The Einheitslieder der deutschen Bistümer (1947) - from großdeutsch project to instrument of Integration after war and displacement

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ansgar Franz
• Subject Area: Roman Catholic Theology
• Term: from 2016 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 310579691

When the “Einheitslieder der deutschen Bistümer” (E-hymns) were published as an authentic edition in 1947, it provided Germany's Catholics with a common standard canon of 74 hymns. This was a significant first step towards a common hymnal of the German Catholic dioceses. In 1975 it came to fruition in the standard hymnal “Gotteslob”. At the beginning of the 20th century, the German dioceses had hardly any shared tradition of hymns as the repertoire of songs, their lyrics and tunes differed enormously. This lack became especially problematic from the mid-1930s onwards due to significant internal migration (Reich Labor Service, NS industrialization projects, etc.) as well as the situation of war (field services of soldiers from different dioceses). Discussions surrounding the question of a corpus of E-hymns revealed different opinions: The “Jugendkreise” in the wake of the Liturgical Renewal campaigned for a renewal of congregational song whereas traditional voices opted for the well-known songs for “practical-pastoral reasons”. Others, however, demanded a “Reichsliederkanon” with a view to strengthening German national identity. Critics of such a supra-diocesan hymnal argued that regarding congregational hymns Catholic identity was of a highly regionalized nature and that therefore any attempts at standardizing would have a negative impact.From ca. 1940 onwards various suggestions were drafted. The German Bishops' Conference in Fulda took up the issue and commissioned the bishop of Trier to set up a corpus of E-hymns. He assigned this task to an expert commission, which was convened by the auxiliary bishop Metzroth, and included 3 delegates from annexed Austria. Already in 1943 this commission presented a list of hymns. In 1944 work on this project was interrupted by the war. The E-hymns were then definitively approved in 1947. They proved to be an important instrument to integrate the catholic expellees into their new dioceses.The project aims to a presentation of the genesis of the E-hymn corpus within an augmented source edition based on the comprehensive collection of the convener, auxiliary bishop Metzroth (diocesan archive of Trier) and material from further archives that reveals the pre-history as well as the positions of certain dioceses and commissioners. Furthermore, the edition considers contributions from contemporary magazines that will be listed in a comprehensive bibliography. The focus will then turn to the reception history and impact of the 1947 E-hymns on the “Gotteslob” of 1975 and 2013 (common part and diocesan appendices).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants