Theodor Brüggemann (31 March 1796 – 6 March 1866) was an energetic school teacher who became a

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n government official and a politician.

Life

Johann Heinrich Theodor Brüggemann was born in Soest, a small town to the east of Dortmund which at the time of his birth still had not recovered from the devastation of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

at the start of the century. He was the child of a mixed marriage: his father was a

catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

brandy distiller. His mother was a Protestant. Brüggemann attended the

gymnasium (school) ''Gymnasium'' (and Gymnasium (school)#By country, variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term ''U ...

in Soest before moving on to the Academy at

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

. Here one of his philosophy teachers was the theologian

Georg Hermes Georg Hermes (22 April 1775, Dreierwalde – 26 May 1831, Bonn) was a German Roman Catholic theologian who advocated a rational approach to theology. During his lifetime, his theology was greatly in vogue in Germany, but declined after the posthum ...

. It was on Hermes' recommendation that in 1814 he became a teacher of

ancient language An ancient language is any language originating in times that may be referred to as ancient. There are no formal criteria for deeming a language ancient, but a traditional convention is to demarcate as "ancient" those languages that existed prior t ...

s at the gymnasium (secondary school) in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, becoming one of its three administrative directors in 1823 and taking over as the institution's head shortly afterwards. It was a mark of the reputation he acquired in his Düsseldorf school that in 1831 the king appointed him to the provincial "Schulcollegium" and a member of the

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, based in

Coblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus . Its name originates from ...

. In 1837 he led a special commission on behalf of the

Minister for Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...

Karl vom Stein zum Altenstein Karl Sigmund Franz Freiherr vom Stein zum Altenstein (1 October 1770, in Schalkhausen near Ansbach – 14 May 1840, in Berlin) was a Prussian politician and the first Prussian education minister. His most lasting impact was the reform of the Prus ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in order to serve in the Prussian diplomatic mission there in the context of the disputes characterised in historical sources as the Cologne questions. After spending several years away from

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, working for the government in Berlin and Rome, he had lost day-to-day involvement with his "Schulcollegium" responsibilities, and he was accordingly given continuing government employment in Berlin: from 1839 he was a permanent assistant in the Ministry for Culture in the department for teaching. In 1841 he became a

privy counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

and in 1843 he was given responsibilities in respect of catholic schools and colleges. Further privy council promotion followed. Alongside this, between 1849 and 1864 he served as a member of the Disciplinary Tribunal for non-judicial public officials. Between 1859 and 1864 he was a member of the Examination Commission for admission to higher public service. However, he resigned from his senior government posts in 1864, following a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

. Within the Prussian government's schools administration department, Brüggemann was the highest ranking Roman Catholic. Although the Prussian

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

was predominantly Roman Catholic, the greater part of Prussia had been led towards Protestantism during and after the religious turbulence of the sixteenth century. Brüggemann tried to prevent the removal of Catholic influences from schools and universities. His influence and effectiveness in this respect were not limitless, however. In 1855 he became an honorary member of the Student League of the Catholic Reading Association (founded in 1853, and now more regularly known as the Askania-Burgundia fraternity).

Political

As a pupil of

the young Brüggemann adhered to his teacher's rationalist theology, heavily permeated by the moral philosophy of

Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...

and

Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...

. However, by the time of the so-called Cologne turmoil of the mid 1830s, Brüggemann had become very much more conservative in his strong catholic observance than his former mentor. Around 1846 he tried, without success, to set up a pro-government newspaper in the Rhineland. In 1850 he was a member of the upper house in the short-lived

Erfurt Union Parliament The Erfurt Union () was a short-lived union of German states under a federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia at Erfurt, for which the Erfurt Union Parliament (''Erfurter Unionsparlament''), officially lasting from March 20 to April 29, 1 ...

, a Prussian led initiative which attempted to build on the pan-German

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt National Assembly () was the first freely elected parliament for all German Confederation, German states, including the German-populated areas of the Austrian Empire, elected on 1 May 1848 (see German federal election, 1848). The ...

of 1848/49, but without its dangerously radical aspects and also, as matters turned out, without

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. Meanwhile, between 1849 and 1854 he also sat as a member in the first chamber of the Prussian Parliament (''"Landtag"''), where he was a leading voice for the country's catholic minority. Between 1851 and 1854 he was a vice-president of the chamber. Between 1854 and 1866 the king made him a member for life of the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

, in which he served as vice-president of the chamber between 1854 and 1855.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brüggemann, Theodor People from Soest, Germany Members of the Prussian House of Lords 1796 births 1866 deaths