KELLNER, LORENZ. - The greatest Catholic pedagogue of Germany in the past century. Born on 29 Jan. 1811 at Kalteneber near Heiligenstadt (Prussian Saxony), died at Trier on 18 Aug. 1892. After his classical studies at Heiligenstadt and Hildesheim, he attended the Teachers’ Training College at Magdeburg. From 1831 to 1836 he was a teacher at Erfurt, where he reorganised the Catholic schools. As assistant to his father in the Teachers’ Training College at Heiligenstadt (1836–48) he made a name for himself by reforming the teaching of the mother-tongue, introducing a method based on literary models rather than on abstract exercises. In 1848 he was transferred, with the title and duties of “Regierungs- u. Schulrat” (School Superintendent), to Marienwerder (West Prussia), thus becoming the first Catholic to hold that office in that region. In 1855 he moved to Trier in the same capacity, where he died after retiring from office in 1886. He was held in the highest honour by the government and by the entire teaching profession, especially the Catholic members. Several associations took their name from him (Trier, Vienna).
A man of deep religious feeling and convinced Catholic, K. made the firm Catholic faith and a strong sense of duty the foundation of all educational endeavour, in himself and in others. Above all he instilled in teachers the conviction of the importance of their mission in the sight of Church and State. The teacher must act, teach and educate “sub specie aeternitatis.” K. was called the “Gemütspädagog,” i.e., the pedagogue who builds upon the values of the heart and feeling in both teacher and pupil. The ultimate end of all education, in his view, was the perfect Catholic personality; and to attain this the teacher must first possess a complete personality grounded in firm religious conviction.
Besides his vast activity as inspector and instructor, K. also carried on an extensive literary output. It is enough to mention his most important works: the most widely known are Aphorismen zur Pädagogik (Essen 1850, which went through many editions) and his memoirs, Lebensblätter. Erinnerungen an die Schulwelt (Freiburg 1891). Fundamental for the teaching of the mother-tongue is his Praktischer Lehrgang für den gesamten deutschen Sprachunterricht (4 vols., Erfurt 1837–40; 18 editions).
From 1845 he was also a contributor, and later chief editor, of the Catholic teachers’ journal Der Schulfreund.