Josef Görres

Details

Josef Görres (1776, Koblenz - 1848, Munich) was a writer, teacher, philosopher, and theologian. He directly witnessed several political currents during his lifetime, always enthusiastically embracing them only to later discard and criticise them in his magniloquent, complex, polemical writings. Caught between the extremes of French revolutionary ideals, German unification, Prussian militarism, and Hapsburg restoration, he aimed to strike a balance between upholding rights, truth, and freedom (Fink-Lang, 2013: 7-9).

A cunning polemicist, Görres polarised public opinion through several publications of various political orientations, always calling out arbitrary despotism, whether during the French occupation, the Congress of Vienna, or the Prussian rule of the Rhineland. His writings in the Rheinischer Merkur (1814-1816) and his pamphlet Teutschland und die Revolution (1819) made him one of the earliest and ardent champions of German unification and nationalism. Additionally, Athansasius (1838) is considered the foundation for political Catholicism during the Vormärz.

A key figure to establish acceptance of the Prussians among the Rhinelanders, he rose to Director of Public Schooling in the Rhineland. However, when his hopes were disappointed by restorative measures of the Prussian King who failed to deliver a constitution as promised in article 13 of the Bundesakte (German Federal Act), he became openly subversive in his writing and his opinion. His controversial anti-Prussian tract Teutschland und die Revolution (1819) triggered his prosecution by the Prussians, forcing him to flee to France and later settle in Munich - never to return.

The statue is situated on the left bank of the Rhine in Görres home-town Koblenz. Plans for such a commemorative statue existed since the 1840s, but only came to fruition during French military government in the 1920s, mostly due to Prussian political repression of such plans.

Contributor

Isabelle Riepe

Spatial Coverage

Germany

Temporal Coverage

erected 1928

Date

1817

Bibliographic Citation

Monika Fink-Lang, Joseph Görres – Die Biographie, (Paderborn: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, 2013)

Relation

Reference: Rheinischer Merkur (Details)

The Rheinischer Merkur was a German newspaper published by Josef Görres every two days between 1814 and 1816. It was the most popular and wide-spread German publication during these years, stimulating intellectual debate among the middle classes across continental Europe.

The RM introduced a journalistic novelty, the Leitartikel, a longer piece of reading covering the first few pages of the paper that often scrutinised current news and developments and shaped public opinion by aiming to provide balanced and truthful reporting. Content includes increasingly pro-Prussian tracts against Metternich’s restorative tactics at the congress of Vienna. It sketches out demands for a German union under a constitution with an army, a common foreign policy and tax system, and justice and trade under a dynastic, Catholic ruler reinstating the estates destroyed by the French. As these demands were not met during the Congress nor in its treatise, Görres became increasingly subversive and anti-Prussian as he saw that promises of a constitution would fail to be met by 1815.

The newspaper, ultimately, was banned by the King in early 1816 with grave consequences for Görres’ status within the Prussian officialdom and among the Prussian government.

Reference: Koblenzer Adresse 1817 (Details)

Joseph Görres’ 'Koblenzer Adresse' was a privately organised address, unlike those initiated by city councils at the time. Görres started collecting signatures on 18 October 1817 to present them to the Staatskanzler in time for King Wilhelm’s visit to the Rhinelands in the winter of 1817/18. The petition states that it joins the city petitions of Trier and Cologne to appeal to the King and hold him to account for his promise given upon signing the Treaties at the congress of Vienna in 1815. The demands are the restoration of estates and of the ancient German constitution. It directly calls for the realisation of Article 13 of the Bundesakte (German Federal Act), which granted the creation of a German constitution at Vienna.

Another interesting aspect is how the participants are protrayed in this petition: 'sich aber nicht bloss als Buerger der Preußischen Monarchie sondern auch als Deutsch betrachten' ('consider themselves not just citizens of the Prussian Monarchy but as Germans'). This quite clearly shows the disparity between growing German nationalism fostered through overflowing patriotism in the Rhinelands and the Prussian government.

A subsequent letter (LHK 402 171 p.21) is from March 1818 expressing the Prussian King Frederick William III's disapproval of the Rhineprovince's president von Ingersleben’s inactivity surrounding the petition. It was, namely, far from a normal plea to the King, to which every subject had a right, but rather a down-right prompt for action which was seen as unseemly behaviour.

Görres' and his address initiative were subject to wide criticism, which some scholars suggests established a first spark of public sphere and debate in the Rhineland. Görres published a written account about the presentation of his address to

Creator

Richard Langer (sculptor)

Geolocation

Items Referencing this Item

Barricade Object
#8	Rheinischer Merkur	Details The Rheinischer Merkur was a German newspaper published by Josef Görres every two days between 1814 and 1816. It was the most popular and wide-spread German publication during these years, stimulating intellectual debate among the middle classes across continental Europe. The RM introduced a journalistic novelty, the Leitartikel, a longer piece of reading covering the first few pages of the paper that often scrutinised current news and developments and shaped public opinion by aiming to provide balanced and truthful reporting. Content includes increasingly pro-Prussian tracts against Metternich’s restorative tactics at the congress of Vienna. It sketches out demands for a German union under a constitution with an army, a common foreign policy and tax system, and justice and trade under a dynastic, Catholic ruler reinstating the estates destroyed by the French. As these demands were not met during the Congress nor in its treatise, Görres became increasingly subversive and anti-Prussian as he saw that promises of a constitution would fail to be met by 1815. The newspaper, ultimately, was banned by the King in early 1816 with grave consequences for Görres’ status within the Prussian officialdom and among the Prussian government.
Still Image
#70	Koblenzer Adresse 1817	Details Joseph Görres’ 'Koblenzer Adresse' was a privately organised address, unlike those initiated by city councils at the time. Görres started collecting signatures on 18 October 1817 to present them to the Staatskanzler in time for King Wilhelm’s visit to the Rhinelands in the winter of 1817/18. The petition states that it joins the city petitions of Trier and Cologne to appeal to the King and hold him to account for his promise given upon signing the Treaties at the congress of Vienna in 1815. The demands are the restoration of estates and of the ancient German constitution. It directly calls for the realisation of Article 13 of the Bundesakte (German Federal Act), which granted the creation of a German constitution at Vienna. Another interesting aspect is how the participants are protrayed in this petition: 'sich aber nicht bloss als Buerger der Preußischen Monarchie sondern auch als Deutsch betrachten' ('consider themselves not just citizens of the Prussian Monarchy but as Germans'). This quite clearly shows the disparity between growing German nationalism fostered through overflowing patriotism in the Rhinelands and the Prussian government. A subsequent letter (LHK 402 171 p.21) is from March 1818 expressing the Prussian King Frederick William III's disapproval of the Rhineprovince's president von Ingersleben’s inactivity surrounding the petition. It was, namely, far from a normal plea to the King, to which every subject had a right, but rather a down-right prompt for action which was seen as unseemly behaviour. Görres' and his address initiative were subject to wide criticism, which some scholars suggests established a first spark of public sphere and debate in the Rhineland. Görres published a written account about the presentation of his address to

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