Born in Verona, Italy, Romano Guardini grew up in Mainz, Germany, where his father was serving as Italian consul. Ordained to the priesthood in 1910, he occupied a chair especially created for him at the University of Berlin as professor for philosophy of religion and Catholic Weltanschauung from 1923 to 1939. In 1939 he was expelled by the Nazis. After the war, similar positions were created for him - first at the University of Tübingen and then at the University of Munich (1948-63). Father Guardini's courses in these universities won him a reputation as a remarkable and successful Catholic educator.