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October
15 in German History
---------------------------------
October 15,
Feast day of St. Pantalus (ca. 304 - ?).
St. Pantalus is thought to have been the first bishop of
Basel, Switzerland. Available documentation indicates that he
was a Martyr. By the 12th century his story had become
interwoven with the legends of St.Ursula. According to those
legends he met St. Ursula on her return trip from Rome to
Cologne and accompanied her to Cologne, where he, along with
Ursula and her many companions, was killed by the attacking
Huns. A scull was found in Cologne in the middle ages which
was said to be that of St. Pantalus. The scull is preserved
today in the historical museum in Basel. Pantalus' stature as
a saint predates the practice of canonization by a Pope. The
feast day of St. Pantalus is October 13.
October 15, 1243
Death of St. Hedwig von Schliesen. St.
Hedwig von Schlesien was born in a castle near Lake Ammer (Bavaria) in
1174. She was educated in the monastery of Kitzingen. At age
12 she was married to Duke Heinrich I of Silesia. She
dedicated herself to the spread of Christianity, care for the
poor and sick and the founding of women's' monasteries. As
personal mortification she developed the pattern of walking
barefoot in the winter. The local bishop ordered her to wear
shoes. To obey him and yet continue to do penance, she wore
shoes in the winter, but on her hands. She was canonized in
1267 by Pope Clement IV. Germans exiled from Silesia after
World War II have taken her as a special patron. (It was to large extent through the
christianization efforts of Hedwig and Heinrich that the area
of Silesia took on a German cultural patter.) She has become a patron of all who are driven
from their homelands. Her feast day is celebrated in the
Lutheran tradition on October 15, but in the Catholic
tradition on October 16.
October 15, 1564
Birth of Heinrich Julius near
Wolfenbüttel, Germany. Heinrich Julius wrote early Baroque
dramas. He was Rektor of the University of Helmstedt and
Bishop of Halberstadt. Using his family wealth he brought
English actors and the English dramatic arts to
Wolfenbüttel. Plays by Heinrich Julius include Von
Vincentio Ladislao, Von einem Ungeratnen Sohn and Von
einer Ehebrecherin.
October 15, 1795

Birth of Friedrich Wilhelm IV in Köln,
Germany. He was the King of Prussia during the Revolution of
1848. His conservative politics were one of the factors
leading to the revolution. In union with Austria, he saw the
Habsburg domination as a natural law of history. In 1849 he
was offered the imperial crown by the national assembly in
Frankfurt. He refused it, for he felt that only the
aristocracy (not an assembly) had the right to offer it.
October 15, 1808

Birth of Daniel Schreber in Leipzig,
Germany (Schrebergärten). Schreber noticed that the people
living in the large cities did not have the pleasure and the
produce of gardens. Thus he came up with the idea of allowing
people to use garden plots on the edges of cities and in
areas not suited for homes (such as near rail tracks). This
idea has been very popular in Germany ever since. In every
large city you will find many such gardens in which the
people who use them erect little garden houses, grow
vegetables and flowers and spend many very pleasant hours in
the summer working in their gardens, sipping a beer and/or
just sitting in front of their little garden houses enjoying
the sun and the summer breezes. Many people when they see
these little plots, with their tiny little houses, think they
are slums. But in fact, people don't live there. They are
simply their gardens. They are named after the founder of the
idea and are called Schrebergärten.
October 15, 1820
Death of Karl Philipp Fürst zu
Schwarzenberg in Leipzig, Germany (born in Vienna, Austria).
Schwarzenberg was an Austrian field marshal in the wars
against Napoleon. His troops actually joined with Napoleon in
the 1812 war against Russia, but in 1813 Schwarzenberg led
his forces against the French. He was the Allied commander in
chief at the Battle of Leipzig.
October 15, 1835
Karl Marx enrolls at the University of
Bonn.
October 15, 1844

Birth of Friedrich Nietzsche in Röcken,
Germany. He was a German philosopher, poet, composer, cultural critic, and classical philologist. Nietzsche's key ideas include the "death of God", the Übermensch, the eternal recurrence, the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy, perspectivism, and the will to power.
October 15, 1852
Death of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in Freyburg
an der Unstrut, Germany. Jahn was the founder of the
"Turnverein" movement in Germany. This was a
nationalistic movement stressing physical fitness. The
"Turnverein" movement was brought to the United
States with German immigrants. There are still
"Turner" associations active in the U. S.
October 15, 1872
Birth of Wilhelm Miklas in Krems, Austria.
Miklas was the President of the Austrian Republic from
1928-1938. He resigned his office in 1938 when Austria united
with Germany.
October 15, 1901

Birth of Hermann J. Abs in Bonn, Germany.
Abs was a banker who played a substantial role in the
"Economic Miracle" of the 50's in Germany. He had
been with the Deutsche Bank in Berlin. In 1948 he was
appointed to the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau,
distributing money from the Marshall Plan. He was head of the
German team which negotiated at the London debt conference in
1951-1953. When the Deutsche Bank was reestablished in
Frankfurt in 1957, Abs rejoined it and became the chair of
the Aufsichtsrat in 1959.
October 15, 1946
Suicide of Hermann Göring in Nürnberg,
Germany. Young Göring joined the German air force in 1912
and served with distinction. In 1918 after the death of the
famous "Red Baron", Manfred von Richthofen, Göring
was named to head the Red Baron's squadron. He joined the
Nazi party in 1922. He became the head of Germany's air force
and was one of the highest ranking Nazis. After the war he
was tried at the war crimes trials, but was able to hide
poison in his cell and committed suicide before he could be
hanged.
October 15, 1963
Resignation of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
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