«STIMMEN DER ZEIT». — A journal providing a critical survey of the intellectual, scientific, social, and religious life of Germany, with the aim of bearing valid witness to Catholic truth.
It is supported by a body of writers from the Society of Jesus, but since 1930 (cf. vol. 119 [1930], p. 401) it has also opened its pages to outsiders, provided that they are animated by the same Catholic ideal; it is addressed to the broad public of scholars, normally taking its cue from current issues.
It began its life in 1864 Maria Laach (v.), in the Eifel, then a Jesuit scholasticate, under the title «Stimmen aus Maria Laach», which it retained even during its exile. The first two series appeared at an as yet unfixed frequency, until 1869; they were issues devoted to the defence of the Syllabus of Pius IX and of the project of the First Vatican Council. After the war of 1870 it became a monthly, but already in 1872, once the famous «Jesuitengesetz» had been ratified in the Upper and Lower Houses, the editorial office was forced into exile. A law of 1874 further reduced the frequency to ten issues a year (until 1914), stipulating that no German could direct a monthly journal while residing abroad. The editorial office found its first refuge in Robani Castle, near Tervueren (Brussels), from 1872 to 1879; subsequently at Blyenbeek (Netherlands), from 1880 to 1884; at Exaeten from 1885 to 1898; in Luxembourg from 1899 to 1908; and at Valkenburg (Netherlands) from 1909 to 1914.
When the First World War broke out, it could be hoped that not only the Unterhaus (which had already repealed the iniquitous law of 1872 several times), but also the Oberhaus, where opposition to repatriation was led by the Hohenzollern imperial family itself, would repeal the law. Indeed, in 1914 the editorial office moved to Munich. Since, however, Maria Laach had already been sold to the Benedictines twenty years earlier, the title was changed to S. d. Z. («Voices of the Times»), while pursuing the same programme and enlightening German Catholics amid all the problems and tribulations of that period. The difficulties and harassment were more serious during the Third Reich. An article by P. Lippert (Mit Gewalt - Mit Geduld) earned it its first prohibition, from December 1935 to March 1936. Then, on 18 April 1941, the Gestapo confiscated the premises together with the valuable Library; one month later the journal was suspended. After the war it reappeared with vol. 138 (1946–47), with fewer writers, but aided by excellent non-Jesuits. The Library suffered no serious damage.
The collection, in addition to the two series of issues from 1864–1869, contains 150 volumes, to which must be added 119 «Ergänzungshefte», especially on historical questions, 9 issues on cultural questions, 4 on other studies, and 3 volumes of indexes: 1886, 1889, 1913.