Römisches Institut der Görres-Gesellschaft
The new Vatican State under Pope Pius XI
The Campo Santo Teutonico library has once again received a rarity through a donation, namely a richly illustrated volume published in 1940 on the new model state that was created under Pope Pius XI in the ten years following the Lateran Treaties (1929).
The volume edited by the engineer Leone Castelli ‘... Quel tanto di territorio ..." - ‘Ricordi di lavori ed opere eseguiti nel Vaticano durante il pontificato di Pio XI’, published by engineer Leone Castelli, also bears the Fascist date - ‘Roma / MCMXL / XVIII’ - and was not commercially available. Castelli was not just anyone, he was in charge of the construction. Pius XI, how could it be otherwise, had brought him from Milan to Rome to rebuild a complete state, the Vatican State, including government buildings and the railway.
To this end, practically all the buildings around St Peter's Basilica dating back to the 16th century were demolished (only Old Saint Martha and the Church of the Abyssinians were spared). Something like this can only be carried out in an authoritarian state. The demolitions and new buildings were financed by the compensation payments that Italy made to the Holy See as a kind of compensation for the expropriation of the Papal States.
The numerous photographs, which also show the houses and neighbourhoods that were later demolished, are particularly valuable. I do not know where the original photographs are kept today.
The Campo Santo Teutonico can be seen three times (see below), even though it was only partially affected by the construction work. This is because the property rights of the Archconfraternity remained untouched, even if a part of the building had to be demolished to clear the boundary.
Bishop Josef Clemens donated the book to the college library together with other highly important publications on the legal status of the Vatican City.
This picture is well known (see e.g. S Heid, Wohnen wie in Katakomben, p. 108). It shows the premises of Alexander Stocker, a devotional shop, which was located in the extreme south-west corner of the Campo Santo. It was set up for the Holy Year of 1900 because all the pilgrims who went to the Vatican Museums passed by the Campo Santo. They could therefore buy rosaries, papal photos and other items from Stocker.
The Stocker shop and this entire part of the building was demolished after the Lateran Treaties because the Vatican state border - a stroke of genius by those responsible! - through the centre of the Campo Santo Teutonico building. The photo shows the barrier, probably in 1930, before the building was partially demolished.
Campo Santo Teutonico on the right. This photo is particularly interesting because it still shows the buildings in the background that were completely demolished in the 1970s to make way for a car park. Back then, around 1930, the Swiss Guards, not the gendarmerie, still stood in front of the college.
- Details
- Written by: Stefan Heid
- Category: Recommended reading