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The Walberberg Circle: Influence of German Dominicans on Social Ethics and Christian Social Movements

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The Walberberg Circle, formed in the early 20th century, exemplifies the significant contributions of German Dominican scholars to social ethics and the broader Christian social movement. Key figures such as Laurentius Siemer, Eberhard Welty, and Arthur Urz championed Catholic Social Teaching (CST), advocating for communal identity and personal independence in post-war Germany. Their collaborations led to important publications and educational initiatives, including the founding of the Walberberg Institute of Social Sciences, which aimed to apply CST principles to contemporary issues, bridging diverse fields of knowledge.

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The Walberberg Circle: Influence of German Dominicans on Social Ethics and Christian Social Movements

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  1. The Walberberg Circle The Social Ethics of the German Dominicans

  2. Albert Maria Weiss 1844-1925 Taught in Fribourg Books: Liberalismus & Christentum Soziale Frage & Soziale Ordnung Karl Fürst zu Löwenstein 1834-1921 Entered 1908 as Raymundus OP Christian Social Movement: Centre Party Katholikentage Fribourg UnionAssociation of Catholic social scientists & politicians who worked on Rerum Novarum

  3. Walberberg Circle • 1930s & especially postwar • Dominicans of socio-ethical & socio-political influence on wider Christian social movement • Walberberg Priory • Strategic site between Bonn & Köln • Housed OP Studium till 1970s • Siemer, Welty, Utz, Nawroth, Steinofen • Individuals, not a ´school´

  4. Laurentius Siemer • 1888-1958 • Reforming rector of Vechta Boarding School • German Provincial 1932-46 • Set up Walberberg as centre of CST • Oversaw German edition Aquinas´works • Vehement distance from Nazi regime • Arrested 1935-6 • joined resistance of Catholic Workers in Köln • plot to assassinate Hitler - rest of war in hiding • 1946 editor of journal Die Neue Ordnung • Article ´The German People & Militarism´ • Radio & TV appreances, published in So sind wir Menschen (This is how we are)

  5. Eberhard Welty • 1902-1965 • Walberberg lecturer in ethics & moral theology • Köln doctorate in political science 1935 • Worked on German edition of Aquinas • With Siemer, joined resistance of Catholic Workers in Köln • Walberberg was a Gestapo military hospital at the time

  6. Politics for Postwar Germany • Struggle to connect communal identity & personal independence • community as living organism • ideal social order ´from the bottom up´ • Critiquing Pesch & Gundlach SJ´s solidarism & personalism • Debate in emerging Rhineland CDU (Christian Democratic party) on principles • Welty central to negotiations • his papers in book form Entscheidung für die Zukunft (1946) • tried to introduce name Christian Socialist • unable to get wider appeal for CST, worker involvement in CDU: concepts of common good too abstract

  7. Spreading CST • Welty’s Sozialkatechismus (1951-8) • spread the concept of CST in Germany • Started adult education courses in social ethics • ecumenical, non-partisan • wide audience e.g. workers´groups, trade unions • 1951 Walberberg Institute of Social Sciences • Founded in co-operation with politicians & business leaders • Co-ordinated programme of missionary preaching • Acted as a link between social democrat SPD & Church • Chief editor of Die Neue Ordnung

  8. Arthur Urz • 1908-2001 • From Basle, entered aged 20 • Deepened & updated Thomist Catholic social ethics • Fribourg PhD on inner relation of moral virtues in Aquinas • During WWII rural parish rector Bergish region near Köln • Famous for his collections of documents on CST: Bibliographie der Sozialethik (1960-1980) • 5-volume Sozialethik (2000)

  9. New Institutes • Utz founded International Institute for Social Sciences & Politics • as Chair of ethics & social philosophy at Fribourg • to apply CST to current political & social problems • rejuvenated Fribourg Union with lawyers, economists & political scientists • edited journal Politea on social ethics 1949-1953 • 1976 president of International Humanum Foundation • which aimed to fulfil the mission of Gaudium et Spes • publications on open society, unions, migration, unemployment • 1990s involved in founding Papal Academy of Social Sciences

  10. Thomistic Framework • Common good as starting point, (not personalist) • results from nature of person as social being: • relation & connection between individuals • Individual wellbeing integrated without sacrificing personal freedom • Subsidiarity ensures that individual interests are respected • Rational ethical basis, addressing itself to ´secular´ realm • CST justified by natural law, not biblical revelation alone • Law-based logic of norms • Inner experience, awareness of moral responsibility from which norms are abstracted • Theory in dialogue with practice: • Positivistic pragmatic views of human rights not enough, can lead to inhumanity • e.g. in debates on right to life of the born & unborn

  11. Uncomfortable Questions • For whom & what is the ´open society´ open? • What obligations must people face to support pluralism? • not popular issues for a mass audience, • but Utz had wide-ranging influence, • connecting diverse fields to create an integral social philosophy

  12. Edgar Nawroth • Born 1912 in Silesia • Medical orderly during WWII, then missionary in Düsseldorf • Fribourg PhD on Neo-Liberal Social & Economic Philosophy • 2nd Director of Walberberg Institute of Social Sciences • also taught theology & social ethics at Trier • 1965-1984 Chief editor of Die Neue Ordung • Specialist in social policy, especially questions of social partnership & social security • Particular interest in working & living conditions of employees • Advisor to Catholic Workers´ Movement & trade unions • Also advised business leaders e.g. Walberberg System Symposium, governments & bishops

  13. Heinrich Basilius Streithofen • 1925- • 3rd Director of Walberberg Institute of Social Sciences & editor of Die Neue Ordnung • Düsseldorf base as a confessor & preacher • working with Rhineland CDU • Journalist, co-founded Rhine Catholic Journalists group • Committed to Christian Trade Union Movment – caused conflict with Welty • Fribourg doctorate under Utz on Standards of Value in Trade Union Policy (1967)

  14. Wolfgang Ockenfels • Doctorate on Trade Unions & the State 1978 • took over Die Neue Ordnung from Streithofen • continues Nawroth´s work as Professor of Christian Social Science in Trier theology faculty • Took over Utz´s chairmanship of International Humanum Foundation • Walberberg Circle´s ideas live on in these institutions

  15. Challenges for Today • Change since the 1960s: • financial limits of the welfare state became clear • workers seem integrated into society, no longer fighting for their exisitence • Secularisation & individualism in society • mid-1970s lack of ´young blood´, Walberberg Studium suspended • Ideological disputes within the Order • Thomist Walberberg group v liberation theologians • 1984 Institute & Die Neue Ordnung now moved to Bonn, where the tradition continues

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