Events in Religion and Philosophy
in German, Austrian and Swiss History
March
© 1999 by Paul A. Schons
March 1, 1933 Start of an organized boycott of Jewish businesses by the Nazis.
March 2, 1836 Birth of Theodor Noeldeke in Harburg, Germany.
Noeldeke was a scholar who gained a reputation for his extensive Islamic studies. His most noted book is "Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden" (1879).
March 2, 1939
Eugenio Pacelli who had been the Papal Nuncio to Germany, becomes Pope Pius XII.
March 3, 1033 Death of St. Kunigunde von Luxembourg (ca. 980–1033)
St. Kunigunde was the daughter of Count Siegfried of Luxembourg. In 999 she married emperor Heinrich II of the Holy Roman Empire (a.k.a. the German Empire). They were married in Paderborn, Germany. She was crowned as empress by Pope Benedict VIII in Rome. In 1017 she founded the monastery in Kaufungen. After the death of her husband she herself entered this monastery and led the remainder of her life as a nun. She ultimately became the superior of the monastery. She devoted her life to prayer and simplicity in life. On her deathbed there was the sense that she should be dressed in her empress clothing, but she refused, wanting to die in the attire of a simple nun. She is entombed in the cathedral in Bamberg. She was canonized by Pope Innocence III in 1200.
March 3, 1716 Death of Bl. Liberatus (Johannes Laurentius Weiß) (1675-1716)J
Johannes Laurentius Weiß was born in Konnersreuth, Germany (near Bayreuth). He entered the Franciscan order at age 18, taking the name Liberatus. He was ordained in 1698. He became a missionary to Ethiopia. He worked there until 1716 to bring the Ethiopian church back into accord with the Roman Church. In 1716 he was put to death by stoning in reaction against his efforts. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
March 5, 1574 Birth of Friedrich IV in Amberg, Germany.
Friedrich, an ardent Protestant, was the elector of Rhineland-Pfalz. He actively opposed the Roman church and Habsburg leadership in the Holy Roman Empire.
March 5, 1869 Birth of Michael von Faulhaber in Heidenfeld, Germany.
Faulhaber, the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Munich and Freising, was one of those who resisted Hitler and the Nazis. His opposition to the Nazis started already at the time of Hitler's attempted takeover of Munich in 1923. When Hitler came to power and through the War Faulhaber visibly opposed the Nazis. There were two attempts at assassination, but he survived. His sermons were critical of the Nazis and opposed their anti-Semitism, executions and medical experiments. After the war Faulhaber worked with the American occupation forces.
March 5, 1904 Birth of Karl Rahner in Freiburg, Germany.
Rahner, a Jesuit priest, introduced existentialist elements into Thomistic philosophy. He was a professor of theology at the universities of Innsbruck, Munich and Muenster. Noted books by Rahner include, "Geist in Welt" (1937), "Sendung der Gnade" (1966), "Grundkurs des Glaubens" (1976) and "Über die Sakramente der Kirche " (1974).
March 6 Feast day of St. Fridolin von Säckingen (? – ca. 538)
St. Fridolin was probably born in Ireland in the 5th or 6th century. He was one of the first missionaries who worked among the Alamanni (a German tribe on the Southern Rhine). He founded a monastery on the island of Säckingen on the Rhine and another in Constance and then continued north to work in the area of Augsburg. Historical documentation of his life is very limited. His veneration as a saint predates the practice of canonization by a Pope. His feast day is March 6.
March 6, 1911 Death of Franziska Streitel (1844 - 1911)
The processes of beatification has been initiated on behalf of Franziska Streitel. She was born on November 24, 1844 in Mellrichstadt in Bavaria, Germany. She became a Franciscan nun in Augsburg. In 1883 she founded a new order, the Sisters of the suffering Mother or the Adolorata Sisters. She was removed as the Mother Superior in 1896 on the basis of accusations which were since proven to be false. She then lived in cloisters in Rome until her death in 1911. The order is active today in Austria, Italy and the U.S.A. The sisters dedicate themselves to care of the sick and the education of young women.
March 6, 1984 Death of Martin Niemoeller in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Niemoeller served as a commander of a submarine in World War I. He undertook studies in theology after the war and became a pastor in Berlin. He was a leader in the resistance against Hitler. He was arrested in 1937 and sent to the camp in Dachau. After the war he returned to his work in the church. His experiences in the war and his conscience led him to very active pacifism during the "Cold War". He was given the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967 and the German "Grand Cross of Merit" in 1971.
March 7, 1274 Death of St. Thomas Aquinas.
The philosopher Thomas was born in Italy and entered the Dominican order there. In 1244 he went to Cologne, Germany to study with the most noted scholar of the day, Albertus Magnus. In 1245 Albert was sent to teach at the university of Paris and Thomas followed him there. In 1248 they returned again to the university in Cologne. In Cologne Thomas began to teach under the supervision of Albert. In 1250 Thomas was ordained a priest by the archbishop of Cologne, Konrad of Hochstaden. In 1251 or 1252 Thomas was sent to Paris to take up teaching duties there. Thomas was canonized by Pope John XXII on July 18, 1323. St. Thomas wrote over 60 works of which the most noted is the Summa theologica.
March 7, 1795 Birth of Ludwig von Gerlach in Berlin, Germany.
Gerlach was a conservative politician who opposed the unification of Germany in 1871 and opposed Bismarck's "Kulturkampf " of 1872-1872 (a power struggle against the Catholic Church). Gerlach was a member of the Catholic Center Party, although he was personally a Protestant.
March 9, 1009 Death of St. Bruno von Querfurt (970 – 1009)
Bruno was educated at the cathedral school in Magdeburg. He later entered a monastery and took his vows in 999. He was sent as a missionary to Poland. In 1008 he sought to found a mission among the Prussians. He and his companions were killed by the resentful pagans there. He was soon revered as a martyr.
March 10, 1503 Birth of Ferdinand I in Alcala de Henares, Spain.
The Spanish born Habsburg, Ferdinand, would become the Holy Roman Emperor, and the king of Bohemia and Hungary. In the "Peace of Augsburg" of 1555 he agreed to the right of regional princes to determine the religion of their own territories.
March 10, 1615 Death of St. John Ogilvie (1580 – 1615)
St. John Ogilvie was born in Scotland in 1580. He was brought up within the Calvinist tradition. As a youth he was sent to attend school in Regensburg, Germany. In Regensburg he converted to Catholicism. He then became a Jesuit and lived in Vienna and Graz, Austria. He was ordained a priest in 1613. As a priest he returned to Scotland to assist the oppressed Catholic church. In 1614 he was arrested by the protestant archbishop and imprisoned and tortured. In 1615 he was hanged and quartered. He was canonized as a martyr by Pope Paul VI in 1976.
March 10, 1819 Death of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi in Munich, Germany.
The philosopher, Jacobi, developed the philosophy of feeling (Gefuehlsphilosophie). He was highly critical of the rationalism of Spinoza and of the dualism of sensibility of Kant. Jacobi was a friend of the poet Martin Wieland and the dramatist/critic G. E. Lessing.
March 14, 968 Death of St. Mathilda (ca. 895 - 968)
St. Matilda, the wife of the German king Heinrich I was born in about 895 in Engern, Saxony, Germany. Matilda and King Heinrich married in 909. She was the mother of Otto who would become the Emperor of the German Empire (a.k.a. Holy Roman Empire). Her son Bruno became the Archbishop of Cologne. Her daughter, Gerberga married Louis IV of France. As queen, Matilda was noted for her piety, generosity and humility. After her son Otto had become king she gave up her properties and retired to Engern, Westphalia, Germany. She was later called back to the palace by Otto. She built many churches and supported many monasteries. She was venerated as a saint immediately after her death on March 14, 968. Her feast day is March 14. She is entombed in Quedlingurg, Germany. Her sainthood predates the practice of formal canonization by a Pope.
March 14, 1883 Death of Karl Marx in England.
Karl Marx wurde am 5. Mai 1818 in Trier geboren. Er war der Sohn eines zum Protestantismus uebergetretenen juedischen Rechtsanwalts. Er studierte an der Universitaet Berlin. Friedrich Hegel, welcher Philosophie an der Universitaet Berlin lehrte, hatte einen starken Einfluss auf seine Denkweise. Marx gilt als der Vater des wissenschaftlichen Sozialismus, einer von ihm in Zusammenarbeit mit Friedrich Engels entwickelten Gesellschaftstheorie. Wichtige Buecher von Marx sind Das Manifest der kommunistischen Partei und Das Kapital.
March 14, 1891 Death of Ludwig Windthorst in Berlin, Germany.
Windhorst was one of the founders of the Catholic Center Party. As leader of the party he led the struggle against Bismarck's "Kulturkampf".
March 14, 1937
On Passion Sunday the Papal Encyclical, "Mit brennender Sorge" is read at Catholic masses throughout Germany. The encyclical has been delivered by secrete courier since the postal service or any public agency could not be entrusted with it. The encyclical is critical of the Hitler government and its treatment of the Catholic Church in Germany. The printing offices in Germany which had printed the encyclical were closed and many of the workers in them imprisoned within the next days. The government ordered all copies of the document to be confiscated.
March 15, 1666 Birth of George Baehr in Fuerstenwalde, Germany.
Baehr was an architect who designed the Baroque Frauenkirche in Dresden. The church was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945. Reconstruction did not start until the German reunification of 1990. Baehr died on March 16, 1738 in Dresden.
March 15 1820 Death of St. Clement Mary Hofbauer (born John Hofbauer) in Vienna. (1751-1820)
Hofbauer was born on December 26, 1751 in Tasswitz, Moravia (then a part of the Austrian Empire, now in the Czech Republic.) He studied at the University of Vienna and was ordained a priest in 1785. He joined the Redemptorist order and worked during most of his life working to establish Redemptorist monasteries in Poland, Germany and Switzerland. He worked in Poland from 1788-1808. Napoleon disbanded the Redemptorist order in Warsaw in 1808. At that time Hofbauer left Poland and spent the remainder of his life in Vienna. He was canonized on May 20, 1909 and named the Patron Saint of Vienna by Pope Pius X in 1914. His feast day is celebrated on March 15, the date on which he died in 1820.
March 16, 1021 Death of St. Heribert von Köln.
Heribert von Köln was born in Worms in ca. 970 and educated at the cathedral school in Worms. He was ordained a priest in 994. In 999 he was named Archbishop of Cologne by the emperor Otto III. He was confirmed in that position by the Pope Sylvester II. (In the Holy Roman Empire a.k.a. the German Empire there was a shared authority over the appointment of bishops.) In 1003 he founded a monastery in Deutz. (He is said to have been instructed to do so in a vision.) Heribert died on March 16, 1021. He was buried in Deutz near the monastery he founded. His golden shrine is located today in the church of St. Heribert in Deutz (today a part of Cologne.) He was canonized in 1147 by Pope Gregory VII. His feast day is March 16. During his lifetime he was a close advisor to emperors of the Holy Roman Empire and made a number of trips to Rome. Already during his lifetime miracles were attributed to him. He had been honored as a saint before his formal canonization.
March 16, 1878 Birth of Clemens Graf von Galen in Dinklage, Germany.
Galen was the Bishop of Münster during the period of Nazi domination. From the beginning he publicly criticized the party and on occasion complained directly to Hitler. In the early years he had some successes with his protests. On one occasion he even ignited a public demonstration. Documents found after the war indicate that the party was about to have him done away with, but wanted to wait until their victory in the war. Of course, the Nazi victory was never achieved and at the end of the war, in 1946, Galen was made a cardinal. Cardinal Galen died on March 22, 1946.
March 17, 1917 Death of Franz Brentano in Zuerich, Switzerland.
Brentano was the philosopher who developed the philosophy of intention. A Roman Catholic priest, Brentano was a professor of philosophy at the University of Wuerzburg. The doctrine of papal infallibility, however, seems to have been the factor impelling him to resign both offices. Later as an instructor at the University of Vienna, his students included Sigmund Freud, Carl Stumpf and Edmund Husserl.
March 18, 1733 Birth of Friedrich Nicolai in Berlin, Germany.
Nicolai was one of the leaders of the “Aufklaerung” (enlightenment) movement in Germany. By profession he was a book dealer and writer. He edited the influential journals, “Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek”, and “Briefe, die neueste Literatur betreffend”. He worked with Gotthold Lessing and Moses Mendelssohn on the latter. His “Briefe ueber den jetzigen Zustand der schoenen Wissenschaften in Deutschland” (1755) criticized Johann Gottsched, Johann Bodmer and Johann Breitinger. Nicolai also wrote novels. Among them was a satire on Goethe's novel “Die Leiden des jungen Werthers” which he titled “Die Freuden des Jungen Werthers” (1755).
March 18, 1798 Birth of Franz (changed to Francis) Lieber in Berlin.
Lieber was a political philosopher who studied at the University of Jena. He encountered political difficulties in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1827. In America he undertook the first edition of “Encyclopedia Americana”. He was a professor at the University of South Carolina and Columbia College. Seeing a need for a code for the conduct of soldiers for the protection of civilians he wrote “Code for the Government of Armies in the Field” (1863) for the Union army. Many of his ideas were later adapted to international agreements regulating conduct in war.
March 19, 1928 Birth of Hans Kueng in Sursee Switzerland.
Kueng studied at Gregorian University in Rome and the Catholic Institute at the Sorbonne. He became a Roman Catholic priest in 1954 and taught theology at the universities of Muenster and Tuebingen. As Kueng thought and wrote he began to question certain basic Catholic doctrines and challenged them in his writings. In 1979 the Vatican censured him and banned him from teaching as a Catholic theologian. Books by Kueng include, “Rechtfertigung: Die Lehre Karl Barths und eine Katholische Besinnung” (1957), “Konzil und Wieder vereinigung” (1960), “Die Kirche” (1967), “Unfehlbar”? (1970), “Christ sein” (1974), “Existiert Gott?”, (1978) and “Ewiges Leben?” (1982).
Der schweizer roemisch-katholische Theologe Hans Kueng wurde am 10. Maerz 1928 in Sursee geboren. Seine kontroverse liberale Sichtweise fuehrte zu seiner Zensur durch den Vatikan im Jahre 1979. Kueng unterrichtete in Muenster und Tuebingen, wo er ebenfalls das Institut fuer Oekumenische Forschung leitete. 1962 wurde er vom Papst zum theologischen Berater des zweiten Vatikanrates ernannt. In seinen Werken stellte Kueng traditionelle kirchliche Lehren, z.B. die paepstliche Unfehlbarkeit und die Goettlichkeit Christi, in Frage. Eine Zensur des Vatikans verbannte ihm vom Unterrichten, rief jedoch eine internationale Kontroverse hervor. 1980 erzielte man eine Einigung, nach der Kueng unterrichten darf, jedoch schwerpunktmaessig weltliche Themen. Unter seinen Veroeffentlichungen befinden sich unter anderem “Die Kirche”, “Unfehlbar?” und “Existiert Gott?”.
March 20, 1239 Death of Hermann von Salza in Salerno, Italy (born in Thueringen, Germany ca. 1170).
Salza was the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights who led them in their crusade in Hungary and the crusade against the pagan Prussians. The Prussian crusade would lead to the establishment of Prussia as a German, Christian theocracy under the control of the Teutonic Knights and eventually as a German state.
March 20, 1568 Death of Albert in Tapiau, East Prussia (born in Ansbach, Germany).
Albert was the last grand master of the Teutonic Knights. He was named grand master in 1510 and thus lord of East Prussia. In 1523 Martin Luther advised Albert to dissolve the Teutonic Order and to create in East Prussia into a hereditary dukedom. The Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V demanded the restoration of the Teutonic Order, but Albert resisted. He founded the University of Koenigsberg in 1544. The Teutonic Order persisted in other areas and continues yet today.
March 21, 1295 Birth of Heinrich Seuse (also spelled Suso in some texts) (original name Heinrich von Berg) in Konstanz, Germany.
Seuse, a Dominican, was one of the outstanding mystics in German religious history. He studied under another great mystic, Meister Eckehart in Cologne. He came under criticism and attack when he held to the positions of Meister Eckehart even when Eckehart was condemned by the Pope in 1329. Seuse's most influential and lasting work is “Buechlein der ewigen Weisheit” (1328). Seuse was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831.
March 21, 1417 Birth of St. Nicholas of Fluee in Flueeli, Switzerland.
Brother Klaus, as he was known during his lifetime, had been a judge but left his wife and family along with his position in 1467 to spend his life in prayer as a hermit. According to legend he played a role in arbitration in internal Swiss conflicts. He was canonized in 1947. His feast day in Switzerland is September 25. (Elsewhere his feast day is on March 21.) He died on his birthday, March 21, 1487 in Ranft, Switzerland.
March 21, 1487 Death of St. Nikolaus von Flüe (ca. 1417 - 1487)
St. Nikolaus was born near Sachseln, Switzerland in about 1487. In his early life he was a soldier and engaged in combat many times in the battles of the age. He became very influential in Swiss politics after his military years. After a life in politics, he became a hermit in 1467 devoting the remainder of his life to prayer. As Brother Klaus he reported visions and miracles are attributed to him. He was believed to have the gift of prophesy and was frequently sought out for advice by leading figures from all of Europe. He was beatified by Pope Clement IX in 1669 and Canonized in 1947 by Pope Pius XII. There is a Brother Kaus Web site at http://www.bruderklaus.ch/
The grave of Brother Klaus in Sachseln is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Switzerland. The feast day of St. Nikolaus of Flüe is on September 25. (In the Luthern tradition his day is celebrated on March 21.)
March 21, 1521 Birth of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, in Freiberg, Germany.
Maurice was a Protestant who was allied with the Roman Catholic Emperor, Karl V. He Aided Karl in his battles against the Turks and the French. Later, however, he formed pacts with the German Protestant princes and with France against the Habsburg, Karl. Finally after 1552 he aligned himself with Karl once again to fight against the Turks.
March 21, 1877 Birth of Hugo Gressmann in Moelln, Germany.
Gressmann was an old testament scholar who was educated at the University of Kiel and was a professor at the University of Berlin. He is noted for his religio-historic approach to old testament studies. Noted books by Gessmann include “Der Ursprung der israelitisch-juedischen Eschatologie”(1905), “Der Messias” (1929) and “Die aelteste Geschichtsschreibung und Prophetie Israels” (1910).
March 22, 1459 Birth of Maximilian I in Wiener Neustadt.
Maximilian was the archduke of Austria, the German king and the Holy Roman emperor. He did much to expand and consolidate the Habsburg holdings. He nearly became Pope. The Pope Julius was very ill and a schismatic Council of Pisa offered him the position as an anti-Pope. After much reflection he declined the offer. His greatest defeat was in a war with Switzerland. After that war through the Peace of Basel in 1499 he was forced to accept the independence of the Swiss.
March 22, 1663 Birth of August Hermann Francke in Luebeck, Germany.
Francke was a Protestant religious leader who was an important promoter of German Pietism. He founded Pietist groups at the University of Halle. Francke taught theology and Oriental languages at the University.
March 22, 1798 Birth of Eduard Gans in Berlin, Germany.
Gans was a jurist who founded the Society for Jewish Culture and Science, an organization which was dedicated to establishing the dignity of Jews. In 1825, however, realizing that his academic career was hopeless as a Jew, he converted to Christianity. He was soon able to secure the position of professor of law at the University of Berlin. His most noted work is “Das Erbrecht in weltgeschichtlicher Entwicklung”.
March 23, 1869 Friedrich Nietzsche receives doctorate from the University of Leipzig.
March 24, 1746 Immanuel Kant's father, Johann Georg Kant dies.
The elder Kant had been a master harness maker in Königsberg. Immanuel Kant was 22 years old.
March 25, 1882 Birth of Bl. Otto Neururer (1882 - 1940)
Otto Neururer was born in Piller, Austria in 1882. He became a priest and religion teacher. He was a Parish priest in Gotzens, Austria (near Innsbruck) when the Nazis came to power. He advised a young woman of his parish not to marry a divorced man. That man, however, turned out to be a well connected Nazi. Fr. Neururer was arrested for "slander against German marriage" in imprisoned in Dachau and later Buchenwald where he ministered to fellow prisoners. After he baptized a fellow prisoner in 1940 he was tortured to his death for doing so. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996.
March 26, 809 Death of St. Liudger (742-809)
St. Liudger was born near Utrecht (Modern Holland) in about 742. He was a missionary to the Friesians and Saxons. His vocation was occasioned by the Martyrdom of St. Boniface whose work he wished to continue. He studied under Alquin and retained a lifelong association with him. He was ordained a priest in 777 in Cologne. In 787 he undertook missionary work among the pagans near the mouth of the Ems. (Near modern Emden, Germany). Knowing the language of the peoples there, he was very effective. In 793 Charlemagne offered him the bishopric of Trier, but Liudger declined, expressing a preference to continue his missionary work among the Saxons. In this effort he built a monastery in the more eastern territories. The city which grew around the monastery came to be known as Münster. He founded a convent for women in about 803 and placed his sister, St. Gerburgis at its head This was the first convent in Westphalia. . In 805 he was made the first Bishop of Münster. He died in 809. He is entombed in Werden where he had built a monastery and a church. His designation as a saint precedes the practice of canonization by the Pope
March 26, 1905 Birth of Viktor Frankl in Vienna, Austria.
A psychiatrist, Frankl studied at the University of Vienna. In 1938 he became chief of neurology at the Rothschild Hospital in Vienna. In 1942 he and his family were sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis. In his experience there he noted that those who saw meaning in their lives were more likely to survive. This observation became a core of his psychiatry which came to be known as "logotherapy". He viewed the role of the psychiatrist as helping patients find meaning. After the war he wrote "Man's Search for Meaning". He finished his career as a professor at the University of Vienna.
March 26, 1926 Death of Konstantin Fehrenbach in Freiburg, Germany.
Fehrenbach was a member of the Catholic Center Party. In 1918, after the end of the war, he became the president of the Reichstag. In 1920 he became the chancellor of the Weimar Republic. After his failure to gain relief from the western allies in the matter of the massive war reparations, however, he resigned his position.
March 27, 1178 Death of Bl. Frowin (? - 1178)
Frowin has never been formally canonized but is referred to as "blessed" by the medieval chroniclers. They also state his feast day as March 7 and attribute many miracles to him. Frowin was likely born in the Black Forest of Germany. In 1146 he was made the second abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Engelberg, Switzerland. He was widely recognized for his intellect and administrative abilities. He assembled a vast library at the monastery and established a school there of high regard. The library was unfortunately destroyed by fire in 1729. Frowin wrote many books some of which are still extant.
March 27, 1765 Birth of Franz Xaver von Baader in Munich, Germany.
Baader was a successful mining engineer, but as his attention was drawn ever more to religion he gave up his career in 1820 and turned fully to the study of theology. He sought a renewed Christian unity for Europe. In 1826 he became a professor of philosophy and theology at the University of Munich. There he formed the "Munich circle" of Catholic thought. He founded the journal, Eos. In his work he turned increasingly to mysticism.
March 29, 1824 Birth of Ludwig Büchner in Darmstadt,
Germany. Ludwig Büchner was the younger brother of the dramatist, Georg Büchner. He was a physician in Darmstadt, but achieved his position in historythrough his atheistic and materialistic writings. In his Kraft und Stoff (1855) he denied God,creation by a divine being, and free will. He was convinced that humans are completely materialbeings. Other publications by Büchner include, Natur und Geist (1857) and Die Stellung desMenschen in der Natur (1869).
March 30, 1804 Birth of Salomon Sulzer in Hohenems, Austria.
Sulzer was a Jewish cantor who was called to Vienna in 1825 as the chief cantor. There he undertook the revision of the liturgy. He gained the appellation "the father of modern synagogue music".
March 30, 1970 Death of Heinrich Bruening in Norwich, Vermont, U. S. A. (born in Muenster, Germany).
Bruening, a member of the Catholic Center Party, became chancellor of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Although he was considered an economics expert, the world depression along with the reparation payments of the Versailles Treaty made economic stability in Germany impossible. Unemployment increased dramatically and there was a drastic fall in the standard of living. As the situation grew more and more chaotic, he made use of Article 48 in the constitution and governed by presidential emergency decree. Hoping to bring about a more workable situation, he dissolved parliament (Reichstag) and called for new elections in September, 1930. The plan was a disaster, for it was in that election that the Nazi party gained considerably in the new parliament. In 1932 Bruening resigned. He left Germany in 1934 and found his way to the United States where he taught political science at Harvard University from 1937 to 1952.
March 30, 1984 Death of Karl Rahner in Innsbruck, Austria (born in Freiburg, Germany).
Rahner, a Jesuit priest, introduced existentialist elements into Thomistic philosophy. He was a professor of theology at the universities of Innsbruck, Munich and Muenster. Noted books by Rahner include, Geist in Welt (1937), "Sendung der Gnade" (1966), "Grundkurs des Glaubens" (1976) and "Ueber die Sakramente der Kirche" (1974).
March 31, 1567 Death of Philip, Landgraf of Hesse, in Kassel, Germany.
Philip became convinced that freedom for Protestantism could also be linked to greater independence for rulers such as he. He also realized that alliances would be needed. He formed the first alliance in 1526 with the Elector of Saxony and others followed. Philip thus became the leader of the Protestant princes against the Emperor, Karl V. By 1531 6 princes and 10 towns had come into the "Schmalkaldic League" which became a magnet for enemies of the Habsburgs. By 1534 he had broken Austria's power in southern Germany. In 1546, however, the Emperor attacked successfully. Philip gave himself over to the mercy of the emperor and was imprisoned. Others, however, rose up and the struggle went on. Finally the Peace of Augusburg of 1555 ended the conflicts for a time and Protestants gained legal rights in the empire.
March 31, 1770 Immanuel Kant is appointed professor.
On March 31, 1770 Immanuel Kant was appointed professor (Professore Ordinario der Logic und Metaphysic) at the University of Königsberg. He had waited long for the appointment. Prior to this occasion he had turned down offers from Erlangen and Jena.