- Wolfgang Reinhard (born 1937), historian, 1966 to 1973
- Ursula Nilgen (1931–2018), art historian, 1967 to 1969
- Christoph Weber (born 1943), historian, 1970 to 1972
- Klaus Jaitner, historian, 1972 to 1973
- Michael Durst (born 1953), church historian, 1977 to 1978
- Heinrich Reinhardt (born 1947), philosopher, 1978 to 1980
- Michael Menzel (born 1956), historian, 1985 to 1989
- Barbara Hallensleben (born 1957), dogmatist, 1989 to 1992
- Konrad Hilpert (born 1947), moral theology, 1989 to 1990
- Gregor Ahn (born 1958), religious scholar, 1991 to 1995
- Stefan Samerski (born 1963), church historian, 1991 to 1998
- Theo Schwarzmüller (born 1961), historian, 1996 to 1998
- Horst Philipp Schneider (born 1962), Byzantinist, 1998 to 2002
- Stefan Samerski (born 1963), theologian and church historian, 1997 to 2000
- Silke Diederich (born 1970), classical philologist, 2000 to 2003
- Sandra Kluwe (born 1975), Germanist, 2002 to 2004
- Christoph H. F. Meyer (born 1966), legal scholar, 2003 to 2005 and 2008
- Isabelle Mandrella (born 1968), philosopher, 2005 to 2007
- Maria Teresa Börner, historian, 2002 to 2007
Notes
- ↑ Rager, Günther (2006). Geschichte und Ziele des Instituts der Görres-Gesellschaft für Interdisziplinäre Forschung. Vortrag aus Anlass des 50-jährigen Bestehens des Instituts am 22. Sept. 2006 im Schloss Suresnes, München, 2.
- ↑ Mott, Michael (2011). Fuldaer Köpfe 2. Fulda: Verlag Parzeller, pp. 277–280.
References
- Morsey, Rudolf; Hans Elmar Onnau (2002). Görres-Gesellschaft und NS-Diktatur. Die Geschichte der Görres-Gesellschaft 1932/33 bis zum Verbot 1941. Paderborn: Schöningh.
- Morsey, Rudolf (2009). Die Görres-Gesellschaft zur Pflege der Wissenschaft. Streiflichter zu ihrer Geschichte? Paderborn: Schöningh.
