Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein

Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein

Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein (born September 20, 1726 in Immendingen , † November 16, 1785 in Kempten ) was prince abbot in the Kempten monastery from 1760 to 1785 .

Origin and life

Grave of Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein (3rd coffin from the left)

Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein came from a branch of the noble patrician family of the Roths von Schreckenstein , originally from Ulm , who had their headquarters in Immendingen. His parents were Joseph Anton Eusebius Roth von Schreckenstein and Maria Caroline Susanna von Schönau .

From 1737 he attended the Latin school of the monastery in Kempten, to which he returned in 1750 after studying theology in St. Gallen and at the Benedictine University of Salzburg , where he taught theology and philosophy. In 1751 he became a novice master and professor of philosophy. On June 16, 1760 he was elected Prince Abbot of Kempten and held this office until his death. Roth died on November 16, 1785 and was buried with his predecessors in the crypt of the collegiate church of St. Lorenz .

Act

Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein had numerous buildings built or expanded in the Allgäu. Further points of his activity were the reorganization of poor welfare and other social affairs as well as his participation in a witch trial. In 1761 he set up a police directorate that was supposed to regulate the market, increase fire safety in the city, enforce the begging order and ensure that the streets were kept clean.

He also succeeded in reducing tensions in the conflict between the monastery and the neighboring Protestant imperial city of Kempten.

Roth was considered to be very educated, open-minded, tolerant and progressive. The fact that he was permeated by the spirit of the Enlightenment is not only evident from his enlightened laws, but also from the fact that he had appointed and promoted the Freemason and Enlightenment theologian Dominikus von Brentano , who wanted to promote the Enlightenment in the monastery, to his court chaplain in 1770 .

As a prince abbot, Roth von Schreckenstein partially exercised episcopal rights, such as church consecrations.

Construction activity

During his reign he had the chapels of St. Magdalena in Hirschdorf and the Visitation of Mary in Mariaberg built, the parish church of St. Martin and Alexander in Waltenhofen rebuilt, the parish church of St. Afra in Betzigau renovated, and the church of St. Martin in Martinszell in the Allgäu rebuilt as well as the chapel of St. Cyprian in Wildpoldsried to add the nave and refurbish it. Furthermore, the old Lautrach Castle and Lenzfried Castle, which had burned down, were rebuilt under Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein . Around 1780 he provided the courtyard garden in Kempten with new facilities and had a late baroque orangery built at the northern end of this park .

Regulation of welfare for the poor

In order to regulate the problem of poor relief in 1766, Roth further expanded Langenegg Castle, which had already been converted into an almshouse under Prince Abbot Anselm Reichlin von Meldegg , expanded the Seelhaus in the prince's monastery to include a hospital and in 1767 issued the so-called “Begging Regulations and Poor Cassae”, the 1770 came into force. The alms and every kind of begging were now a punishable offense. Instead, a poor fund was set up in 1769, to which contributions from all residents as well as fines and donations were to flow and which was also supported by the court chamber .

Role in the witch trial against Anna Schwegelin

During Roth's reign, the last witch trial on German soil took place in the Fürststift. In 1775 the maid and tramp Anna Maria Schwegelin was accused of witchcraft. It was also decisive for her conviction that she confessed to an alleged pact with the devil . District judge Johann Franz Wilhelm Treuchtlinger pleaded for death by the sword because of a proven duel with the devil . Not only the secular members of the Privy Councilor , but also abbot Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein confirmed the verdict with their signature. In the further course of the case, however, there are some indications that suggest that Roth did not sign the judgment out of inner conviction, but rather on the basis of the instructions of his officials. While older research assumed that the execution took place, the Kempten historian Wolfgang Petz managed to prove that the sentence was not carried out and that Anna Schwegelin died of natural causes six years after her conviction in the so-called "Stockhaus", the abbey-kemptic prison died. Apparently, at the instigation of Roth's confessor, the Franciscan Father Anton Kramer, or his court chaplain Dominikus von Brentano, investigations had been started again shortly before the execution of the sentence, due to which the execution was initially postponed. The exact background that led to the suspension of the verdict has so far not been clarified, as has the question of whether Roth had a mediating function. Nothing is known about a formal pardon for Schwegelin or about the result of further investigations, so it can be assumed that the case was left in the balance.

coat of arms

Coat of arms of Prince Abbot Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein

The prince abbot had a large and a small coat of arms. The coats of arms of prince abbots should have secular and spiritual properties. In addition to these versions of the coat of arms, there are also slightly modified coats of arms, possibly adapted to changed circumstances.

Large abbot coat of arms

Quartered with a heart shield, inside the family coat of arms of the Roth dynasty: split, in front a white unicorn in black, on the back divided three times in white and black, at the first place of the main shield Kempten Abbey: red and blue divided with the embossed and crowned bust of Hildegard , on the second Place von Schreckenstein: in white a red branch St. Andrew's cross ( Burgundy cross ). On the shield there are four spangled helmets, the middle one on the right for the county of Kempten: half a boy in a black coat with lobes on the bottom and sprinkled with yellow beading, holding a sword on the right and a scepter on the left, on a purple pillow; the middle one on the left with the inful and straight abbot on purple cushions; the far right, crowned with a growing unicorn divided in white and black; the extreme left, crowned with a closed white flight, on which a red branch St. Andrew's cross.

Smaller abbot coat of arms

The shield as before, placed at an angle by the sword and marshal's baton, in a hermeline-lined purple tassel under a princely hat, which is raised by the abbot's baton.

Web links

Commons : Honorius Roth von Schreckenstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Friedrich Zollhöfer (ed.): In Eduard Zimmermann, Friedrich Zollhöfer: Kempter crest and characters comprising city and district Kempten and the adjacent areas of the upper Allgäu. In: Heimatverein Kempten (Ed.): Allgäuer Geschichtsfreund. 2. Delivery, No. 62, Kempten 1962, p. 271 f.
2. ^ Wolfgang Petz: Twice Kempten. History of a twin city (1694-1836) ( Writings of the Philosophical Faculties of the University of Augsburg. Historical-Social Science Series No. 54). Ernst Vögel Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89650-027-9 , p. 230 f.
3. ^ Wolfgang Petz: Twice Kempten. History of a Twin City (1694–1836) ( Writings of the Philosophical Faculties of the University of Augsburg. Historical-Social Science Series No. 54). Ernst Vögel Verlag, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-89650-027-9 , p. 324 f.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Wolfgang Petz: The last witch. The fate of Anna Maria Schwägelin , Campus , Frankfurt a. M./New York 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38329-3 , p. 147.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Wolfgang Petz: The last witch. The fate of Anna Maria Schwägelin , Campus , Frankfurt a. M./New York 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38329-3 , p. 173.
6. ↑ Wolfgang Petz: The last witch. The fate of Anna Maria Schwägelin , Campus , Frankfurt a. M./New York 2007, ISBN 978-3-593-38329-3 , pp. 164-172.

predecessor	Office	successor
Engelbert von Syrgenstein	Prince Abbot of Kempten 1760–1785	Rupert II of Neuenstein