Verband katholischer Gesellenvereine - Mitgliedskarte 1925 - Seite 1-2

The Gesellenvereine (usual translation Journeymen's Unions) were German

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

societies set up in the nineteenth century. They were originated by

Adolph Kolping Adolph Kolping (8 December 1813 — 4 December 1865) was a German Catholic priest and the founder of the Kolping Association. He led the movement for providing and promoting social support for workers in industrialized cities while also working t ...

, surnamed the Journeymen's Father (''Gesellenvater''). They had for aims the religious, moral, and professional improvement of young workers.

Foundation

In 1849 Kolping was appointed assistant-priest at the

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of ...

. With friends, ecclesiastics and laymen, he founded a ''Gesellenverein'', and began free instruction through it. The Cologne society soon acquired its own home, and opened there a refuge, or hospice, for young travelling journeymen. Kolping was energetic and eloquent both as speaker and writer. He visited frequently the great industrial centres of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Hungary. In a short time societies of young Catholic journeymen were formed in many Rhenish towns, in Westphalia, and finally throughout the German-speaking world.

Movement

When Kolping died (4 December 1865), the Gesellenverein numbered about 400 branch unions. In 1901 they had reached the number of 1086, with a membership of 80,000 journeymen and 120,000 master-workmen. They existed in many other European countries, also. Besides providing for Catholic doctrine, the societies conducted classes (book-keeping, arithmetic, drawing, literary composition, music, natural sciences, etc.) In the larger cities there were free classes in crafts. Instruction was designed especially for those workmen who aimed at establishing a business of their own. The principal publication was the ''Kolpingsblatt''.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **KOLPING, Der Gesellenverein (Cologne, 1849); **SCHÄFFER, Adolf Kolping, der Gesellenvater (3d ed., Paderborn, 1894); **WENZEL, Kolping der Gesellenvater (Berlin, 1896); **SCHWEITZER, Der Kath. Gesellenverein Handbuch (Cologne, 1905); Der Kath. Gesellenv. in s. sozialen Bedeutung (Cologne, 1907). {{Authority control History of Catholicism in Germany Catholic organizations established in the 19th century Catholic lay organisations Catholic youth organizations