Memorial Page for Georg Ratzinger

Georg Ratzinger (born 15 January 1924 in Pleiskirchen; died 1 July 2020 in Regensburg) was a German Catholic priest, church musician and long-serving director of the Regensburger Domspatzen. He was the elder brother of Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI. His life was shaped by church music, priestly service, close family ties with his brother and the later reckoning with violence at the Domspatzen.

Childhood, war and ordination

Georg Ratzinger grew up in a Catholic family in Bavaria. As a child he already played the organ in his home parish. In 1935 he entered the minor seminary in Traunstein. During the Second World War he was conscripted into the Reich Labour Service and then the Wehrmacht; in 1945 he became an Allied prisoner of war. After the war he entered the Herzogliches Georgianum in Munich with his younger brother Joseph. On 29 June 1951 both brothers were ordained priests in Freising Cathedral.

Church music and the Domspatzen

Alongside his priestly ministry, Georg Ratzinger studied church music in Munich. After working as choir director in Traunstein, he became cathedral choirmaster in Regensburg in 1964 and directed the Regensburger Domspatzen until 1994. During those years the choir made regular tours, including journeys to the United States and East Asia, and recorded many albums. Ratzinger's work was closely tied to classical church music, liturgical singing and the public profile of the choir.

Brother of Benedict XVI

Georg and Joseph Ratzinger remained close throughout their lives. Both were priests, both loved music, and they stayed in regular contact after Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Georg spoke publicly about his brother, about his age and about the possibility of resignation. Shortly before Georg Ratzinger's death, Benedict XVI travelled to Regensburg in June 2020 to visit him once more.

Reckoning at the Domspatzen

The history of the Regensburger Domspatzen also includes the later reckoning with violence and sexual abuse against former pupils. An investigation report named hundreds of affected pupils for the period from 1945 into the early 1990s; Catholic News Agency reported 500 cases of physical harm and 67 cases of sexual abuse. Investigator Ulrich Weber criticised Georg Ratzinger for looking away and failing to intervene in physical violence. At the same time, reports stated that Ratzinger had no knowledge of sexual abuse. Ratzinger himself apologised for corporal punishment and for the suffering of former pupils.

Farewell

Georg Ratzinger died in Regensburg on 1 July 2020. He was 96 years old. His life story is connected with the music of the Domspatzen and with the Ratzinger family, but also with an institution whose past was later publicly investigated and examined.