Bernhard Birkenstock

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Bernhard Birkenstock SOCist (born August 25, 1735 in Erbach (Rheingau) ; † January 14, 1819 there ) was abbot of the Arnsburg monastery from 1772 to 1799 .

Hof zum Birkenstock in Erbach, Taunusstrasse. 2–6, built 1637; View from the south

Life

Bernhard Birkenstock was born on August 25, 1735 as the son of Peter Nikolaus Birkenstock, who was wealthy in Erbach, and his mother Maria Franziska, née Schumann, who was also from Erbach. He had eight siblings. Because his brother Johann Balthasar Heinrich (1728–1779) entered the Eberbach monastery as a monk in 1749 and was later ordained a priest there, Bernhard Birkenstock chose his spiritual career in the Cistercian order , but entered the Arnsburg monastery , where he did In 1759, the professed stores. On July 7, 1772 he was elected 52nd Abbot of Arnsburg Monastery. On the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the monastery in 1774, Birkenstock had the prestigious and stately gate house of Arnsburg built. Bernhard Birkenstock's coat of arms can be found on the central building, in the middle a tree, probably a birch, and a deer.

In the turmoil of the French Revolutionary Wars, which went hand in hand with a French invasion and pillage of the Wetterau, Birkenstock firmly and fearlessly advocated the degradation of the enormous and immoderate contributions imposed on the monastery, which probably earned him a longer exile, but from whose various places he was remained tirelessly in touch with his abbey. In 1799, after 27 years in office, he decided to resign as abbot because of the turmoil of war and the conflicts associated with it for the monastery. The Mainz Elector Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal finally granted the repeated requests for resignation. The resignation took place on June 17, 1799.

Birkenstock spent his old age well endowed with 3500 guilders annually in his hometown Erbach in the property still known today as Hof zum Birkenstock . He lived quietly and withdrawn, but made a name for himself as a benefactor of the parish church of St. Markus and as a founder of a girls' school and generally as a promoter of the local school system.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Doris Moos, 2019: Bernhard Birkenstock - an important son of Erbach
personal data
SURNAME Birkenstock, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abbot of the Arnsburg Monastery
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1735
PLACE OF BIRTH Erbach (Rheingau)
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1819
Place of death Erbach (Rheingau)