Heinrich Brück (1831-1903) war nach dreiundvierzigjähriger Wirksamkeit als Professor der Kirchengeschichte am Mainzer Priesterseminar in seinen letzten drei Lebensjahren Bischof von Mainz. In seinem Hauptwerk, dessen Teilband IV/2 postum von seinem Schüler J.B. Kißling herausgegeben wurde, bot er eine ungemein faktenreiche, ganz am Verlauf der Ereignisse orientierte "Geschichte der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland im neunzehnten Jahrhundert". In seine Darstellung ließ er ständig Urteile einfließen, die seinen konservativ katholischen Standpunkt und seine Abneigung nicht nur gegen den Protestantismus, sondern gegen "Rationalismus" und "Liberalismus" auf allen Gebieten ausdrücken. Dadurch wurde sein Werk zum bedeutendsten Beipiel einer romtreuen, apologetisch ausgerichteten Kirchengeschichtsschreibung nach dem Abklingen des Kulturkampfes. Es hat heute seinen Wert nicht nur als engagierte Darstellung, sondern ebensosehr als ein Dokument kirchlicher Zeitgeschichte.
After 43 years as Professor of Church History at the Seminary in Mainz, Heinrich Brück (1831-1903) spent the last three years of his life as Bishop of Mainz. In his principal work, its last part edited posthumously by his pupil J.B. Kissling, he offered an unusually fact-filled ‘History of the Catholic Church in Germany in the 19th century’, firmly focussed on the course of events. His description is coloured throughout by opinions which demonstrate his conservative Catholic viewpoint and his dislike not only of Protestantism but also of ‘Rationalism’ and ‘Liberalism’. This makes his work the most significant example of church history written with loyalty to Rome and in the apologetic tradition after the fading of the Kulturkampf. Today it is valuable not merely as a depiction with a particular bias but equally as a document of church history in itself.
After 43 years as Professor of Church History at the Seminary in Mainz, Heinrich Brück (1831-1903) spent the last three years of his life as Bishop of Mainz. In his principal work, its last part edited posthumously by his pupil J.B. Kissling, he offered an unusually fact-filled ‘History of the Catholic Church in Germany in the 19th century’, firmly focussed on the course of events. His description is coloured throughout by opinions which demonstrate his conservative Catholic viewpoint and his dislike not only of Protestantism but also of ‘Rationalism’ and ‘Liberalism’. This makes his work the most significant example of church history written with loyalty to Rome and in the apologetic tradition after the fading of the Kulturkampf. Today it is valuable not merely as a depiction with a particular bias but equally as a document of church history in itself.