BRANDTS, FRANZ

BRANDTS, FRANZ. - Sociologist and industrialist, b. at München-Gladbach on 12 Nov. 1834, d. there on 5 Oct. 1914. He deserves credit for having promoted the textile industry in the Rhineland and for having been among the first to place the solution of social problems in Germany on a practical basis. Through the Arbeiterwohl association, he formulated in concrete terms the problem of improving workers’ conditions, thereby influencing the authorities, the press, and above all the leaders and organizations of German Catholicism. When, in 1890, the « Volksverein für das katholische Deutschland » (People’s Association of Catholic Germany) was founded, with its center at München-Gladbach, B. became its first president. He resolutely opposed the spirit of Manchesterian doctrine, advocating in its place an enlightened paternalism. In his factories he created a model organization for the benefit of the workers, with the aim of subsequently enabling the workers themselves to participate in the administration of the enterprise’s social affairs.