PACHTLER, GEORG MICHAEL. — Jesuit and educationalist, born at Mergentheim (Württemberg) on 14 September 1825, died at Exaeten (the Netherlands) on 12 August 1889.
Professor at Gorheim and Feldkirch, chaplain to the Papal Zouaves in Rome (1869–70), and subsequently of the Berlin lazaretto (1870–71), in the latter year he helped to found the periodical Stimmen aus Maria Laach, which he directed for one year, thereafter continuing, as a regular contributor, to furnish it with a substantial series of articles. A capable and rapid writer, he dealt effectively with the issues of the day: the First Vatican Council, the Roman Question, freedom of education, Freemasonry, and liberalism. Works to be mentioned include: Die internationale Arbeiterverbindung (Essen 1872); Der stille Krieg gegen Thron u. Altar, oder das Negative der Freimaurerei (Fribourg in Br. 1873); Der Götze der Humanität oder das Positive der Freimaurerei (ibid. 1875); Das göttliche Recht der Familie u. der Kirche auf die Schule (Mainz 1879); Die Reform unserer Gymnasien (Paderborn 1883), which led to his being invited to collaborate on the Monumenta Germaniae paedagogica, published in Berlin under the direction of K. Kehrbach. His, in fact, are volumes 4, II, V, IX, and XVI of the series (1887–94; the last, however, was published posthumously by Fr. B. Duhr); Ratio studiorum et Institutiones scholasticae Societatis Jesu per Germaniam olim vigentes, in which he deals with the internal and external organization of the Order’s colleges, and with the various methods of instruction and education. The work, rich in details, often unpublished elsewhere, remains fundamental for the history of education.