The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn: Czechs, Germans, and Jews in Turn-of-the-Century

Moravia
Author(s): Michael L. Miller
Reviewed work(s):
Source: Slavic Review, Vol. 65, No. 3 (Autumn, 2006), pp. 446-474
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The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn: Czechs,
Germans, and Jews in Turn-of-the-Century Moravia

Michael L. Miller

In The Good Soldier Svejk, perhaps the most famous Czech novel of the in-
terwar period,Jaroslav Ha'ek (1883-1923) created a rather colorful army
chaplain named Otto Katz. A ew by birth, Katz converted to Catholicism
in order to further his career-a career that, in true Svejkian fashion, was
filled with one slapstick adventure after another. Katz, he noted, "had an
even more colorful past than the famous Archbishop Kohn." I Writing in
the 1920s, Ha'ek had no need to elaborate any further, for the incon-
gruity-or downright absurdity-of an archbishop with such a quintes-
sentially '"Jewish"name had provided fodder for jokes ever since Theodor
Kohn was elected archbishop of Olmiitz /Olomouc in 1892.2
Sir Karl Popper (1902-1994), born a decade after Kohn's election as
archbishop, viewed the 'Jewish" archbishop as an enduring symbol of the
successful integration ofJews and "people of Jewish origin" into Austrian
society on the eve of World War I. "I believe the Jews were treated as well
as one could reasonably expect," he wrote. "A member of aJewish family
converted to Roman Catholicism had even become an Archbishop (Arch-
bishop Kohn of Olmuftz)."' Yet Popper's unexpected caveat-that Kohn
had had to resign his seat "because of an intrigue in which use was made
of popular anti-Semitism"-not only belies this rosy claim, but also un-
derscores the problematic nature of an archbishop with such a "typically
An earlier version of this article was delivered at the Sefer Conference in Moscow in Feb-
ruary 2004. I appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions offered by Erika Belko,
William Godsey, and Max V6gler, and the two anonymous readers for Slavic Review. I
would also like to thank Istvan Deik for initially piquing my interest in Archbishop Kohn.
Since most towns in Moravia had both a Czech and a German name, I have included
both, with the German name preceding the Czech one. In direct quotations, I have re-
tained the original usage.
1. Jaroslav Ha'ek, The GoodSoldierSvejkand His IFortunesin the WorldWar,trans. Cecil
Parrot (London, 1973), 83; originally written in 1921-22. I would like to thank Eagle
Glassheim for bringing this Kohn reference to my attention.
2. Jokes about Archbishop Kohn can be found in most of the satiricaljournals of the
day. For examples, see DerJungeKikeriki(Vienna), 13 November 1892; Saphir'sWitzblatt(Vi-
enna), 13 November 1892; Ralple (Brno), 1 October 1902, 1 June 1903; Humoristickelisty
(Prague), 1 April 1904; Brnenskydrak (Brno), 20 November 1892. The following joke from
Saphir'sWitzblatt,20 November 1892, is fairly typical:
Olm-itz, of
Itzig:The new Archbishop Dr. Theodor Kohn, has so much going for
him that he could become cardinal.
Schmul:But he has a "cardinal"flaw.
Itzig:What?
Schmul:He is descended from Jews.
Itzig:But he is "a true son [Sohn] of the Church."
Schmul:You are mistaken. He is "a true Kohn of the Church."

3. Karl Popper, UnendedQuest:An IntellectualAutobiography(London, 1992), 120. First

published in 1974 as Autobiography.
Slavic Review65, no. 3 (Fall 2006)
TheRise and Fall of ArchbishopKohn 447

Jewish" surname.4 Although Theodor Kohn was the son of devoutly Cath-
olic parents and one of the highest ranking Catholic clergymen in the
Habsburg empire, his family name served as a constant-and glaring-
reminder ofJewish ancestry on his father's side.
I wish to examine the perceptions (and self-perceptions) of Arch-
bishop Kohn against the backdrop of the burgeoning Czech-German
conflict, the brewing social crisis within the Catholic Church, the rising
tide of anti-Semitism, and the countervailing force of Jewish national
pride. Kohn's Jewish ancestry could conceivably have afforded him a de-
gree of neutrality in the all-pervasive Czech-German conflict; instead, his
detractors repeatedly invoked his heritage in order to explain (or charac-
terize) the alleged pride, materialism, heartlessness, stinginess, and for-
eignness of this "pseudo-Christian" parvenu. Indeed, Kohn's 'Jewishness"
served as a lightening rod for various disenfranchised, disillusioned, and
disheartened groups in the Habsburg empire; even Jews latched on to
Kohn, first as a symbol of "racial aptitude," then as a cautionary tale about
the futility of assimilation. Kohn himself endowed his 'Jewish" name with
Christian significance, viewing it as the source of his suffering-albeit a
suffering that he cherished as his own cross to bear.

Moravian Rome-the Archbishopric of Olmfitz /Olomouc

Olmiltz /Olomouc, a small district capital in Moravia, was the seat of one
of the Habsburg empire's most important archbishoprics-a distinction
reflected in its common sobriquet-"Moravian Rome.""5 Tracing its ori-
gins back to St. Methodius (archbishop of Pannonia and Moravia in the
ninth century), the archbishopric of Olmutz /Olomouc was not only one
of the monarchy's oldest, since the second half of the sixteenth century, it
had also been the exclusive reserve of Moravia's wealthiest and most pow-
erful aristocratic families. (Until 1777, all of Moravia constituted a single
diocese, with its seat in Olmitz /Olomouc; in that year, Olmitz/Olomouc
was raised to an archdiocese and BrAnn/Brno was established as a suf-
fragan diocese.) The illustrious occupants of "the seat of St. Methodius"
included Franz Seraph von Dietrichstein (1570-1636), youngest son
of a Hofmeister in Emperor Rudolph II's court; Archduke Rudolph
(1788-1831), youngest son of Emperor Leopold II and brother of Em-
peror Franz I; and Friedrich Egon von Fiirstenburg (1812-1892), sixth-
born son of a prominent Austrian noble family. While the eldest sons
in these families were usually groomed to inherit their father's titles
and estates, a younger son was quite often groomed for the priesthood-
with the expectation that he would rise to the upper echelons of the ec-

4. Ibid. Dietz Bering, The Stigma of Names: Antisemitismin GermanDaily Life, 1812-
1933, trans. Neville Plaice (Cambridge, Eng., 1992), 149. Bering notes that Kohn (or
Cohn) had become "the surname with the strongest antisemitic charge," measured by the
frequency with which individuals tried to escape their 'Jewish" surnames by requesting an
official name change. See 13, 149, 154- 62.
5. Christian d'Elvert, Zur Geschichtedes ErzbisthumsOlmiitz und insbesondereseines
mehrhundertjiihrigenKampfesmit den mihrischen Standenund der Staatsgewalt(Brfinn, 1895).
448 Slavic Review

clesiastical hierarchy. For these aristocratic sons, no title was more de-
sirable than archbishop of Olmutz /Olomouc-for the bearer of this
title not only exercised spiritual authority over all Catholics in the arch-
diocese but also served ex officio in the Moravian Diet (along with the
Bishop of Brunn/Brno) and was lord of approximately 50,000 hec-
tares of land-comprising 23 castles, 11 breweries, 3 distilleries, 10 mills,
17 lumberyards, 5 brick factories, and 2 ironworks.6 Officially called
prince-archbishop of Olmiltz /Olomouc (Fiirsterzbischofvon Olmiitz/Kni[e-
arcibiskup olomucky), he split his time between the majestic archbishop's
palace in Olmiutz/Olomouc and the equally grand summer residence in
Kremsier/ Kromeriz-i.
By the last decades of the nineteenth century, two simultaneous de-
velopments gradually came to threaten this centuries-old status quo, one
related to class, the other to nationality. First, the lower clergy began or-
ganizing themselves in Lower Austria and the Bohemian Lands in a con-
certed effort to ameliorate their socioeconomic situation, fighting for
their particular class interests and laying the groundwork for the Christian
Social movement. AsJohn W. Boyer has argued, this movement was char-
acterized by its "anti-episcopalism" and its "antihierarchical rhetoric" and
strove, above all, to create "more democratic authority structures" for the
church.' At the same time, as the middle (biirgerliche) classes in general
made increasing demands for political power in Austria-Hungary, the
middle-class clergy demanded a stronger presence in the upper echelons
of the church hierarchy. In this struggle, the cathedral chapter (Domkapi-
tel/metropolitni kapitula) in Olmiutz/Olomouc, which was the embodiment
of noble privilege, became a perennial battleground. While other cathe-
dral chapters in the Habsburg empire (with the exception of Salzburg)
had abolished the requirement that cathedral canons (Domherren/
kanovnici) come from the nobility, the cathedral chapter in Olmiitz/
Olomouc-whose sixteen canons elected the prince-archbishop from
their own ranks-was reluctant to relinquish this hoary tradition. Even
though Prince-Archbishop Maximillian Joseph von Sommerau-Beeckh
proposed abolishing the requirement of noble birth in 1849 (since he be-
lieved it was contrary to the egalitarian spirit of Christianity), his own
cathedral chapter refused to support him.8 Only in 1881, after three
6. These figures are quoted from FreiesBlatt (Vienna), 28 June 1896. According to
Pavel Marek, Dr. Theodor Kohn: Zivot a dilo olomouckeho arcibiskupa (Kromefi2, 1994),
Prof.
29, the extent of the archbishop's estate was 47,846 hectares.
7. John W. Boyer, Political Radicalism in Late Imperial Vienna: Origins of the Christian So-
cial Movement 1848-1897 (Chicago, 1981), 123, 134, 143-44; also see John W. Boyer,
"Catholic Priests in Lower Austria:Anti-Liberalism, Occupational Anxiety, and Radical Po-
litical Action in Late Nineteenth Century Vienna," Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society118, no. 4 (1974): 337- 69. RerumNovarum,Pope Leo XIII's encyclical from 15 May
1891, often referred to as "On the Condition of the Working Classes," can be seen as a re-
sponse not only to the socialist movement but also to the increasingly assertive Christian
Social movement.
8. "Olmiitz,"in CatholicEncyclopedia,vol. 11 (New York, 1911). The debate over abol-
ishing the requirement of noble birth is well documented in the Allgemeines Verwaltungs
Archiv (Vienna), Neuer Cultus, Karton 135, sig. 32 (Metrop. u. Domkapitel Olmiitz). A re-
port from Count Thun-Hohenstein (minister of religion and education) to Emperor
FranzJoseph, dated 31 December 1854, explains that the issue first came up in 1849, when
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 449

decades of ongoing debates (and negotiations with the Vatican), did Em-
peror Franz Joseph assume the prerogative to nominate any qualified
priest to the Olmihtz/Olomouc cathedral chapter--including those of
nonnoble origin. Dr. Joseph Hanel, the first nonnoble canon, was ap-
pointed in 1881, and as more middle-class canons were appointed in sub-
sequent years, the likelihood of a nonnoble archbishop became all the
greater.
The second development involved the rising national tensions be-
tween Czechs and Germans in the Bohemian Lands.9 As nearly every po-
litical election-whether for the imperial parliament, the provincial diet,
the local municipality, or the district school board-became a battlefield
between Czech and German interests, it was only a matter of time before
these same national antagonisms came to bear on the election of bish-
ops and archbishops as well. Although the universalism of the Catholic
Church dictated a supranationalism that transcended ethnonational
boundaries (unlike its Lutheran counterpart, which fostered the devel-
opment of national churches), this theoretical ideal confronted a more
sober reality in which Catholic clergymen found it increasingly difficult
to remain above the national fray."' Indeed, from the 1870s onward, the

an assembly of Austrian bishops decided that church offices and titles should henceforth
only be conferred upon the "most capable and most meritorious" individuals. In 1850,
the Olmfitz/Olomouc cathedral chapter protested this decision, pointing to numerous
statutes, privileges, and papal bulls that had confirmed noble birth as a prerequisite for
election to the Olmfitz/Olomouc cathedral chapter. The letter of protest offered six other
reasons for retaining the noble privilege, including the positive influence of such a noble
cathedral chapter on the "religious and political views [Gesinniung]of the lower clergy ...
as the year 1848 demonstrated." Although paragraph XXII of the 1855 Concordat with the
Vatican abolished the requirement of noble birth or title for all church offices, this para-
graph contravened the statutes of the Olmfitz/Olomouc cathedral chapter and thus the
issue remained unresolved until 1881. After the death of a cathedral canon in that year,
the cathedral chapter and FranzJoseph reached a compromise. As Edith Saurer points out
Bischofsernennung1867-1903 (Vienna, 1968), 203-
in DiepolitischeAspektederosterreichischen
4, although the noble requirement would not be officially abolished, the emperor would
nonetheless be free to nominate members of the middle class as cathedral canons.
9. Throughout this article, I have chosen to translate both die bohmischenLdnderand
Ieshkzemias "the Bohemian Lands" rather than "the Czech Lands." For a discussion of the
anachronistic (and, of course, nationalist) use of the latter term, see Jeremy King, Bud-
weisersinto Czechsand Germans:A Local History of BohemianPolitics, 1848-1948 (Princeton,
2002), 12.
10. The supranational nature of Catholicism was succinctly expressed in a pastoral
letter circulated by Emmanuel Johann Sch6bel, Bishop of Leitmeritz /Litomifice, Bo-
hemia, in 1890: "Anindividual nation can certainly have its own, distinct religion, but the
truereligionand the true Churchof Christdoes not know such borders;it is intendedfor all peoples
and all nations;whoever strives for a national church, miscomprehends Jesus Christ's pur-
pose and has no conception of the Church of the Lord. Christ the Lord did not want a na-
tional, but a universal Catholic Church." Quoted in Barbara Schmid-Egger, Klerusund Poli-
tik in Bohmen um 1900 (Munich, 1974), 199; emphasis in the original. As Gary Cohen
points out, the Prague archdiocese tried to stay above the national fray and "wascommit-
ted to preaching, hearing confession and teaching in the vernacular of the parishioners,
Czech or German"; however, on the parish level Czech-German tensions ran high. See
Gary Cohen, The Politics of Ethnic Survival: Germans in Prague, 1861-1914 (Princeton,
1981), 218-21. In March 1901, Pope Leo XIII instructed the archbishops of Bohemia and
Moravia to cultivate peace between the nationalities and forbade the clergy to take sides
in the language conflict. See Peter Leisching, "Die r6misch-katholische Kirche in Cislei-
450 Slavic Review

election of bishops and archbishops in the Bohemian Lands became reg-

ular flashpoints in the Czech-German conflict." It should, therefore,
come as no surprise that contemporaries paid considerable attention to
the national sympathies-as well as the social class-of the fifteen cathe-
dral canons who would elect the new archbishop of Olmuitz /Olomouc on
8 November 1892.12

The Election of Archbishop Theodor Kohn

In November 1892, three months after the unexpected death of Cardinal
Fiirstenburg, archbishop of Olmiltz/Olomouc since 1853, the cathedral
canons convened to elect his successor. The social makeup of the cathe-
dral chapter had changed dramatically in the four decades since Firsten-
burg's election. Indeed, in November 1892, the cathedral chapter was
nearly split down the middle: eight canons hailed from the upper nobil-
ity; the remaining seven belonged to the middle class. Pundits speculated
about which of these fifteen canons would emerge as the next archbishop,
and as the election approached, the field had been narrowed down to
three candidates: Count Gustav Belrupt-Tissac, the "mild-natured" scion
of a German noble family and at 75 the oldest canon;13 Count Adam Po-
tulicki, the "cantankerous" scion of a Polish noble family and at 43 the
youngest canon; 14 and Dr. Joseph Hanel, a 69-year-old curate with pro-
nounced Czech national convictions and the first nonnoble cathedral
canon.'5 Most pundits assumed that either Count Belupt-Tissac or Count
Potulicki, by virtue of their noble origins, would be chosen to succeed
Cardinal Firstenburg. Indeed, for the Viennese Neue FreiePresse, there was
little doubt that Belrupt-Tissac would be the next archbishop. Some
Czech nationalists harbored hopes for Dr. Hanel, but few sincerely be-

1848-
thanien," in Adam Wandruszka and Peter Urbanitsch, eds., Die Habsburgermonarchie,
1918, vol. 4, Die Konfessionen (Vienna, 1985), 230-32.
11. For example, the 1875 election for the K6niggritz/Hradec Kralove bishopric
was highly contested along Czech-German lines. See Saurer, Die politischenAspekteder6ster-
reichischen Bischofsernennung, 193 -94.
12. Ordinarily, there were sixteen cathedral canons, but one had recently died and
his replacement had not yet been appointed.
13. Originally from Lorraine, the Belrupt-Tissac family was raised to countship at the
beginning of the eighteenth century and obtained a Moravian incolate in 1825. In the sec-
ond half of the nineteenth century, they owned an estate at Wschechowitz / Vechovice,
Moravia. Count Gustav Belrupt-Tissac (1818-1895) became an Olmuitz/Olomouc canon
in 1853. See Petr Malek, Modrdi Krev: Minulnost a piftomnost 445 Slechtickychrodit v desk)ch
zemich (Prague, 1999), 26-27; Heribert Sturm, Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte der b6ih-
mischen Lander (Munich, 1974), 1:70; and Hermann Heller, Miihrens Minner der Gegenwart
(Brfinn, 1889), 3:6-7.
14. Potulicki (also Potulicky), was born in Babice, Galicia, and appointed cathedral
canon in Olmitz/Olomouc in 1881. Heller, MiihrensMiinner der Gegenwart,3:151.
15. Hanel was appointed cathedral canon in 1881. Despite his Czech national con-
victions, he was reported to have "an inadequate command of the Czech language" (man-
gelhaften Kenntniss der czechischen Sprache) . "Fiirst-Erzbischof Dr. Kohn," NeueFreie Presse (Vi-
enna), 10 November 1892. See also Heller, MiihrensMiinner der Gegenwart,3:40-41.
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 451

lieved that the archbishopric of Olmutz/Olomouc, an "aristocratic re-

doubt" for more than three centuries, was ready for a man of humble,
nonnoble origins.'"
On 8 November, Minister of Religion and Education Baron Paul von
Gautsch arrived in Olmiitz /Olomouc-as a representative of Emperor
FranzJoseph-to preside over the election of Ffirstenberg's successor. In
his capacity as election commissioner, he met with each of the cathedral
canons. According to Kohn's memoirs, he gathered eight canons in a sep-
arate room and conveyed to them the emperor's express wish that the
next archbishop come from the ranks of the nobility. 7 In the first round
of voting, eight out of fifteen ballots were indeed cast for noble candi-
dates, but the vote was split between Belrupt-Tissac and Potulicki, with
neither one garnering a majority. The remaining seven ballots were cast
for Dr. Theodor Kohn-a 47-year-old professor at the theological fac-
ulty in Olmiltz /Olomouc-presumably by his fellow middle-class col-
leagues.'8 Although no victor could be declared after the first round, it
had become quite apparent that the canons were too divided among
themselves for either Belrupt-Tissac or Potulicki to achieve a simple ma-
jority. In the second round of voting, three canons defected from the
crowded noble camp and cast their ballots for Kohn, the third youngest
cathedral canon. To most contemporaries, Kohn's election came as a com-
plete surprise, particularly since his name had never even been brought
up as a potential candidate. ' Kohn himself was so surprised that he nearly
fainted when the electoral results were announced.20

Why Did They Choose Kohn?

The real surprise in November 1892 was not that a man named Kohn had
been elected archbishop, but that for the first time since 1566, the prince-
archbishop of Olmiutz/Olomouc--the highest ecclesiastical authority
in "Moravian Rome"-did not come from the ranks of the upper (or even
lower) nobility, but was a priest of most "humble origins." The Olmiitzer
Zeitung, a conservative Catholic newspaper, characterized this revolution-
16. This felicitous term is taken from William Godsey's AristocraticRedoubt:TheAus-
trian Foreign Office on the Eve of the First World War (West Lafayette, Ind., 1999).
17. Theodor Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten (Graz, 1921), 42.
18. "Fuirst-ErzbischofDr. Kohn," Neue Freie Presse (Vienna), 10 November 1892;
"Volbaarcibiskupa olomuckeho," Nas'inec(Olomouc), 11 November 1892, 1.
19. As the Olmiitzer Zeitung reported on 12 November 1892, "Astonishment about the
electoral result was universal here in Olmutz as well as everywhere that the news of the
election reached, primarily because Dr. Theodor Kohn was not mentioned even a single
time [keineinzigesmal]by the newspapers, which arbitrarily created [the roster of] candi-
dates." On 2 October 1892, Moravian Governor (Statthalter) Loebl had reported that
Kohn's "candidacy could not be taken seriously" because of his Jewish ancestry: "Diese
Kandidatur kann aber schon mit Riucksicht auf die Abstammung Kohns nicht ernst
genommen werden." Quoted in Saurer, Die politische Aspekte der iisterreichischen Bischofs-
ernennung, 205.
20. "Die Wahl des Erzbischofs von Olmfitz," Neue FreiePresse (Vienna), 9 November
1892.
452 Slavic Review

ary milestone in the following words: "The deciding factor was not the no-
bility of birth, but the nobility of spirit." 2'
Theodor Kohn was born in 1845 to poor Catholic parents in Bresnitz/
Breznice, a small town in southwest Moravia. An accomplished student
with a mastery of both Czech and German, he was ordained priest by Car-
dinal Ffirstenburg in 1871, and became a Doctor of Theology in 1875,
writing his dissertation on papal infallibility. Kohn quickly rose within the
ranks of the church, becoming a professor at the theological faculty in
1882 and a member of the Olmfitz/Olomouc college of canons in 1887.
Though his name seemed to leave little doubt about his family origins,
his mother-Veronika Hanaicekovai (1820-1897)-actually came from a
line of Czech-speaking Catholics. Although his paternal grandparents-
Jacob Kohn (b. 1798) and Rosalia nee Braun (b. 1800) -had been born
Jews, they had converted to Catholicism in 1826, along with their 2-year-
old son, Joseph (Theodor's father).'2 According to one source, five of
Jacob's brothers also converted around the same time.23 These conver-
sions are usually explained in terms of the "pharaonic" Familiants Laws of
1726-27, which granted marriage rights solely to first-bornJewish sons in
the Bohemian Lands.24 In response to these restrictions, many male Jews
married (or cohabited) illegally, despite the risk of heavy fines and the
stigmatization of their offspring as "illegitimate" (unehelich); many male
Jews also emigrated southward to Hungary, where the Familiants Laws
were not in effect; others converted to Catholicism as a means of circum-
venting the restrictions.'" Interestingly, Jacob Kohn retained his quintes-
sentially 'Jewish" name, despite a decree from 1826-the year of his con-
version-that allowed Jews to change their surnames upon conversion to
Christianity."" Whatever the original motives forJacob Kohn's conversion,

21. "Nach der Wahle des Erzbischofs," OlmiitzerZeitung, 12 November 1892, 1.

22. Record of the conversions can be found in the BrzeznitzerGeburtsbuchl(1826), 143,
MoravskVZemsky Archiv (Brno), Shirka matrik.Jacob Kohn, son of Isaak Kohn and Anna
nee Berger, assumed the name Johann Nepomuk Kohn at his baptism. (I would like to
thank David De Vries at Tel Aviv University and his mother, Chava De Vries, for providing
me with copies of these baptismal certificates and additional details of Kohn's genealogy.)
23. Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 25 November 1892, 466.
24. Accordingto Adolf Frankl-Griin,Jacob Kohn convertedto Catholicismin order
to avoid punishmentafter his coreligionistsin Lundenburg/Bieclav brought his illegal
marriage to the attention of the local authorities. Adolf Frankl-Grfin, GeschichtederJudenin
mitRuecksicht
Kremsier (Breslau,1898), 2: 102-8. Accordingto Die
aufdieNachbargemeinden
Neuzeit (Vienna), 25 November 1892, Theodor Kohn's grandfather also had three sisters,
all of whom remainedJewish.If true, this lends ftrther credence to the claim that Kohn's
grandfather converted in response to the pressures of the Familiants Laws-since female
Jews were not subject to the same restrictions.
25. For a comprehensive examination of the FamiliantsLaws (Familiantengesetze),
their origins,and their effects,see MichaelL. Miller,"Rabbisand Revolution:A Studyin
Nineteenth CenturyMoravianJewry"(PhD diss., ColumbiaUniversity,2004), 31-41.
26. See Hofdekret from 5 June 1826, in A. F. Pfibram, ed., Urkundenund Akten zur
Geschichte
derJuden in Wien(Vienna,1918), 2: 435-36.Jacob Kohn convertedon 15 March
1826, that is, almost three months before this decree was promulgated;perhaps this ex-
plainsthe lackof name-change.Fora recent studyon name-changesafterconversion,see
Anna Staudacher, Jiidische Konvertiten in Wien 1782-1868 (Frankfurt am Main, 2002), 1:
164-86, in which the author demonstrates that many converts to Christianity kept their
Jewish names for a variety of reasons, including pride in their Jewish background.
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 453

it is incontestable that his grandson, Theodor Kohn, could trace his

Catholicism back two generations on his father's side (and much farther
on his mother's side). Nevertheless, according to the racial algebra of the
day, he was still considered half-Jewish, even though he could not be
counted in a Jewish prayer quorum (minyan) according to rabbinic law
(halakhah).
The almost comical juxtaposition of "archbishop" and "Kohn" served
as a constant reminder of Theodor Kohn's origins. Although the NeueFreie
Presse made only passing mention of Kohn'sJewish origins in its initial cov-
erage of the election, this Viennese bastion of German liberalism was
clearly the exception.27 More typical was the Catholic-conservative Das
Vaterland. "His name leaves no doubt," it declared, "that he is a descen-
dent of the priestly class in the Old Testament. "8 As a contemporaryjoke-
ster put it, Kohn's decision to become a priest meant that he had actually
entered into his (fore)fathers' profession.29 Even Count Eduard Taaffe,
the minister-president, reportedly joked about the new archbishop's
name when the election results were announced in the Austrian Parlia-
ment. "Yes,"he quipped, "but has he been baptized?""'
The significance attributed to Kohn's heritage varied considerably,
usually in accordance with the preexisting national, religious, or racial
views of the parties at hand. For example, the Czech national press made
note of Kohn'sJewish ancestry but evaluated him primarily on the basis of
his national sympathies. Initially, his election was greeted enthusiastically
by this camp, since-in the words of the Czech daily, Nas'inec (One of
us) -"with Dr. Kohn, the first Moravian of Czech tongue has mounted the
throne of St. Methodius."': More important, Kohn's native command of
Czech was thought to be matched by deep Czech national convictions.
In mid-November, the Executive Committee of the Moravian Old
Czech Party, headed by Austrian Parliament member Josef Fanderlik, re-
quested a special audience with the newly elected archbishop." In the

27. "Die Wahl des Erzbischofs von Olmiitz," NeueFreiePresse (Vienna), 9 November
1892.
28. "Die Wahl des Ffirsterzbischofes von Olmiltz," Das Vaterland(Vienna), 9 Novem-
ber 1892.
29. "Der Fall Kohn," Die Welt(Vienna), 15 January 1904.
30. In his memoirs, Kohn recalls that Taaffe "wasunpleasantly surprised [by the elec-
tion results] and immediately launched into anti-Semitism, more as a count than in his ca-
44. In response to Taafe's
pacity as minister-president." See Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten,
comment, Gautsch reportedly called his colleague "the biggestjackass in the ministry" (der
gr6sste Esel im Ministerium); see Marek, Prof. Dr. Theodor Kohn, 25. Taaffe's remark is not
recorded in the Stenographische Protokolle iiber die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des
isterreichischen Reichsrathes in den Jahren 1892 und 1893, XI. Session (Vienna, 1893). An-
other Kohn anecdote attributed to Taaffe is reproduced in "Taaffe-Anekdoten," Die
Wahrheit(Vienna), 13 April 1925, 13.
31. "Dr. Theodor Kohn," Nasinec (Olomouc), 9 November 1892, 1. Similar senti-
ments were expressed in a Czech-language Catholic daily; see olo-
"Nov! knife-arcibiskup
mouckV,"Hlas (Brno), 10 November 1892, 1. Remarkably, a virulently anti-Semitic Czech
nationalist paper, made only passing mention of Kohn's ancestry; see olo-
"Nov! arcibiskup
mouckj," Brrienskydrak (Brno), 20 November 1892, 2.
32. For details on the political activity ofJosef Fanderlik (1839-1895), seeJif~i Malif,
Od spolku k modernim politickfm strandm: Vjvoj politickfch stran na Morave v letech 1848-1914
454 Slavic Review

name of Moravia's Czechs, Fanderlik greeted Kohn's election with an out-

pouring of national pride, viewing the "archbishop of Moravia" as the em-
bodiment of the Czech nation and as a symbol of the unity of the Bohe-
mian Lands. "The bishops and archbishops of Moravia," he exclaimed,
"have been guardians of the faith and defenders of the independence and
autonomy of the land" (Byli pak biskupove a arcibiskupove moraviti ochranci
viry a mohutnymi obhajci samostatnosti a sve'zkonnosti zeme). Having the ex-
clusive right to crown the kings of Bohemia, the archbishops of Olomouc
were "living testaments" (1ivjmi svjdky) to the indivisibility of the Bohe-
mian Lands. With news of Kohn's election, Fanderlik declared, "our
people were overcome with rapturousjoy, since after such a long time, the
archbishopric is now occupied by a man who has arisen from the bosom
of the people and speaks its language" (muz z lIrna naseho lidu poll a
jazykem jeho mluvici). As an expression of gratitude, many of Moravia's
"Slavic communities" bestowed honorary citizenship on the new, Slavic
archbishop.33
In liberal Catholic circles, Kohn's election was seen as incontrovertible
evidence of the Catholic Church's rejection of racial anti-Semitism. As
one paper remarked, this election confirmed that "racial anti-Semitism,
which plays such a noisy role in today's public life, is completely alien to
the Catholic Church."34 Nevertheless, an anecdote about Victor Adler
gainsays-or at least points to the naive optimism of-this observation.
As the founder of the Austrian Socialist Party and a Jewish convert to
Protestantism, Adler was frequently heckled as 'tew" by fellow members of
the Lower Austrian Diet. When one of these hecklers turned out to be a
member of the lower clergy, Adler reminded him that racial anti-Semitism
was inappropriate for a devout Catholic whose church had elected some-
one named Theodor Kohn as archbishop of Olmuitz/Olomouc.35
As it turns out, Adler's use of Kohn in his effort to repudiate racial
anti-Semitism was doubly misplaced-for Kohn was viewed as a "Jew"not
only by his anti-Semitic detractors but also by legions of Jews who looked
upon Archbishop Kohn with a bemused sense of pride. For example, the
Osterreichische Wochenschrift, a Viennese weekly that forcefully promoted
Jewish pride, described Kohn's election as "a testament to the racial apti-
tude of [our] tribe [Rassentiichtigkeit des Stammes] when the warring par-
ties, be they Slavs and Germans or aristocrats and the middle classes, agree
on the election of a man of Jewish descent, from whom all await a just
regime."36 Although the paper did not think the election in Olmuitz/

(Brno, 1996). Fanderlik's speech is reproduced in Nasinec (Olomouc), 16 November 1892,

1, and translated into German in the OlmiitzerZeitung, 19 November 1892, 1.
33. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten, 46. On Kohn's fiftieth birthday (22 March 1895),
his birthplace, Bfeznice, named him its first honorary citizen and declared a holiday from
school and work. "Geburtstagfeier des Filrsterzbischofs von Olmiltz," Das Vaterland(Vi-
enna), 29 March 1895.
34. Deutsches Volksblatt(Morgen-Ausgabe), 9 November 1892.
35. Victor Adler, Aufsitze, Reden und Briefe (Vienna, 1929), 161; quoted in Walter B.
Simon, "The Jewish Vote in Austria,"Leo BaeckInstitute Yearbook 16 (1971): 109.
Wochenschrift(Vienna), 11 November 1892.
36. "Fiirsterzbichof Kohn," Osterreichische
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 455

Olomouc was really a matter of concern forJews, it clearly expressed pride

that "one of their own" had risen to the upper echelons of the ecclesiasti-
cal hierarchy.
Some hoped that the archbishop's Jewish origins might actually
serve the interests of the Jews. In particular, they hoped that Theodor
Kohn would use his ecclesiastical authority to battle the scourge of anti-
Semitism that had enveloped the Habsburg lands in the last decades of
the nineteenth century. When a delegation from the Jewish community in
Olmiltz/Olomouc welcomed Kohn to his new post, the Osterreichische
Wochenschriftexpressed the unqualified hope that the archbishop would
foster "the peaceful coexistence of the confessions.""37 One paper noted
that Kohn had a number ofJewish cousins, perhaps insinuating that such
familial ties to the Jewish community would temper Christianity's tradi-
tional antagonism towardJews andJudaism.38
In this respect, Archbishop Kohn was cast in the role of '"Jewish
pope"-a fairly common motif in Ashkenazic Jewish folklore. According
to this folk tradition, aJewish infant is kidnapped from his parents, reared
as a Christian, and-of course-eventually becomes pope. As pope, he
meets his biological father (often during a game of chess) and discovers
his true origins. After this revelation, the 'Jewish pope" becomes a pro-
tector of his kinsfolk-and his original conversion to Christianity is thus
seen as part of a divine plan to save theJews."3'
Not all Jewish circles thought that a 'Jewish" archbishop was truly
in their best interest, however. Some authors expressed concern that
Theodor Kohn's rise to prominence might encourage opportunistic apos-
tasy among certain segments of the Jewish population; 41 others were more
concerned about Kohn's impact on anti-Jewish circles. For example, the
Osterreichische Wochenschriftwarned its readers that an archbishop named

37. OsterreichischeWochenschrift(Vienna), 25 November 1892. On the Jewish delega-

tion, see also Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 25 November 1892, 466, and Hamagid (Krak6w), 1 De-
cember 1892.
38. Die Neuzeit(Vienna), 25 November 1892. As the DeutschesVolksblatt(Vienna) noted
in an article entitled "Der Olmfitzer Erzbischof und die 'Kohne,'" (18 November 1892),
"Almostevery day, letters are sent to the Olmiutzprince-archbishop by diverse Kohns from
all points of the compass, all of whom reveal themselves as [his] relatives."
39. Joseph Sherman, TheJewish Pope:Myth, Diaspora and YiddishLiterature(Oxford,
2003). For a list of twenty-one different versions of this legend, see Avidov Lipsker, "The
Mirror in Which Rabbi Shimon the Great of Mainz Did Not See Clearly" (Hebrew), Chu-
lyot:Journalof YiddishResearch,no. 3 (Spring 1996): 43-44. As Lipsker points out, the leg-
end of the Jewish Pope corresponds to AaTh 761 in the international folk motif index,
commonly known as "ABoy Pope" or "The Three Languages" (34-38). An English trans-
lation of the legend of the Jewish Pope can be found in Moses Gaster, Ma'asehBook:Book
ofJewish Tales and Legends (Philadelphia, 1934), 2:410-18. This legend was mentioned
with specific reference to Archbishop Kohn in Die Neuzeit(Vienna), 9 December 1892, 487.
40. M. L. Stern, "Verjudet oder verchristlicht?" Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 9 December
1892, 486-87. This article attacks the view that Theodor Kohn's rise to prominence is em-
blematic of the "Judaization"of Christendom. On the contrary, argued Stern, Archbishop
Kohn signified the "Christianization"ofJewry: "Aname that previously identified someone
as aJew has become so Christian that it can be flaunted by an archbishop-without any
make-up."
456 Slavic Review

Kohn was a provocation for "a true Aryan." "[The name] 'Kohn,'" it ob-
served, "affects our otherwise good-natured anti-Semites . . . like a red
flag: it drives them crazy."41
Indeed, the anti-Semitic press viewed Archbishop Kohn as evidence of
the 'Judaization" of Europe. Even if the proliferation of Jewish lawyers,
Jewish doctors, Jewish journalists, and Jewish statesmen had become an
accepted fact at the end of the nineteenth century, the upper ranks of the
Catholic Church still seemed off limits . . . until the election of Arch-
bishop Kohn. As the Deutsches Volksblatt,a German nationalist newspaper,
observed:

Israel is celebrating. Dr. Kohn has been elected prince-archbishop of

Olmuitz. Through this event, the wishes of the Jews have truly been ex-
ceeded .... That the name Kohn has increasingly penetrated the most
variegated professions ever since the complete emancipation of the Jews
can come as no surprise when one considers the laziness and ineptitude
of the Aryan-Christian population. However, that a man whose name re-
veals his pure Semitic origins beyond a shadow of a doubt has reached
the highest echelons of the Catholic Church-that there actually is a
Prince-Archbishop Kohn-has driven the Jews to great excitement....
Not only the fact that it was possible for a Catholic College of Canons to
elect a baptized Jew as archbishop, but also the joy with which the Jewish
press greeted this election, is food for thought. One would think that
Dr. Kohn-an apostate to his people, an apostate to his faith-would be
bitterly despised by the Jews. Not at all. On the contrary, the joy that the
Jewish press so unabashedly expresses over his election proves that Ju-
daism still considers the baptized Jew-even a Kohn in the cloak of a
Catholic priest-as one of its ow1n.'2

Similar sentiments found more elegiac expression in the satirical press of

the Habsburg empire, such as BorsszemJank6, a Hungarian comic weekly
that published "Archbishop Kohn: An Anti-Semitic Lament" shortly after
the November election.4: Written in rhymed couplets, this poem laments
the utter dominance of Kohn (here, as a metonymy for 'Jew") in banking,
industry, business, journalism, politics, music, society, and the arts. Still,
the poet manages to find a modicum of solace in the solely material na-
ture of Kohn's power, noting that the realm of "heavenly salvation" had
until now remained beyond his grasp. In the end, however, the election
of Theodor Kohn meant that even this paltry consolation had become

Wochenschrift(Vienna), 11 November 1892.

41. "FifrsterzbichofKohn," Osterreichische
42. "Gottes Segen bei Kohn," Deutsches Volksblatt (Abend-Ausgabe), 9 November 1892.
Similar sentiments were also expressed in the Czech-language satirical journal Sotek
(Uherske Hradiite), 15June 1893, 77.
43. "Kohn ersek: Antiszemita bridal,"BorsszemJank6(Budapest), 13 November 1892,
3. BorsszemJank6was a popular comic weekly, largely identified with Budapest's urban, as-
similated-and self-deprecating-Jewish population. For studies on BorszsemJank6, see
Geza Buzinkay, BorsszemJank6 es tdrsai: Magyar dlclapokes karikatuirdik a XIX. szdzad maisodik
feleben (Budapest, 1983), and Buzinkay, "The Budapest Joke and Comic Weeklies as Mir-
rors of Cultural Assimilation," in Thomas Bender and Carl E. Schorske, eds., Budapestand
New York:Studies in Metropolitan Transformation, 1870-1930 (New York, 1994), 224- 47.
 TheRise and Fall of ArchbishopKohn 457

illusory. As the poem concludes, "Kohn has become the archbishop of

Olmfitz/ Kohn owns the earth-and the heavens, too."44
A subsequent issue of BorsszemJanko' parodied those Jews who report-
edly welcomed the 'Jewish"archbishop with unrestrained enthusiasm. In
a caricature from 20 November 1892, Archbishop Kohn is shown sur-
rounded by a throng of his Jewish "kinsmen"-screaming with joy, lifting
their hats, kissing his cassock, and generally treating him like
aJewish dig-
nitary (see figure 1). With the caption "Big Kohn and the Little Kohns,"
this caricature portrays the Jewish masses with typically 'Jewish" features:
hooked noses, fleshy lips, and dark, curly hair. Kohn, too, has begun a
gradual metamorphosis into a physical 'Jew."Most of his features remain
relatively true to life, but his hair has taken on a noticeably "Semitic"curl.
In Sipy, a Czech satiricaljournal, Kohn's metamorphosis is complete.
Here, his thick, fleshy lips, large nose, curly brown hair, and thick, dark
eyebrows leave little doubt about his "Semitic" origins (see figure 2). In
Kikeriki,a Viennese comic weekly, Kohn's metamorphosis is shown in the
opposite direction-as aJew who transforms himself, at least superficially,
into a Catholic archbishop. His threadbare gabardine metamorphoses
into a resplendent cassock, his scraggly beard into a Roman collar, his tat-
tered Derby hat into a jewel-encrusted mitreboard, and his knobby um-
brella into a bishop's crozier. But all the while his beady little eyes keep
staring out from the page, reminding the reader that a Kohn can never re-
ally hide his inborn 'Jewish"traits (see figure 3).
This metamorphosis is of particular significance because Kohn bore
little physical resemblance to the stereotypical Jew. As Joseph Samuel
Bloch, the Galician-born editor of Osterreichische Wochenschrift,noted, "He
did not look like it, but he was called Kohn, and that was his misfortune."45
Contemporary reports frequently described Kohn's oval face, his fine fea-
tures, and his distinguished appearance (see figure 4)-a striking con-
trast to the ill-formed "little Mr. Kohn" that had become a staple ofJewish
caricature at the fin de siecle.46
44. This satirical poem evokes a fear of inexorable Jewish domination that found
expression in the eighteenth-century debates over Jewish emancipation. As Anne-Lois
Henry de la Fare, bishop of Nancy, argued before the French National Assembly on 23 De-
cember 1789, "In Nancy, four months ago, people wanted to pillage their [the Jews']
homes. I went to the site of the agitation and I asked what complaint they had to make.
Some claimed that the Jews had cornered the wheat market; others, that the Jews banded
together too much, that they bought the most beautiful houses and that soon they would
own the whole city. One of the protesters added: 'Yes, Monsieur, if we were to lose you, we
would see aJew become our bishop, they are so clever at taking possession of everything."
Quoted in P. Mendes-Flohr and J. Reinharz, eds., TheJew in the Modern World:A Documen-
tary History (New York, 1995), 116.
45. Joseph Bloch, My Reminiscences(Vienna, 1923), 172. Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 8 May
1903, 213, observed that, "in fact, Dr. Kohn resembles aJew neither physically nor psychi-
cally."
46. See Sander Gilman, TheJew'sBody (New York, 1991), 43-44. Eduard Fuchs dates
the development of the 'Jewish type" to the second half of the seventeenth century; be-
fore then, Jews were usually identified situationally (e.g., in proximity to a sow), by their
accoutrements (e.g., a sack of gold, a walking stick), or by identifiably Jewish marks (e.g.,
a Jewish badge or hat), while the primary physical characteristic (of male Jews) was the
beard. As the 'Jewish type" developed, the hooked nose emerged as its most defining fea-
458 SlavicReview

Figure 1. Big Kohn and the Little Kohns. From BorsszemJankd(Budapest), 20

November1892.

Archbishop Kohn- Good for the Jews~?

Many Jews harbored hopes that "their" archbishop would take decisive
steps against anti-Semitism, but their expectations quickly proved mis-
placed. In Kohn's second week as archbishop, a correspondent from the
FreiesBlatt, the official organ of the Viennese Society for the Defense
against Anti-Semitism, interviewed the newly elected archbishop in an ef-
fort to gauge his attitude toward the burgeoning anti-Semitic movement.
When asked about the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism among priests in

ture. Eduard Fuchs, Die Juden in der Karikatur:Ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte(Munich,
1921), 160-65.
TheRise and Fall ofArchbishopKohn 459

ZAba:vntA OlomDnckfihhAdanka.

Figure 2. Amusing Olomouc Riddle. From Sipy (Prague), 26 November 1892.

jY'
I A

SS jIPI

ow...

Figure 3. Metamorphoses, or What Can Become of a Kohn. From Kikeriki

(Vienna), 17 November 1892.
460 Slavic Review

Figure 4. Archbishop Theodor Kohn (official

portrait). From Pavel Marek, Prof. ThDr. Theodor
Kohn (Kromeiizi, 1994).

the Olmiltz/Olomouc archdiocese, Kohn gave an evasive answer, claim-

ing he had only been archbishop "for a couple of days" and had not yet
had an opportunity to study the issue. The interviewer responded some-
what incredulously to Kohn's answer, pointing out that "race-baiting of
the worst sort"is flourishing under the banner of Christian Socialism, with
members of the lower clergy playing an active role. Kohn then shook his
head and said, "Weare all human beings, my dear. You can rest assured
that ... I will always strive to act as a Christian Catholic. I cannot give you
a formal program today. Do not ask for it, for I cannot [give it to you]."
Despite Kohn's rather hedged responses, the correspondent seemed con-
fident that the archbishop's "strictconscientiousness," "scientific discern-
ment," and "tolerant mindset" would, with time, yield the desired re-
sults.47 Still, he had to concede that Kohn had not yet formulated his
future stance toward the scourge of anti-Semitism.

47. "EineUnterredungmit FfirsterzbischofDr. Kohn,"FreiesBlatt(Vienna), 27 No-

vember 1892.Also quoted in Allgemeine 9 December 1892 (Supple-
ZeitungdesJudentums,
ment), 3. The Societyfor the Defense againstAnti-Semitismwasfounded by non-Jews.On
similarnon-Jewishanti-anti-Semiticsocieties,seeJacobToury,"Anti-Anti1889/1892,"Leo
BaeckInstituteYearbook36 (1991): 47-58.
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 461

While Kohn's future stance toward anti-Semitism was still unknown,

some of his earlier remarks on the Jewish question were soon brought to
light, and they proved to be quite alarming. As professor of canon law at
the theological faculty in Olmiltz/Olomouc, Kohn had devoted a lecture
in 1891 to the question of contact between Christians and Jews.48 He be-
gan with an unequivocal condemnation of racial anti-Semitism but
quickly proceeded to the matter at hand:
Had Catholics heeded the instructions of the Holy Church regarding
contact with Jews, there would be no need to fear the civil upheavals,
quarrels, and civil agitation of today. The current battle against the Jews
is not so much a punishment for the Jews as it is a punishment for the
Christians, who are currently moaning underJewish subjugation because
they disregarded the laws of the Holy Church. The iron shackles that
bind the Christians were forged by disobedience toward their holy
mother.... The church has indeed practiced tolerance toward the Jews,
even protected them, but she has never permitted Catholics to live to-
gether with Jews.
Kohn then summarized the relevant canon law, reminding his students
that Christians are forbidden to work for Jews as domestic servants or
nursemaids; visitJewish doctors; cohabitate with Jews; attend Jewish wed-
dings; or share meals withJews. "0, if only the Christians had faithfully ob-
served these laws," he lamented. "Now they must do penance, because
they do not observe the laws of the Holy Church."l''
The contents of Kohn's lecture were divulged by Germania,a German
Catholic newspaper that seemed to take particular pleasure in shattering
the perception that a 'Jewish" archbishop might be good for the Jews. In
a similar vein, when Archbishop Kohn unequivocally condemned anti-
Semitism as "asickly condition that only time can heal" (ein krankhafterZu-
stand, der mit der Zeit geheilt werden kann) during an audience with the
Kremsier/Kromeiz~i Jewish community in May 1893, the Deutsches Volks-
blatt saw fit to remind its readership of Dr. Theodor Kohn's lectures on
canon law two years earlier.5) "To the best of our knowledge," it smugly
noted, "he [Dr. Kohn] is identical with the current prince-archbishop."'51
48. The lecture, originally read in Latin, was first published on 29 December 1892, by
Germania(Berlin), a German nationalist paper; it was widely quoted in other newspapers.
See "Ausden Collegien des Firsterzbischofs Dr. Kohn," FreiesBlatt (Vienna), 1 January
1893; Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 20 January 1893; "Ffirsterzbischof Dr. Kohn und die Juden,"
Deutsches Volksblatt (Vienna), 11 May 1893. Germania, Zeitungfiir das deutsche Volkfrequently
ran anti-Semitic articles and helped propagate the ritual murder accusation. See "Fiirdie
'Germania,' " Allgemeine Zeitung desJudentums, 14 April 1893, 169.
49. In Moravia, restrictions on domestic servants and nursemaids were in place--and
occasionally enforced-until the Revolution of 1848. See Hieronymus von Scari, Systema-
tische Darstellung der in Betreff derJuden in Mihren und im k.k. Antheile Schlesiens erlassenen
Gesetzeund Verordnungen (Brfinn, 1835), 170-72.
50. Quoted in Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums, 19 May 1893, 3. Adolf Frankl-Grin
(1847-1916), rabbi of Kremsier at the time, described this audience in his GeschichtederJu-
den in Kremsier,2:102-8. The delegation from the KremsierJewish community sought re-
assurance from Archbishop Kohn after blood libels had been reported in the nearby towns
of Holleschau/HoleIov and Kojtein/Kojetin.
51. "Fiirsterzbischof Dr. Kohn und die Juden," DeutschesVolksblatt(Vienna), 11 May
1893, 1.
462 Slavic Review

When a wave of anti-German (and anti-Jewish) violence swept Bo-

hemia and Moravia in the fall of 1899, Kohn's response proved equally dis-
appointing to many Jews. The violence erupted after the repeal of the
Badeni language ordinances in October 1899, which, in the heated lan-
guage politics of the day, represented a major setback for Czech national-
ists. Czechs responded by attacking German shops and institutions, en-
gulfing the Bohemian Lands in anti-German violence from October to
December 1899. Jews, who were typically viewed as Germans or German
sympathizers by the Czech nationalist camp, suffered the brunt of this vi-
olence, which exacted a particularly heavy toll on Moravia's Jewish com-
munities.52 Although the repeal of the language ordinances served as the
immediate catalyst for the violence, the virulence of the anti-Jewish an-
tipathy can only be understood against the backdrop of another factor:
the ongoing trial of Leopold Hilsner for ritual murder. Hilsner, a Jewish
vagabond, had been arrested in April 1899 on charges of murdering
Aneika Hrizoval, a 19-year-old dressmaker, in the Bohemian town of
Polna (right near the Moravian border). The "Hilsner Affair" quickly be-
came a cause celebre-and an anti-Semitic rallying point-in the Bohe-
mian Lands and beyond. Ritual murder accusations had become a staple
of anti-Semitic discourse in the Bohemian Lands in the 1890s, but the
Hilsner Affair was of a different magnitude. Not only did it precipitate an
explosion of anti-Semitic pamphlets, caricatures, and songs, but the Jew-
ish defendant was actually convicted of murder and sentenced to death
(though his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment)." When
violence erupted in the fall of 1899, demonstrators were occasionally spot-
ted with portraits of Hilsner as they ransacked Jewish-owned shops and
homes.54

52. The Badeni language ordinances were originally promulgated in 1897. Requiring
all civil servants in Bohemia and Moravia to speak both Czech and German, these ordi-
nances were welcomed by Czechs, who tended to be bilingual, and condemned by Ger-
mans, who were less likely to have mastered the Czech language. In the wake of violent
street protests and parliamentary disturbances by angry Germans, the ordinances were re-
pealed in October 1899, ushering in a wave of anti-German violence throughout Bohemia
and Moravia. Although Czechs took out their anger on the German population, they tar-
getedJewish businesses in particular. Between October and December 1899, 265 incidents
were reported in the Bohemian Lands, 200 of them in Moravia. The worst incidents were
in Holleschau/Holeiov, Wsetin/Vsetin, and Prerau/Pierov. See Helena Krejcova and
Alena Miikova, "Anmerkungen zur Frage des Antisemitismus in den B6hmischen Laindern
Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts," in Jorg K. Hoensch et al., eds., Judenemanzipation-Anti-
semitismus-Verfolgungin Deutschland,Osterreich- Ungarn, den BohmischenLdndernund in der
Slowakei(Essen, 1999), 55-84.
53. There is a vast-and growing-literature on the Hilsner Affair and the general
role of ritual murder accusations in the political discourse of fin-de-siecle central Europe.
See Hillel Kieval, "Death and the Nation: Ritual Murder as Political Discourse in the Czech
Lands,"JewishHistory 10, no. 1 (March 1996): 75-91; Michal Frankl, "The Background of
the Hilsner Case: Political Antisemitism and Allegations of Ritual Murder, 1896-1900,"Ju-
daica Bohemiae36 (2001): 34-118; and Bohumil Cern3 et al., Hilsneriada: k 100: Vjrofi
1899-199 (Polna, 1999).
54. For example, a police report from Holleschau/Holeiov, where some of the worst
violence took place (25-26 October), blames the incitement to violence on the sudden
appearance of a portrait of Hilsner. See Stitni okresni archiv Krom Archiv masta
Holeiova, fond B-a-2, inv. E.733. ,ii,
TheRise and Fall of ArchbishopKohn 463

In response to the wave of violence, Theodor Kohn addressed a pas-

toral letter to his "beloved flock," asking them to refrain from violence
and to obey the law of the land.55 He quoted Peter and Paul-and even
the Irish political leader, Daniel O'Connell-but failed to address the
immediate causes of the violence or to condemn the ritual murder accu-
sation that helped fuel it. As a correspondent to the Hebrew-language
newspaper Hamagid, observed, "This high priest from the seed of Aaron
the priest [ha-kohenha-gadol me-zeraaharon ha-kohen], who pursues peace
in the pastoral letter, did not find it necessary to even mention the blood
libel that is afflicting his Jewish brethren and the sons of his fathers'
faith."56 In Hebrew, the correspondent rendered Kohn's name as Cohen
thus accentuating the archbishop's Jewish origins and compound-
(7n,)),
ing the sense of betrayal.

Archbishop Kohn and the Czech-German Conflict

As one of the few truly supranational entities in the Habsburg empire, the
Catholic Church endeavored to remain above the national fray, particu-
larly as competing national movements threatened to tear the empire
asunder in the decades leading up to World War I.57 Nonetheless, Theo-
dor Kohn found himself inextricably caught in the powerful currents of
the Czech-German conflict. Despite his fluency in Moravia's two main lan-
guages, his commitment to publishing in Czech and German (as well as
Latin), and his regular charitable donations to Czech, German, and even
Jewish associations, Kohn never managed to gain the trust of his na-
tionally divided flock.5: Indeed, his attempt to unify Czech-speaking and
German-speaking Catholics "on a religious basis" meant that neither na-
tion could truly claim the archbishop as one of its own.59 Kohn carefully
avoided taking sides in the nationality conflict, hoping that Catholic uni-
versalism would serve as an alternative-and, indeed, as a palliative-to
the rancorous and implacable national passions that had taken hold of
Moravia. For example, he organized two separate Catholic Congresses in
1901, one for Czech-speakers and one for German-speakers. 6 The Czech

55. The pastoral letter, dated 28 October 1899, can be found in CurrendaArchiepisco-
palis ConsistoriiOlomucensisanni 1899 (Olomouc, [1900]). It was also published in many
Moravian newspapers, including the OlmiitzerZeitung, 4 November 1899.
56. Hamagid (Krak6w), 12 November 1899, 386.
57. According to OszkarrJaszi,"Asidefrom its army the Roman Catholic Church was
the most solid pillar of the Habsburg dynasty."Oscar [Oszkar] Jaszi, TheDissolution of the
HabsburgMonarchy(Chicago, 1929), 155-62.
58. Beginning in the 1870s, Kohn contributed to a variety of German and Czech Cath-
olic journals, including Archivfiur hatolischesKirchenrecht(Innsbruck), Przvnik (Prague),
Casopiskatolickehoduchovenstva(Prague), Pastf (Prague). See Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigheiten,
24; and "Dr.Theodor Kohn,"Nasinec (Olomouc), 11 November 1892, 1. His charitable do-
nations were listed in each issue of the OlmiitzerZeitungunder the rubric "Kleine Kronik"
and in Nasinecunder the rubric "Denni zpr~vy."His contribution to the Jewish Women's As-
sociation in Olmutz is mentioned in Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 12January 1894.
59. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigheiten, 85.
60. The Czech Catholic Congress was announced in Natinec (Olomouc), 14July 1901,
1. The call for participants ("Katolici v arcidiec~si Olomouck& a ve viech zemich tesko-
slovanskfch") declared that "History teaches as clear as day that the only firm basis for true
464 Slavic Review

Catholic Congress took place in Kremsier/Kromfiz~ on 25-27 August

1901, attracting as many as 40,000 Czech-speaking Catholics and a small
delegation of German-speaking Catholics. The German Catholic Con-
gress took place in Olmiitz/Olomouc on 8 September 1901, attracting
as many as 8,000 German-speaking Catholics and a small delegation of
Czech-speaking Catholics. In his memoirs, Kohn recalled that both con-
gresses went smoothly ("without any disturbance") and pointed to the
symbolic participation of Czech-speakers and German-speakers in each
other's congress as evidence that the "Catholic character" was preserved
despite the differences in language.61 The fact that Kohn considered
the lack of disturbances to be at all noteworthy, however, belied the very
essence of his claim. In fact, imperial troops had been brought into Krem-
sier/Kromffiz and Olmuitz/Olomouc precisely to keep the numerous
"protest gatherings"- organized primarily by the anticlerical Social Dem-
ocrats and the anti-Catholic Pan-Germans-from turning violent.62
Alongside these protests, the Czech nationalist press unleashed a contin-
uous flow of vitriol against Archbishop Kohn.63
Indeed, in the nine years since his election as archbishop, Theodor
Kohn had gone from being the darling of the Czech nationalist press to
its sworn and inveterate enemy. Moravia's Czech nationalist spokesmen
felt betrayed by Archbishop Kohn, perhaps because their hopes for this
clergyman "from the bosom of the people" had been so high in the first
place. Though Kohn supported Czech associations, promoted Czech-
language publications, and took pains to incorporate the Czech language
into the daily functions of the archdiocese, his commitment to placing the
spiritual needs of Moravia's "Catholics of both tongues" above the politi-
cal aspirations of either national movement meant that he would always
fall short of the Czech nationalist aims.") Moreover, Kohn's occasional-
and often glaring-insensitivity to Czech national interests incurred the
enduring wrath of the Czech nationalist press, which increasingly cast him
as an "enemy of the Czech nation" (nephitelem ndiroda eskdho)."
In the Czech-German conflict, the language question assumed para-
mount importance in the closing decade of the nineteenth century,
reaching a violent crescendo following the promulgation and repeal of
the Badeni language ordinances in 1897 and 1899, respectively. The con-
flict, which focused on the official status of Czech and German in the ad-

love of the homeland is faith, religion, and loyalty to God" and promised that "this con-
gress will be ours, entirely Czech" (Bude to sjezd nad, sjezd uipln cesky).
61. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten, 91.
62. "Katolick?sjezd v Krom-izii pod ochranou boddiki!" Pozor(Olomouc), 27 August
1901, 1-2; "Der Katholikentag in Kremsier," Miihrisch-Schlesischer Correspondent (Brfinn),
28 August 1901 (Abendblatt), 1; "Proti sjezdu nameckfch katoliku," Pozor, 3 September
1901, 2. See also Johann Kux, Geschichte der k6niglichen Hauptstadt Olmiitz bis zum Umsturz
1918 (Reichenberg, 1937), 408.
63. In particular, see Pozor(Olomouc) and Havlidek(Prostbjov).
64. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdikgeiten,91. Oddly, Kohn commonly refers to the Ger-
man language as a "tongue" (Zunge) and the Czech language as an idiom (Idiom) in his
memoirs.
65. "Nagearcidioecese," Pozor (Olomouc), 4July 1902, 1.
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 465

ministration of the Bohemian Lands, also placed the administrative lan-

guage of the Catholic Church in Bohemia and Moravia under heightened
scrutiny. Against this backdrop, Pozor, an anticlerical Czech nationalist pa-
per in Olmuitz/Olomouc, excoriated Theodor Kohn in January 1899 for
flagrantly neglecting Czech national interests during his first years as
archbishop.66 An article entitled "The Estate of the Archbishopric of Olo-
mouc" attacked Kohn for failing to appoint Czechs as managers of the
archdiocese's vast network of landed estates, thereby hindering the devel-
opment of a new Czech intelligentsia. "To this date," the article declared,
"a national intelligentsia does not exist in Moravia, and the people look at
German as the ruling language and treat it with more respect than their
own national language. On every [archdiocesan] estate, there are twenty
officials, and they ought to be our people, pupils from our schools." The
article also criticized Kohn for keeping the archdiocese's books in Ger-
man instead of Czech and implored the new archbishop to fulfill his na-
tional obligation and show "respect for his own mother tongue" (vdanost k
vlastnimu svemu matirsk"mujazyku) .
When a vacancy opened in the Olmiitz/Olomouc cathedral chapter
in the same year, Kohn added insult to injury by passing over several quali-
fied Czech priests and nominating a young priest from the German upper
nobility as the newest cathedral canon."' At 32 years of age, Prince Carl
Hohenlohe was the youngest and least experienced candidate for cathe-
dral canon, and, to make matters worse, he spoke nary a word of Czech.
(Two years later, at the Czech Catholic Congress in Kremsier/Kromriiz,
Hohenlohe reportedly sat at the presidium for three days "in splendid si-
lence.") "HBy nominating Hohenlohe, Kohn not only slighted several "old,
deserving priests" and their supporters, he also opened himself up to
charges of Germanizing the Olmfitz/Olomouc archdiocese."' As an ar-
ticle in Pozor observed, "Dr. Kohn is the first archbishop in 300 years
who understands the language of his people-but he may very well be
the last.'"7"
Kohn's loyalty to the Czech nation was further brought into question
following the anti-German and anti-Jewish violence that swept Bohemia
and Moravia in the fall of 1899. As mentioned above, Kohn addressed a
pastoral letter to his "beloved flock," asking them to remain peaceful and
abide by the law of the land. Unlike the Hebrew-language Hamagid, which
criticized Kohn for failing to denounce the ritual murder accusation, the

66. "Panstvi arcibiskupstvi olomouckeho," Pozor (Olomouc), 12 January 1899, 1-2.

67. See "Obsazov~nikanovnickfch mist v Olomouci," Pozor(Olomouc), 30 November
1899, 1, and 2 December 1899, 3. See also Bohumil Zlamal, "Kapitolyze fivota olomouck-
eho arcibiskupaThDr. Theodora Kohna-netispneho tesk6 univerzityna
Morav6,"Vlastividnjvestnikmoravsk545, no. 1 (1993): 23. mecena.e
68. "Glossyk katolickemusjezduv Kromfiii," Pozor(Olomouc), 29 August 1901, 1.
Forbiographicaldetailson CarlHohenlohe-Langenburg(1866-1914), see Malek,Modra
Krev,110. See also FriedrichEngel-Jinosi, Osterreichund der Vatikan1846-1918 (Graz,
1958), 2:73.
69. "Ku obsazeni kanonovnfch mist v Olomouci," Pozor (Olomouc), 8 December
1899, 3.
70. "Nejmladli kanovnik v Olomouci," Pozor(Olomouc), 11 March 1899, 1.
466 Slavic Review

Czech-language Pozor took Kohn to task for his apparent double standard
in the Czech-German conflict. Indeed, Pozor found it strange that Kohn
called for restraint in Moravia-where the violence primarily targeted
Germans and Jews-but made no mention of the widespread anti-Czech
violence two years earlier in the "German towns of southern Bohemia." "Is
the Czech minority expendable?" Pozor asked. "It is certainly strange, very
strange, that we Czechs alone are censured by the high ecclesiastical offi-
cials, yet nobody censures the German insubordination, the German vio-
lence." Of course, the article had a simple explanation for Kohn's seem-
ingly selective indignation. "Above all," it stated, "we are surprised that
Dr. Kohn got involved [only] when the demonstrations assumed an anti-
Jewish character, and thus, we might all presume that Kohn's [pastoral]
letter was not issued out of Christian motives, but rather out of consider-
ation for the Jews, from whom he himself hails [ze kterdhoon sam vySel]."71
While Pozor did not hesitate to publish anti-Jewish articles, it is signifi-
cant that it only identified Archbishop Kohn as a Jew when his actions
seemed detrimental to Czech national interests. Indeed, a few years later,
in an article entitled "There Is No Kohn Like Kohn," Pozor compared
Theodor Kohn with aJewish storekeeper in Hohenstadt/Zabieh, "who
was reared in German, like all other Jews in Moravia, and speaks Czech
ploddingly and with noticeable difficulty." In contrast to Theodor Kohn,
however, "this German Jew Kohn has a fair heart and a sense ofjustice to-
ward the Czech nation, and consequently feels the inhumanity of the op-
pression .... He pleads for all the Czech workers and for the Czech people
as a whole against the German harm." "From this comparison of the two
Kohns," the article concluded, "one can clearly see that the Jewish Kohn
acts like a true Christian, while the Christian Kohn acts like a true Jew."'72
From 1899 onward, Pozor marked the anniversary of Kohn's election as
archbishop of Olmutz/Olomouc by tabulating an ever-expanding list of
his sins against the Czech people.7" The fact that Kohn's election hap-
pened to fall on the anniversary of the Battle of White Mountain (8 No-
vember 1620)-a defining moment in the historical narrative of Czech
oppression by the "German" Habsburgs-certainly did not work to his ad-
vantage. Pozor lambasted Kohn for forcing priests in Olmiitz/Olomouc to
resign from the local Cesk8aBeseda, an important Czech national associa-
tion; for voting against the Czech candidate in elections to the Olmiltz/
Olomouc Chamber of Commerce; for neglecting Czech-language school-
ing in Moravia; and for generally "serving the interests of our [German]
enemies."74 By the turn of the century, Pozor had become a voluble
mouthpiece of anti-Kohn sentiment, regularly agitating against the "trai-
torous" archbishop.75

71. "Arcibiskupdr. Kohn," Pozor(Olomouc), 7 November 1899, 3.

72. "Neni Kohnjako Kohn," Pozor(Olomouc), 9 November 1902, 4.
73. "Arcibiskupdr. Kohn," Pozor(Olomouc), 11 November 1899, 6; "Po sedmi letech,"
16 November 1899, 1-2; 'Jubileum arcibiskupa dra. Kohn," 7 November 1902, 1; "Dr.
Kohn. (kujehojubileum!)," 9 November 1902, 1-5.
74. "Arcibiskupdr. Kohn," Pozor(Olomouc), 11 November 1899, 6.
75. For an example, see "Naie arcidioecese," Pozor(Olomouc), 18June 1902, 1.
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 467

"Der Fall Kohn" and the Fall of Kohn

This anti-Kohn agitation reached its climax in the summer of 1902, when
Pozor published a series of articles viciously attacking Kohn as a tyrannical,
proud, and materialistic ruler, whose actions were at odds, not only with
the national strivings of the Czech people, but also with the very spirit of
Catholicism. These scathing articles were written under a nom de plume
("Rectus"), which at times seemed more like a nom de guerre. They at-
tracted considerable attention in the press of the Habsburg empire, espe-
cially after Archbishop Kohn's extensive efforts to discover Rectus's true
identity. The ensuing scandal, which came to be known as the "Kohn Af-
fair" (derFall Kohn) or the "Rectus Affair," led to the archbishop's censure
by the Austrian Parliament (in May 1903), a summons to Rome by Pope
Leo XIII (in June 1903) and again by Pope Pius X (in December 1903),
and, in the end, to Kohn's "voluntary" resignation as archbishop of
Olmiltz /Olomouc on 12 March 1904.76
Rectus's articles made no mention of Kohn's Jewish origins, but they
abounded with code words that were clearly linked to 'Jewishness" in the
charged atmosphere of the Habsburg empire at the fin de siecle. Rectus,
who claimed to be a "gray-haired priest" from Kohn's archdiocese, por-
trayed the archbishop as a tyrannical ruler seeking to bring the whole
world into his thrall. Like the Rothschilds of the anti-Semitic imagination
or the "elders of Zion" of the tsarist forgery, this portrayal of Kohn drew
heavily on contemporary perceptions of the Jews as an inordinately
influential people with conspiratorial designs on world power. "You would
like to rule the whole world," wrote Rectus in one of his earliest attacks
against Kohn. "You want to preach 'your' own gospel."77
According to Rectus, Kohn's gospel was one of cupidity, vanity, mate-
rialism, self-promotion, and hypocrisy-all frequent tropes in the anti-
Semitic rhetoric of the day. Rectus sharply criticized Kohn's frequent and
extravagant visitations to the parishes of his archdiocese. (This "visitation
mania," as Bohumil Zlimal has called it, amounted to 514 parish visits in
Kohn's first ten years as archbishop--including the consecration of 22
churches and 409 altars.) 78 At each of these visitations, Kohn was greeted
with great pomp and circumstance, leading Rectus to ask whether tri-
umphal arches, ornamented horses, and flower girls are really the essence
of the Gospel.79 Furthermore, Rectus characterized Kohn's sermons as

76. A total of ten articles by "Rectus"appeared in Pozorbetween 4June and 13 August

1902. They were also published as a separate pamphlet in German translation: Rectus-Briefe
an den OlmiitzerErzbischofDr. Th. Kohn (Brfinn, 1903). Details of the "Rectus Affair" can be
found in Marek, Prof Dr. TheodorKohn, 39-48; Bohumil Zlamal, "Kapitolyze iivota olo-
mouckeho arcibiskupa ThDr. Theodora Kohna-neuspbineho mecenale teske univerz-
ity na Vlastividn5 vestnik moravskj45, no. 1 (1993): 25-27, and 45, no. 2 (1993):
171-74.Moravy,"
Kohn's own recollections of the "Rectus Affair" can be found in his Lebens-
denkwiirdigkeiten, 105-11.
77. "Nale arcidioecese," Pozor(Olomouc), 8June 1902, 1.
78. Zlimal, "Kapitolyze fivota," 45, no. 1 (1993): 21-22.
79. "Nale arcidioecese," Pozor(Olomouc), 8June 1902, 1.
468 Slavic Review

"common sentimental chatter" aimed more at driving women to tears

than at spreading the word of God.8"
As could be expected, Rectus also condemned Kohn for committing
"the darkest national treason" (nejcernjeij ndrodni zrady) against the Czech
people, due in large part to his haughtiness and officiousness toward the
Czech-speaking lower clergy.8' With regard to the priests who resigned-
or were forced to resign-from the Ceska Beseda in Olmiutz/Olomouc,
Rectus accused Kohn of harassing them "in such a miserable manner in
order to smother their national sentiment." "You wanted to make them
blind puppets in your powerful hand," he continued. "You bound their
hands so they would not work in concert with the laity on behalf of the
people."82 Such behavior, Rectus informed Kohn, had turned the people
against him to such an extent that "all of the priests hate you like the
plague.""83 Indeed, as Pozor later pointed out, with regard to the Czech-
German conflict, the "Christian Kohn" was acting "like aJew."
Rectus's articles would probably have created only a minor stir had
Kohn not tried to discover his attacker's true identity. Since Rectus had
identified himself as a priest, Archbishop Kohn claimed the right to disci-
pline this wayward clergyman for defaming his superior in an avowedly
anticlerical newspaper. Kohn suspected Franti'ek Ocasek, a disgruntled
priest who had held a grudge against Kohn ever since being transferred
from Olmutz/Olomouc to a small parish in Velk? Kunciic. The accused
was brought before an ecclesiastic tribunal, and on 17 April 1903, Ocasek
was suspended from the priesthood and incarcerated in the Demeriten-
haus (a disciplinary institute for recalcitrant clergymen) in Kremsier/
Kromnii'. Ocasek's incarceration set off a wave of protests against Arch-
bishop Kohn, especially after Rectus put an end to ten months of specu-
lation and revealed his true identity on 19 April. In a trenchant letter to
the archbishop, Josef Hofer, a 32-year-old catechist in Hohenstadt/
Zabheh, claimed responsibility for all of the "Rectus" letters; he expressed
no remorse and asked Kohn for no mercy.84 At the same time, Baron Jo-
seph Grimmenstein, a cathedral canon in Olmfitz /Olomouc, appealed to
the Vatican- along with a number of Czech politicians-on Ocasek's be-
half; Kohn was subsequently instructed by the Vatican to set Ocasek free
and reinstate him as priest. (In his memoirs, Kohn sees the whole Rectus
Affair as a conspiracy hatched by Grimmenstein, Ocasek, and Hofer.) 85
After his release on 27 April, Ocasek was received in VelkV Kuniic as a

80. Ibid.
81. "Nakearcidioecese," Pozor (Olomouc), 18 June 1902, 1.
82. Ibid.
83. "Naie arcidioecese," Pozor(Olomouc), 8June 1902, 1.
84. The letter is quoted in full in Marek, Prof Dr. TheodorKohn, 43-44.
85. According to Kohn, Baron Grimmenstein was the "intellectual author of the agi-
tation," who relayed information to Hofer via Ocasek; see Kohn, Lebensdenkwi2rdigkeiten,
106-7. Kohn's loyal secretary, Franz Botek, also described such a conspiracy in his pub-
lished defenses of Kohn; see Franz Botek, Pro aris etfoci (Klagenfurt, [1911]), and Botek,
Der resignierte Fiirsterzbischof von Olmiitz Dr. Theodor Kohn: Grundlinien, Beitriige u. Materi-
aliensammlung zur vorteilsfreien, fachgemdssen Beurteilung seiner bischoflichen Amtstitigkeit (Kla-
genfurt, [1913]).
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 469

"martyr," and his joyous homecoming celebration turned into an anti-

Kohn demonstration, as crowds reportedly yelled out "Shame on Kohn!"
(Hanba Kohnovi) and "Death to Kohn!" (Pereat Kohn!).86
Kohn's ten-year jubilee as archbishop took place under the forebod-
ing specter of the Rectus Affair, turning an ordinarily joyous occasion into
something more akin to a public inquisition. The semi-official organs of
the archdiocese-the German-language Olmiitzer Zeitung and the Czech-
language Moravan-published laudatory articles about Kohn's tenure,
and Kohn's secretary, Franz Botek, even put out a special jubilee volume
for the occasion, but these writings were far removed from the popular
mood.87 More characteristic was the protest meeting organized by the Po-
litical Association of Northern Moravia, which was timed to coincide with
(and, indeed, counter) the festive celebrations at the archbishop's palace
on 8 November 1902. The political association invited the public to dis-
cuss "Archbishop Kohn and the Czech People," explaining the need for
this public forum in the following terms: "On the day that the archbishop
gives himself a jubilee celebration, it is necessary for the Czech people to
start speaking about how disappointed they are in their son."""88On the fol-
lowing day, Pozor published a five-page litany of charges against Arch-
bishop Kohn, which was prefaced by the following remarks:
The Czech people in Moravia have no reason to celebrate the day on
which Dr. Kohn became archbishop of Olomouc. The Czech people
have no reason to celebrate Dr. Kohn's ten years of activity, because these
were nothing but a chain of misfortune and grief . . . Dr. Kohn has not
just fallen short of every trace of an expectation that the Czech people
harbored for him; he is a failure in every respect. . . . There are hun-
dreds of thousands of Czechs who most resolutely condemn and curse
Dr. Kohn and his actions."'
Such anti-Kohn outbursts could also be found in other Czech nationalist
newspapers, all of which made frequent mention of the on-going Rectus
Affair.90
Social Democratic newspapers also jumped on the anti-Kohn band-
wagon in 1902-1903, accusing the archbishop of oppressing the poor in
his management of the archdiocesan estates. In 1903, a
Zdi, Prague-based
newspaper, published a pamphlet, entitled Archbishop Kohn'sReign of Terror
and the Nature of Clericalism, which portrayed Theodor Kohn as a "blood-
sucking capitalist and racketeer," motivated more by the brutal and avari-
cious spirit of mammon than by the merciful and charitable spirit of Je-
sus."' According to the pamphlet, "enrichment" was Kohn's only religion,
86. Marek, Prof Dr. TheodorKohn, 42-43; Zlimal, "Kapitoly ze fivota," 45, no. 2
(1993): 172.
87. Francois [Franz] Botek and A. Kleiber, Facta Loquuntur ou dix annees d'activite dpis-
copoale (Paris, 1902).
88. 'Jubileum arcibiskupa dra. Kohna," Pozor(Olomouc), 7 November 1902, 1.
89. "Dr.Kohn. (kujehojubileu!)," Pozor(Olomouc), 9 November 1902, 1-5.
90. For example, see 'Jubileum Dra. Kohna," Havli~ek (Prostijov), 15 November
1902, 2. Havaiek was an organ of the anticlerical Moravian National Social Party.
91. C~enak Lansky, Hrizovldda arcibiskupa Kohna a povaha klerikalismu (Prague,
1903), 8.
470 Slavic Review

and the "millionaire Church" was merely a means to this end. As one of
Moravia's largest estate- and factory-owners, Kohn was excoriated for
paying his workers poverty wages and for subordinating Christian mercy
to economic profit. As an illustration of the archbishop's un-Christian
behavior, the pamphlet noted that this "pseudo-Christian Kohn" (take-
kiest'an Kohn) brought legal proceedings against thirty-six "poor women,"
a father of eight, and many other "men, women and children" who had il-
legally gathered wood in the forests of the archdiocesan estates.92 This
same tyrannical spirit drove "Kohn-Inquisitor" to persecute Ocaisek, deci-
sively turning the people and the clergy against their archbishop.93
The Rectus Affair reached its first denouement in May 1903, when
Dr. Adolf Strainsky, founder and leader of the liberal, anticlerical Mora-
vian People's Party, brought an interpellation against Kohn to the Aus-
trian Parliament, on grounds that the archbishop had criminally violated
telegraph privacy when trying to find out Rectus's identity.94 On 1 and
5 May, deputies from across the political spectrum used the parliamentary
debate to voice their grievances against Kohn, accusing him of "Czechify-
ing" or "Germanizing" the archdiocese, denouncing him for oppressing
the lower clergy and exploiting the poor, and crediting him with one
single accomplishment: uniting the people by instilling in them a deep
hatred for their archbishop. As Franz Schuhmeier, a Social Democrat
deputy, summed it up: "Prince-Archbishop Kohn is hated by the Czechs
and the Germans, and he is hated above all by the clergy. The pope will
not make him cardinal. Even the emperor refuses to give him an audi-
ence. Nobody wants Kohn, neither the pope nor the emperor, neither
rich nor poor, neither priest nor layman, neither progressive nor nation-
alist, neither Czech nor German, neither Jew nor Christian."'"" After a
"flood of attacks and accusations," the Austrian Parliament passed a reso-
lution-by a vote of 66 to 30-calling on the government to investigate
how Kohn acquired a telegram that seemed to implicate Ocasek and, if
necessary, to take the appropriate punitive measures.'" Although the gov-
ernment never undertook such an investigation, this public censure-af-
ter two days of anti-Kohn vitriol-helped turned the Rectus Affair into a
cause celTbre, widely covered by the European press of the fin de siecle.
The Vatican, which had been following the events in Moravia with
considerable consternation, understood that only papal intervention
could bring the escalating crisis to a quick and satisfactory end.97 In 1903,

92. Ibid., 18.

93. Ibid., 36-44. Chapter 4 of this pamphlet, entitled "Kohn-inkvisitor,"deals with
the Rectus Affair.
94. Adolf Strinsky (1855-1931), like Kohn's grandfather, aJewish convert to Catholi-
cism, was a deputy for Briinn-Brno; he was joined by F. R. Reichstadter, a deputy from
Prossnitz-Prostbjovfor the anticlerical Moravian National Social Party.
95. "Osterreichischer Reichsrat," Neue Freie Presse (Vienna), 2 May 1903 (Abend-
blatt), 3.
96. Ibid, 1; StenoqgraphischeProtokolle iiber die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des
osterreichischen Reichsrathes imJfahre 1903 (Vienna, 1903), 20, 372-79.
97. As early as 1902, the Vatican expressed concern about the string of complaints
coming from Moravia. See Engel-Jinosi, Osterreichund der Vatikan,2:56-78. Based on Vat-
The Rise and Fall of Archbishop Kohn 471

Kohn was summoned for a papal audience, first by Leo XIII and then by
his successor, Pius X. On 9 March 1904, an ad hoc committee of cardinals
declared that Kohn had incurred the wrath of the general public and the
clergy (sed incurristi odium universi populi et cleri) and should therefore re-
sign as archbishop. Kohn could not be forced to resign, since he had not
violated canon law, so the committee expected him to step down "volun-
tarily" for the sake of the "Church's dignity" and in order to "preserve the
peace in his diocese."98 If Kohn refused to resign of his own accord, the
committee recommended suspending him "a divinis and a temporalibus"
and banishing him from Austria. In a private audience on 10 March 1904,
Pope Pius X asked Kohn to "voluntarily" resign as archbishop and remain
in Rome as a servant of the Catholic Church. While Kohn was in no posi-
tion to disobey the Holy See, he sought to at least ameliorate the terms
of his own resignation. "Under no circumstances," he reportedly told
the pope, "will I agree to exile from Austria, since I am a loyal Austrian cit-
izen."99 With the pope's assurance that he could return to Austria-
though not to the Olmutz /Olomouc archdiocese-Kohn grudgingly sub-
mitted his letter of resignation on 12 March 1904; his resignation took
effect two days later.""'
Kohn's letter of resignation contained a surprise for Moravia's Czechs:
it stipulated that a portion of his pension go toward the establishment of
a Czech university in Moravia-a perennial demand of Czech nationalists
of all stripes. (In his last will, he also donated a large sum for the endow-
ment of such a university.) Though forbidden from returning to his for-
mer archdiocese-Kohn apparently wished to show, once and for all, that
his motives and allegiances had been totally misunderstood.""
Several months later, he acquired a modest estate in Ehrenhausen,
Styria, where he lived out the final eleven years of his life. He was accom-
panied by his loyal and trusted secretary, Botek, who devoted consider-
able time-and hundreds of written pages-to defending (and justify-
ing) Kohn's actions as archbishop of Olmitz /Olomouc."'2 Kohn himself
wrote a 462-page memoir, brimming with resentment, sanctimonious
anger, and righteous indignation. Written in Ehrenhausen, it was pub-
lished posthumously in 1921, six years after a dejected Kohn had suc-
cumbed to liver disease at the age of seventy.o'0
ican and Austrian archives, Engel-Jainosi has extensively documented Vatican delibera-
tions on Kohn's fate.
98. Kohn had been accused of violating the secret confession, which would
have constituted sufficient grounds for degradation, but the accusation proved to be
unsubstantiated.
99. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten, 229.
100. Kohn's letter of resignation (in Latin) is reproduced in Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten,
230-31.
101. On Kohn's will and his bequest for a Czech university, see Pavel Marek, Prof
Dr. TheodorKohn, 71-74, and Zlamal, "Kapitolyze fivota," 45, no. 2 (1993): 177-79.
102. See Botek, Pro aris et focis, which deals primarily with the Rectus Affair, and
Botek, Der resignierteFiirsterzbischofan 1,100-page tome dealing with Kohn's entire tenure
as archbishop.
103. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten. Kohn completed his memoir sometime after 1910
and used it to settle many personal scores, particularly with Baron Grimmenstein, Hofer
472 Slavic Review

"If Only His Name Were Weinreb or Pollak!"

In the months before Kohn's resignation, his German and Czech detrac-
tors increasingly linked Kohn's failings as archbishop to a set of inborn
'Jewish" traits, such as tyrannical zeal, excessive pride, heartless material-
ism, spiritual aloofness, national foreignness, and overall stinginess. In a
much-quoted article, the Viennese Deutsches Volksblattexplained Kohn's
downfall as a logical and predictable outcome of the "deep-rooted racial
characteristics that are inherent in Jewishness Ludentum]." Only someone
who denies these characteristics, it asserted,
could have failed to foresee that Kohn would be a skinflint out of ances-
tral necessity, that he would develop infantile pageantry like every Jewish
parvenu, and that he would be a tyrant like every Jew who chances to rule
over non-Jews. And because all of these characteristics are specifically
Jewish in nature, the community to which he was entrusted did not tol-
erate him. Since they could not get used to seeing this typicallyJewish-
and therefore totally foreign-person as their supreme religious leader,
the story of Olmfitz Prince-Archbishop Kohn is a very instructive chap-
ter for the church....
The Kohn Affair, in which the penetration ofJewish racial peculiar-
ities manifested itself so palpably, will surely rule out any further attempts
to introduce a man ofJewish descent [Abkommling]into the bishopric. 04
The Osterreichische Wochenschrift challenged these racial assumptions,
maintaining that Kohn's Catholic upbringing must have had a deeper im-
pact on his character development than any allegedly inborn 'Jewish"
traits. If 'Jewish descent" exerted any influence on Kohn, it was not on his
thoughts or deeds, but rather on his popular image.1'"
Indeed, by virtue of his name, Theodor Kohn found himself bound to
the Schicksalsgemeinschaft (community of fate) of the Jews. Had he been
named "Weinreb" or "Pollak," surmised the Zionist weekly Die Welt, his
Jewish ancestry would not have attracted so much attention.l' But, as the
Viennese Jewish Die Neuzeit observed, a name like Kohn meant that "nei-
ther baptism, nor ordination, nor high ecclesiastical rank could sever him
from Jewry I[udentum] in the eyes of the Christians.""17 By the time of
Kohn's resignation in March 1904, such observations had become com-
monplace in the satirical press of the Habsburg empire and beyond. In

("Rectus"), and Ocasek. In 1924, Hofer published a response to Kohn's memoir, which
appeared in Pozor.See Zlimal, "Kapitolyze iivota," 45, no. 2 (1993): 179. Kohn's obituar-
ies focus on his career as archbishop (and his subsequent resignation), providing no de-
tails about his life in Ehrenhausen, except that his funeral attracted numerous digni-
taries. See GrazerZeitung,5 December 1915; NeuesWienerTagblatt,5 December 1915, 12-13;
Reichspost(Vienna), 5 December 1915; KatolischerWahrheitsfreund(Graz), 12 December
1915, 398.
104. Quoted in "Der Fall Kohn," Die Welt (Vienna), 15 January 1904, 3, and para-
phrased in "Erzbischof Kohn," Osterreichische Wochenschrift(Vienna), 15 January 1904, 33.
Similar sentiments were expressed in Edith Salburg, ErrinerungeneinerRespektlosen(Leip-
zig, 1928), 2:50, 118-21.
105. "Erzbischof Kohn," Osterreichische Wochenschrift(Vienna), 15 January 1904, 34.
106. "Der Fall Kohn," Die Welt(Vienna), 15January 1904, 3.
107. Die Neuzeit (Vienna), 8 May 1903, 213.
TheRise and Fall ofArchbishopKohn 473

- Pie
P eibtn A6lne. 94-
r~i*~t
!?: b Iir.? ..tr+~~*

Figure 5. The Two Kohns. From Der Floh (Vienna), 6 March 1904.
Ex-BishopKohn:You could easily get three more Gulden for these. They're almost
new. So,joi-loi?!
PeddlerKohn:Nu, good, since you are my namesake and you've been madepart of
our family!

one such cartoon (see figure 5), Kohn the peddler says to Kohn the ex-
archbishop, "you are [my] namesake and you've been made part of our
family!" 108
Theodor Kohn endowed his family name with considerable impor-
tance. Like a leitmotif running through his voluminous memoirs, the
name "Kohn"recurs as a constant source of suffering and an enduring

108. "Die beiden K6hne," DerFloh (Vienna), 6 March 1904.

474 Slavic Review

source of pride. His own father, he noted, "suffered greatly because of his
name," as did he and his siblings.109 Kohn did not mention specific in-
stances of anti-Jewish sentiment in his youth, though he did sense after his
election that, "on account of my name a great storm will be conjured up."
The hundreds of nasty and insulting postcards drawing attention to his
Jewish origins confirmed his fears."" In the spirit of his Christian up-
bringing, however, Kohn viewed such personal attacks, not as a mark of
shame, but as his personal cross to bear. As he wrote in his memoirs: "And
I am proud of my name, because I inherited it from my poor, but honor-
able parents, and I always experience an inner peace when I suffer be-
cause of the name: truly, there is no insult or humiliation in the world-
and no honor either-that means more to me than my honest name."II
Kohn's suffering engendered little sympathy in either the Catholic
Church or the land of his birth. One might expect to find him discussed
in histories of the Catholic Church, histories of the Czech-German con-
flict, or biographical dictionaries of famous Czech historical figures, but
such sources tend to provide bare-bones, and often erroneous, details
about his life. (The CatholicEncyclopedia, for example, claims that Kohn re-
signed his office "on account of his great age.") 112 In perhaps one of the
final ironies of Theodor Kohn's life, the most extensive information on
the fifty-third archbishop of Olmuitz /Olomouc can be found in a wide ar-
ray of Jewish encyclopedias (and anti-Semitic compendia)."3 Indeed,
with a name like Kohn, the highest authority in "Moravian Rome" be-
came a martyr-not to the Catholic Church-but to the Schicksalsge-
meinschaft of his paternal grandfather.

109. Kohn, Lebensdenkwiirdigkeiten, 2.

110. Ibid., 43.
111. Ibid.
112. "Olmiltz," in Charles G. Herbermann, Edward A. Pace, Conde B. Pallen, and
Thomas J. Shahan, eds., CatholicEncyclopedia,vol. 11 (New York, 1911). See also Ottitv
Slovnik vol. 14 (Prague, 1899); Biographisches Lexikon zur Geschichte der bohmischen
nauihn,
Lander, 4 vols. (Munich, 1984), 2:224; Osterreichisches biographisches Lexikon, 1815-1950
(Graz, 1969), 5:67.
113. Adolf Kohut, Beriihmte israelitische Mdnner und Frauen in der Kulturgeschichte der
Menschheit (Leipzig-Reudnitz, 1901-2), 2: 356; Salomon Wininger, Grossejiidische National-
Biographie(Czernowitz, 1928), 7:185; Georg Herlitz and Bruno Kirschner, eds.,JiJdisches
Lexikon (Berlin, 1929), 3:756; The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia (New York, 1941), 4:434;
EncyclopaediaJudaica(Jerusalem, 1971), 10:1148. There is no entry for Theodor Kohn in
the Evreiskaia entsiklopediia (St. Petersburg, 1906-13) or the Jewish Encyclopedia (New York,
1901-06). But there is a ten-page entry on Kohn in the anti-Semitic compendium, Semi-
Kiirschner, oder literarisches Lexikon der Schriftsteller, Dichter, Bankiers ... u.s.w. jiidischer Rasse
und Versippung(Berlin, 1913), 612-21, which appears to have been the main source for a
rabidly anti-Semitic article published by the Nazi press; see "Priester des Teufels. Wie der
Jude Kohn sein Amt als Fiirsterzbischof missbrauchte," Der Stiirmer(Nfirnberg), 27 Febru-
ary 1941.