Zusammenfassung / Abstract
“The Central European Catholic Priest Colleges in Rome and their Adherents from the Risorgimento to the Second World War” – Changing borders and state systems characterized Europe during the long nineteenth century up to the outbreak of the Second World War. New states founded according to the principle of nation states, although being often multiethnic as their (imperial) predecessors. The Roman-Catholic Church, an often, self-proclaimed supranational institution, remained not unaffected by this process. The national institutions in Rome, often founded in early modern times, more and more became national islands abroad for their priests and colonies. They mirrored the “civilian” world’s transformation. Some of their adherents often actively took part in politics. Roman Catholic institutions often stuck to old characteristics of identity, supranational imperial, but at the same time mixed them with ethno-linguistic terms of identification – was it in the naming of these institutions, the statutes pointing on inclusion or exclusion of the national “other”, from brothers to others to put it bluntly. This became apparent in the appointment of rectors and priests, in the wording used in statutes, and internal and external language use. However, it was often not a national motive, even when loudly propagated, that majorly influenced decisions. So called national indifferent thoughts, or call them rational, such as financial support, prestige, availability and need for strong networks were often equally important or even outweighed national interests.