Franz Matt (September 9, 1860 in Offenbach an der Queich, Palatinate,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– August 4, 1929 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and minister, who belonged to the

Bavarian People's Party The Bavarian People's Party (german: Bayerische Volkspartei; BVP) was the Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria ...

(BVP). Following the revolution, he substantially defined and put through

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n cultural and educational policy.

Life

Franz Matt studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

and at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. In Munich, he became a member of the Catholic fraternity, ''Katholische Deutsche Studentenverbindung Aenania München'', in the ''

Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen The Union of Catholic German Student Fraternities (german: Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen or ''Cartellverband'' (CV)) is a German umbrella organization of Catholic male student fraternities (Studentenverbindung). ...

'' (or ''Cartellverband'', CV). Later, he also became a member of the fraternity, ''Katholische Deutsche Studentenverbindung Markomannia Würzburg'' in the CV. After he received his doctorate degree, he held several offices in the Bavarian civil service. As the Ministerial Director of the Interior Ministry for Cultural and School Affairs (''Ministerialdirektor des Staatsministeriums des Inneren für Kultur- und Schulangelegenheiten''), he experienced the overthrow of the Bavarian monarchy. Cooperation with the new Minister of Education and the Arts (''Kultusminister'') of the Bavarian Republic, Johannes Hoffmann (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

), appointed by

Kurt Eisner Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...

, appeared to be extremely difficult, since Franz Matt rejected Hoffman's school reforms. As a result, Matt became involved in the newly founded Bavarian People's Party (''Bayerische Volkspartei'' or BVP) and in 1920, after the resignation of Johannes Hoffmann as Prime Minister, he was named Minister of Education and the Arts by the new Prime Minister,

Gustav Ritter von Kahr Gustav Ritter von Kahr (; born Gustav Kahr; 29 November 1862 – 30 June 1934) was a German right-wing politician, active in the state of Bavaria. He helped turn post–World War I Bavaria into Germany's center of radical-nationalism but was the ...

(no party affiliation). In the period following, Franz Matt pursued a comprehensive course correction with regard to school policies and reformed the entire system of higher education in Bavaria. He developed the Bavarian policies regarding the arts and created the prerequisites for a revision of the relations between the state and the church. The

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Ed ...

with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

from 1923, as well as the treaties with the established Evangelical churches in the state of Bavaria can be substantially traced back even today to the determined policies of Matt. During the

Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...

of November 9, 1923, Franz Matt was the only member of the Bavarian State cabinet not present. At the time of the putsch, he was having dinner with Cardinal

Michael von Faulhaber Michael Cardinal ''Ritter'' von Faulhaber (5 March 1869 – 12 June 1952) was a German Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Munich for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. Created Cardinal in 1921, von Faulhaber criticized the Weima ...

, the Archbishop of

and the Nuncio to Bavaria, Monsignor Eugenio Pacelli, the future pope

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius B ...

. When informed of the coup, he as the Vice Prime Minister organized a government-in-exile at

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

and called on the police, military, and other public servants to support the government, which effectively doomed the prospects of the putschists. Matt was engaged in the Catholic lay movement. He was honored with numerous awards and several honorary doctorates.

Literature

* Lydia Schmidt: ''Kultusminister Franz Matt (1920-1926): Schul-, Kirchen- und Kunstpolitik in Bayern nach dem Umbruch von 1918.'' (''Schriftenreihe zur bayerischen Landesgeschichte'')" C.H. Beck 2000,

External links

*
State governments of Bavaria 1918-1933 (''in German'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matt, Franz 1860 births 1929 deaths Political office-holders in Bavaria Bavarian People's Party politicians People from the Palatinate (region) German Roman Catholics Leipzig University alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni