Projektdetails
Abstract
Wider research context
The study is intended as a contribution to the understanding of the development of Catholicism in 19th
century Austria. The writings and speeches of Cardinal Rauscher, Archbishop of Vienna, are to be used to
make visible the peculiarity and transformation of the Church's self-image between the Vormärz and the
Kulturkampf. The wider research context is thus constituted both by the political events in the monarchy and
by the internal Catholic debates in the period between 1815 and 1870, when the Austrian Catholic Church
explored its role between loyal state church and ultramontane emancipation.
Hypotheses/objectives
Cardinal Rauscher was one of the most prominent Church representatives in Austria of that era. His
statements and initiatives therefore contributed significantly to the formulation of the Church's self-image in
Austria. The research thesis asserts that Rauscher did not pursue a constant image of the church in the
course of his career, but was forced by political, cultural and social developments to constantly sound it out
anew and to set new accents in his church-political and pastoral actions accordingly. At the centre of this
process are the Concordat of 1855 and the Vienna Provincial Council of 1858, which serve as models.
Approach/Methods
Rauscher's pastoral letters, speeches and addresses will be archivally collected and their contents analysed
in order to show the main themes of his episcopal activity in their genesis and development. The Vienna
Provincial Council of 1858 will be historically indexed for the first time, its texts, themes and implementation
analysed and interpreted as a self-manifestation of the Catholic Church in the middle of the century.
Level of originality
The research project breaks new ground in several respects. Rauscher's ideas about the Church are
critically examined for the first time in the light of the latest research and assessments of Austria's political
and ecclesiastical history in the 19th-century. His pastoral letters, sermons and speeches are analysed
historically as a source corpus that has so far only been marginally recognised by researchers. The Vienna
Provincial Council of 1858 will be fundamentally researched for the first time with regard to its preparation,
implementation and impact. The results should contribute to a sharper profiling of the ecclesiastical and
Catholic self-image in Austria in the 19th century and provide information about the Catholic milieu in Vienna
between Vormärz and Kulturkampf.
Primary reseachers involved
The project leader is Univ. Prof. Dr Thomas Prügl, Professor of Church History at the University of Vienna.
Maximilian Ewers, BSc, who will pursue the project as a dissertation topic, is planned as the researcher.
A.o. Univ. Prof. Dr Michaela Sohn-Kronthaler, Professor of Church History at the Karl-Franzens-University
Graz, is available as a cooperation partner for the project.
The study is intended as a contribution to the understanding of the development of Catholicism in 19th
century Austria. The writings and speeches of Cardinal Rauscher, Archbishop of Vienna, are to be used to
make visible the peculiarity and transformation of the Church's self-image between the Vormärz and the
Kulturkampf. The wider research context is thus constituted both by the political events in the monarchy and
by the internal Catholic debates in the period between 1815 and 1870, when the Austrian Catholic Church
explored its role between loyal state church and ultramontane emancipation.
Hypotheses/objectives
Cardinal Rauscher was one of the most prominent Church representatives in Austria of that era. His
statements and initiatives therefore contributed significantly to the formulation of the Church's self-image in
Austria. The research thesis asserts that Rauscher did not pursue a constant image of the church in the
course of his career, but was forced by political, cultural and social developments to constantly sound it out
anew and to set new accents in his church-political and pastoral actions accordingly. At the centre of this
process are the Concordat of 1855 and the Vienna Provincial Council of 1858, which serve as models.
Approach/Methods
Rauscher's pastoral letters, speeches and addresses will be archivally collected and their contents analysed
in order to show the main themes of his episcopal activity in their genesis and development. The Vienna
Provincial Council of 1858 will be historically indexed for the first time, its texts, themes and implementation
analysed and interpreted as a self-manifestation of the Catholic Church in the middle of the century.
Level of originality
The research project breaks new ground in several respects. Rauscher's ideas about the Church are
critically examined for the first time in the light of the latest research and assessments of Austria's political
and ecclesiastical history in the 19th-century. His pastoral letters, sermons and speeches are analysed
historically as a source corpus that has so far only been marginally recognised by researchers. The Vienna
Provincial Council of 1858 will be fundamentally researched for the first time with regard to its preparation,
implementation and impact. The results should contribute to a sharper profiling of the ecclesiastical and
Catholic self-image in Austria in the 19th century and provide information about the Catholic milieu in Vienna
between Vormärz and Kulturkampf.
Primary reseachers involved
The project leader is Univ. Prof. Dr Thomas Prügl, Professor of Church History at the University of Vienna.
Maximilian Ewers, BSc, who will pursue the project as a dissertation topic, is planned as the researcher.
A.o. Univ. Prof. Dr Michaela Sohn-Kronthaler, Professor of Church History at the Karl-Franzens-University
Graz, is available as a cooperation partner for the project.
| Status | Laufend |
|---|---|
| Tatsächlicher Beginn/ -es Ende | 11/10/22 → 10/10/26 |