Figure 1.--The Collegium Josephinum in Bonn was one of the most respected secondary schools in Germany. We have a photograph taken during 1939. Note the NAZI banner in the background. The boys are marching in the Corpus Christi procession in Bonn. the Collegium Josephinum was an academically selective secondary for boys (ages 13 to 18). The boys don't wear school uniforms, but they are dressed up for the religious feast day of Corpus Christi. Note the combed hair and how many of the boys are holding their hands, Also notice how all he boys are wearing long stockings, mostly dark stockings. The photograph was taken just before the NAZIs took over the school and closed it (1940).

The Collegium Josephinum in Bonn was one of the most respected secondary schools in Germany. We have a photograph taken during 1939. Note the NAZI banner in the background. The boys are marching in the Corpus Christi procession in Bonn. the Collegium Josephinum was an academically selective secondary for boys (ages 13 to 18). The boys don't wear school uniforms, but they are dressed up for the religious feast day of Corpus Christi. They all wear suits with short trousers and mostly black long stockings. At school the boys more commonly wore knee spcks unless it was cold. Here the boys almost certainly were told to wear long stockings because it was expected on a religious holiday. Long stockings were not always worn for warmth. They were also worn for formality which is why the boys mostly wear black long stockings on a mild spring day. The boys don't wear neckties but rather open-necked shirts (Schiller collars). One boy wears tan long stockings, but the convention obviously called for black stockings. Note that one boy wears a sailor suit. Although the photo was taken in 1939 (Corpus Christi occurs in the Spring), the clothing is quite conservative--typical, apparently, of Catholic private schools. These boys are not dressed very differently from what we might expect a decade earlier. One of the features of dress for Catholic religious holidays and ceremonies in Germany and northern Europe was that boys were often mandated to have their knees covered, hence the long stockings (more formal than knee socks, which were also worn at the school for activities like hiking).

Location

The Collegium Josephinum is located in Bonn. Bonn is located on the Rhine River about 20 kilometres south of Cologne in the current state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Bonn has over 2,000 years of history. It began like many important European cities as a Roman military camp. It developed as a "villa basilica”, developing around Minster. It became a fortified town under archiepiscopal authotity. It was the residence of the Princes Elector of Cologne. Bonn is the city where Beethoven was born and grew up. It was an important university town--the University of Bonn. Bonn was one of Imperial Germany's principal university towns. The NAZIs turned the University of Bonn into a dutiful NAZI institution. The city was bombed during World War II and like other German cities was heavily damaged. After World war II, Bonn became the capital of the Federal Republic because Berlin was surrounded by Soviet-dominated East Germany.

History

I found some new informaion about Collegium Josephinum. It is definitely a private Catholic school run by the Redemptorist order and part of the archdiocese of Cologne. The school, founded in 1880, was originally a boarding school for boys only. 2005 was the 125th anniversary of the founding. The school tradition is much older than the founding, however, and goes back to the Middle Ages. At one point the school was an orphanage and catered to poor boys. The school is no longer a boarding school. Now it is a day school with two parts, a Gymnasium (900 boys) and a secondary school (400 boys). It is separate from, but cooperates with, a Catholic girls' school in the area run by the Ursuline Sisters. There was conflict between the school with its Catholic principles and the NAZIs. The NAZIs confiscated the school building and dissolved the school, transforming it as a National Teaching Training Institute (1940). During the latter part of the war, the school sustained considerable damage from Allied bombing. When the NAZI regime collapsed, the school was re-established as a Catholic private school for boys, but as a day school and no longer a boarding school. Now he school has broadened its appeal and admits boys from non-Catholic and even non-religious backgrounds, although it is still officially a private Catholic institution.

Catholic School

Most Catholic schools in German were confessional schools, meaning state schools where the parents were mostly Catholic and the school was allowed to engage in religious services and teach religion classes. There were also Protestant confessional schools and a handful of Jewish conessional schools. Most schools in Germany were these cofessional schools before the NAZIs seized power. Collegium Josephinum seems to have been a fully private Catholic school. There were relatively few private schools in Germany, largely because the state system was so good. Private schools would have mostly served well to do families that could afford school fees. The School was one of the most respected private secondary boarding schools in Germany. It was a Gymnasium and Realschulea supported by the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Here we have a photograph taken during 1939 (figure 1). Note the NAZI banner in the background. The boys are marching in the Corpus Christi procession in Bonn. the Collegium Josephinum was an academically selective secondary for boys (ages 13 to 18). Many of the boys would go on to the University of Bonn from the school. The NAZIs by 1939 when this photograph was taken had taken control of most all of the confessional and private schools in Germany.

Confesional and Private Schools in NAZI Germany

Within only a few months after the NAZI seizure of power, Franz von Papen and Hermann Göring went to Rome and met with Pope Pius XI (April 1933). The NAZIs negotiated a Concordat with the papacy (summer 1933). Papal official Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII was a major factor in the negotiations). Cardinal Faulhaber congradulated Hitler after the signing of the Reich Concordat. The Catholic Center Party fell in with other parties to support the regime and was then along with other political parties disbanded. Pacelli and other papal officials hoped that the Concordat would serve as a shield for the church. This was of course based on the assumtion that Hitler would adhere to agreements he signed. As one historian writes, "the agreement lent Hitler international credibility, criminalized Catholic political activity, and demoralized bishops and priests who opposed Nazi rule." [Loconte] The Reich Concordat conceded to Pacelli the right to impose the new Code of Canon Law on German Catholics and promised several actions to safeguard Catholic education, including possible new schools. Pacelli and the papacy in return assented to the withdrawal of Catholics from political and social activity. [Cornwell] The NAZIs subsequently laubched the Currency and Immorality trials which reached a highpoint in 1935 and 1936 led to the fining and imprisonment of hundreds of clergy. The NAZIs desired to de-Chritisnize Germany, but did not want to openly attack churches. They began by attcking the reputation of Catholic clerics, especially those working in primary and secondary schools.

Developments at the School during World War II

The Collegium Josephinum was affected by the NAZI campaign against the Catholic Church and all schools affiliate with religious groups. This made it more and more difficult for the school to operate. We do not have details on the specific actions that NAZI authorities took against the school. The scgool history simply stayes, "The [National Socialist] state intervened more and more in the external and internal structure of the training and boarding school enterprise. Authoruties finally closed the school and confiscated the facilities (1940). The Redemptorist monastery was also closed (1941). Authorities opened a National Socialist teacher training establishment in the vacated facilities (1941-42). When the Allied strategic boming campaign intensified, the school was evacuated to a safer location. The school was severelu bdamaged in a bombing raid. When the Amnerican arrived, the surviving buildings were used to house troops, but turned back over to Church authorities which reestablished the school.

Schoolwear

The Collegium Josephinum boys don't wear school uniforms, but they are dressed up for the religious feast day of Corpus Christi. The school was very conservative in values and encouraged quite formal dress. For some reason they do not wear school caps which were commonly worn at secondary schools. The boys all wear suits with short trousers and mostly black long stockings. At school the boys more commonly wore knee spcks unless it was cold. Here the boys almost certainly were told to wear long stockings because it was expected on a religious holiday. Long stockings were not always worn for warmth. They were also worn for formality which is why the boys mostly wear black long stockings on a mild spring day. The boys don't wear neckties but rather open-necked shirts (Schiller collars). One boy wears tan long stockings, but the convention obviously called for black stockings. Note that one boy wears a sailor suit. Although the photo was taken in 1939 (Corpus Christi occurs in the Spring), the clothing is quite conservative--typical, apparently, of Catholic private schools. These boys are not dressed very differently from what we might expect a decade earlier. One of the features of dress for Catholic religious holidays and ceremonies in Germany and northern Europe was that boys were often mandated to have their knees covered, hence the long stockings (more formal than knee socks, which were also worn at the school for activities like hiking).

Hair Cuts

While the Collegium did not have a uniform, they were apparently quite strict about hair cuts. We note the boys getting haircuts at the shcool in 1928. Notice that even the older boys (as old as 17 or 18) still wear short trousers--some with knee socks and other with black long stockings. We are not sure if all the boys had their hair cut at school or if only the boys whose hair was getting a little shaggy had their hsir cut. You would think that at the time most of their parents would have insisted on conservative (but not cropped) short hair cuts. So we are unsure why this was necessary at schjool. We assume the parents had to pay for this.

Youth Group

We notice a small youth group at the Collegium Josephinum. We do not know if this was only one unit like a patrol or the entire youth group at the school. We also do not know if it was just a school group or associated with a larger national youth group. This photograph was taken just before the NAZIs seized power in Germany. German had a large and very diverse youth movement before the NAZIs seized power (1933). Within a few months of gining power, the NAZIs seized control of the German youth movemnent. They allowed the Catholic groups to remain independent for a few years.

Sources

Cornwell, John. Hitler's Pope.

Loconte, Joseph. "The Decade of Appeasement" The Daily Standard (February 7, 2008). Dr. Loconte is a senior fellow at Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy.

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Created: 12:39 AM 10/20/2009
Last updated: 11:27 PM 12/22/2010