The paper hanger speech refers to an address by
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
George Mundelein
George William Mundelein (July 2, 1872 – October 2, 1939) was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Chicago from 1915 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1924.
Early life and ministry ...
to 500
priests
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...
of his
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, at the
Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, in
Chicago,
Illinois, on May 18, 1937. In the speech he made observations on the transformation of
German public opinion.
There is disagreement as to whether
Adolf Hitler ever worked applying wallpaper or not. John Schimmel, a
Wooster, Ohio man who grew up in
Transylvania, claimed to have known Hitler at the time he was learning the trade.
The paper hanger term was nonetheless pejorative, suggesting a laborer performing a task which required more
hand–eye coordination than intellect, and one who offered ersatz art rather than original art. Accordingly, the term became popular among those who opposed Hitler's ideas rather than among those who endorsed them.
Hitler retaliated by organizing a German family to contest the will of Fr. William Netstraeter, the deceased pastor of
St. Joseph Catholic Church (Wilmette, Illinois)
St. Joseph Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chicago. The church is located in Wilmette, Illinois, United States, at the corner of Lake Ave and Ridge Road. It is listed on the Wilmette Register of Historic Properties a ...
whose sum of $300,000 was currently being borrowed by Cardinal Mundelein to construct the
University of St. Mary of the Lake. A Chicago circuit court eventually determined the will valid, and the funds were quickly used to construct the current church in Wilmette.
In Popular Culture
The phrase was used in the song "
Springtime for Hitler" from the musical
''The Producers'' when the flamboyant Hitler begins a satirical monologue with the phrase: "I was just a paper hanger, no one more obscurer".
The story was featured in a documentary about Father Netstraeter, ''Cathedral of the North Shore'', and in the book .
References
{{reflist
1937 speeches
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
History of Illinois