Adolf Mathes

Adolf Mathes (born June 20, 1908 in Munich ; † December 28, 1972 there ) was a Catholic priest and founder of the Catholic Men's Welfare Association Munich eV (KMFV).

Live and act

Mathes was ordained a Catholic priest on June 28, 1932 . In 1944 he became a chaplain in the Munich parish Maria Hilf in der Au . In 1946 he became a preacher there.

In the years after the Second World War there were many homeless men in Munich . These were on the one hand unemployed war invalids and men from the countryside who had found work in the big city to support their families at home. Given the low wages, it wasn't always enough for a room of his own. Pastor Mathes took care of the homeless and soon this task became his life. The people of Munich called him "Bunker Pastor" because he converted old air raid shelters from World War II into sleeping quarters for the homeless.

On April 19, 1950, Monsignor Mathes founded the Catholic Men's Welfare Association Munich eV (KMFV) , an association of Christians for charitable purposes, which he chaired until his death. He received great support for his work from Hermann Zeit . The KMFV is a professional association mainly active in the archdiocese of Munich and Freising for housing and unemployed, addict and criminal assistance. Today the KMFV maintains 20 inpatient, semi-inpatient and outpatient facilities with more than 500 employees. From 1964 to 1972 he was also the Bavarian State Caritas Director and, in this capacity, a member of the Bavarian Senate as representative of the welfare organizations .

Honors

Mathes made a contribution to caring for alcoholic and homeless men. That is why the Adolf-Mathes-Weg was named in his honor in Munich- Untermenzing in 1984 .