BERTRAM, ADOLF. - Cardinal, born 14 March 1859 at Hildesheim, died 6 July 1945 at Breslau. He pursued philosophical and theological studies at the Universities of Würzburg and Munich. Ordained priest in 1881, he came to Rome and served as chaplain at the German College of Santa Maria dell’Anima, obtaining a doctorate in canon law from the Gregorian University. In 1884 he also earned a doctorate in theology at Würzburg. That same year he entered the episcopal curia of Hildesheim, having previously served as canon of the cathedral chapter, vicar general, and capitular vicar, and in 1906 he was elected bishop. During these years he devoted himself intensively to the history of the diocese, publishing the work *Die Bischöfe von Hildesheim* (1896) and a *Geschichte des Bistums Hildesheim* (Hildesheim 1899–1925) in three volumes. On 27 May 1914 he was transferred to the important see of Breslau, which at that time still included the delegation of Brandenburg and Pomerania, as the diocese of Berlin had not yet been established. In 1916 Benedict XV created B. cardinal *in pectore*, publishing the appointment three years later with the title of St. Agnes Outside the Walls. Cardinal B. thus became the leader and guide of the German episcopate, a role he exercised particularly in the annual Fulda conferences. When, in accordance with the 1929 concordat with Prussia, the diocese of Breslau was elevated to a metropolitan see, Cardinal B. assumed the archiepiscopal title.
After the National Socialists came to power (January 1933), Cardinal B. defended the rights of German Catholics before Hitler. He firmly protested against measures aimed at dissolving Catholic associations and removing Catholic officials from public office, and as president of the Fulda conferences he was the authoritative spokesman for all German Catholics. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Cardinal B., given the geographical position of his diocese, took a particular interest in the fate of interned Polish priests and Polish workers in Germany. He never left his see, even amid heavy aerial bombing and street fighting, and after his death he was buried in that metropolitan church.
Although he opposed National Socialism uncompromisingly, Cardinal B., of a mild and conciliatory disposition, avoided violent methods in the struggle against the Third Reich. Thus, the remarks by von Hassel concerning him (“the majority—including the old irenic cardinal, Bishop B. of Breslau—are opposed to open struggle, opposed to political methods and would prefer religious methods”) are meaningful only if interpreted in the above sense.