DÖLGER, FRANZ JOSEPH

Church historian, archeologist, educator; b. Sulzbach, Germany, Oct. 18, 1879; d. Schweinfurt, Oct. 17, 1940. After ordination in 1902, he served in parishes at Amorbach im Odenwald, then resumed his studies at the University of Würzburg, where he obtained a doctorate in theology in 1904. Subsequent travels in Italy and North Africa deepened his interest in the history of the adaptation of the early Church to its cultural environment. He was the first Catholic scholar to devote himself wholly to this subject, and he trained many students in an exact, scientific study of the field.

Dölger began his teaching career as a Privatdocent at Würzburg, went to Rome for five years of research, and in 1912 became professor of comparative history of religion, ancient Church history, and Christian archeology at the University of Münster, Westphalia. He later held professorships at Breslau (1926–29) and Bonn (1929–40). His studies, which reveal an astonishing knowledge of classical and patristic literature, reflect at the same time his scientific development and sober judgment.

His earliest work, Das Sakrament der Firmung historisch-dogmatisch dargestellt (1906), represents his starting point, the history of dogma. His later works elucidate the influence of ancient culture on Christian faith, liturgy, and art: Der Exorzismus im altchristlichen Taufritual (1909); Sphragis: Eine altchristliche Taufbezeichung in ihren Beziehungen zur profanen und religiösen Kultur des Altertums (1911); Die Sonne der Gerechtigkeit und der Schwarze (1916); Sol salutis, Gebet und Gesang in christlichen Altertum (1920). His principal work is a monumental history of the sacred symbol of the fish, ΙΧΘϒΣ (5 v., 1910–43).

In 1929 he founded the periodical Antike und Christentum, of which he was editor and sole contributor of more than 150 articles in its five volumes (1929–50). He also edited the commemorative volume for the jubilee year of Constantine the Great, Konstantin der Grosse und seine Zeit (1913), and was joint editor of Liturgiegeschichtliche Forschungen (1918–27), a series of studies in the history of the liturgy.

Bibliography: t. klauser and a. rÜcker, eds., Pisciculi:… F. J. Dölger zum 60. Geburtstage (Münster 1939), with complete bibliog. e. stommel, Aschaffenburger Jahrbuch 3 (1956) 412–414. t. klauser, F. J. Dölger: Leben und Werk (Münster 1956), with bibliog. j. quasten, American Catholic Historical Review 27 (1941) 112–114.

[j. quasten]