German pensioner obtains fifth doctorate in Leuven

 

Barbara De Munnynck

One day after his fifth (!) doctoral defence, German Karl Heinrich Theisen looks suspiciously happy and refreshed. “There were a few tough questions, but I managed to answer them all. I was a lawyer and a mayor for many years, so I do not shy away from lively discussion.” According to Theisen, the most difficult thing he was expected to do was to stand up for so long in the Promotion Hall on the Naamsestraat. His legs started to hurt, which is perhaps no great surprise at the age of seventy-five.

Karl Theisen has obtained four doctoral degrees since his retirement ten years ago. He was already allowed to call himself ‘doctor’ though, since the academic title was first conferred upon him in 1982. The lawyer just wanted to do something with all the information he had collected over the years. “At the end of the 1960’s, I was elected mayor of Prüm, a town in the West Eifel. I was fascinated by the history of the local Benedictine abbey and Foundation of Our Lady, so I trawled through the archives and translated records. At the time I couldn’t do very much with them. I had just turned thirty when I was elected mayor; half as old as most of the members of the town council. I had other fish to fry!”

Theisen’s later career, as a professor in higher education, deacon and religious studies teacher, was also very busy. All the more so because he was constantly studying himself: philosophy, theology and canon law. It was only after he retired that he managed to find the time to gather together, supplement and write down everything he knew about the Foundation of Our Lady in Prüm. This resulted in doctoral degrees from Munich (in 2000) and Bamberg (in 2003). He also published a biography of Nicholas of Prüm in 2006.

“In my case, one project leads naturally and spontaneously to the next. My dissertations contain three thousand footnotes! Who still writes such thorough doctorates these days? Nicholas was a member of the Foundation of Our Lady in Prüm and was one of the founders of Leuven University. He was only seventeen when his abilities and qualities were reported to the pope. I simply had to unravel the story of this man’s life.”

Theisen would have preferred to write his dissertation on Nicholas under the supervision of a professor at Leuven: “That seemed self-evident. Nicholas was the first professor of canon law at K.U.Leuven and even delivered the inaugural address in 1426!”

In 2006, Theisen was awarded a doctorate of canon law from La Sapienza University in Rome, and finally came to Leuven to defend a dissertation on 29 June this year. His supervisor in Leuven was Prof. Jean Goossens and the subject was Johannes van Groesbeek, the first professor of private law at K.U.Leuven.

Thus, Theisen immersed himself in the history of the foundation of our university for the second time. “This was a period with extremely interesting problems. What were the relationships like with the city, the bishop and the duke? Where were they going to find buildings to house the university? Who were the people the founders wanted to involve in the process and who were they intent on excluding?” Theisen is blissfully unconcerned about being a German who is absorbed by the foundation of a Belgian institution. “What difference does that make? There was no question of separate countries at the time. We were all part of one Holy Roman Empire.”

It is apparent from the way he talks about them that he has certain preferences when it comes to the founders of K.U.Leuven. He always refers to ‘mein Nicolaus’ and ‘der Groesbeek’. “I admire Nicholas because he was a child prodigy who started his academic career at the age of twelve. Groesbeek was a nobleman so everything was much easier for him.” From extant documents it appears that Groesbeek was paid about twice as much as Nicholas for doing basically the same job. “But we will never know how that affected their relationship. Historical sources only reflect the facts, not the feelings.”

Will he be writing a third biography of a historical celebrity from Leuven? Theisen shakes his head. “I have plenty of source material on my computer and I’m also quite motivated to start writing again, but I fear my wife might object if I do. One can only use one’s time once. I have spent the past ten years in archives and my office. It is high time for us to go on a few holidays together.”