Alois Konrath

Pastor Alois Konrath

Alois Konrath , baptized "Alois Joseph Konrath" , (born January 12, 1895 in Pirmasens , † October 23, 1967 in Saarbrücken ) was a Bavarian officer in World War I , as well as a free corps fighter , then a priest of the Speyer diocese and persecuted by the Nazi regime.

Life

Soldier and priest

His theology studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. At the beginning of the war he was assigned to the 12th Field Artillery Regiment of the Bavarian Army as a reserve lieutenant . Use it as found in the field artillery battery 896 and the infantry artillery batteries 49 and 50. In the Russian theater of war he was taken prisoner , but broke out and returned to his unit. For his bravery and his achievements he received both classes of the Iron Cross , the Military Merit Order , the Austrian Karl Troop Cross and the Hungarian World War II Commemorative Medal .

After the end of the war, Konrath remained as an officer with his comrades and joined the Würzburg Freikorps approved on April 18, 1919 with them . In June 1919, this merged with other voluntary associations (e.g. Freikorps Aschaffenburg , Freikorps Bamberg , Freikorps Bayreuth , Eiserne Schar Berthold ) in Reichswehr Brigade 23 Würzburg of the Provisional Reichswehr . In this formation Konrath took part - on behalf of the Reich government - in the struggles against the sovereignty of the councils in Augsburg and Munich . During the battles in Munich his troops were subordinate to the Freikorps Epp and he therefore received the gold medal of this unit. Since 1919 he was also a member of the Catholic student association KDStV Markomannia Würzburg .

In November 1921, the man from Palatinate ended his military service and resumed studying theology. On June 25, 1922, he was ordained a priest from Bishop Ludwig Sebastian in Speyer Cathedral . As chaplain of Pastor Dr. Jakob Weis in Pirmasens, he took an active part in the fight against separatist rule and he was known as the city's active Caritasse secretary . From 1927 to 1935 Konrath looked after the parish of Labach as a pastor .

Pastor of Ensheim

From June 1935 to 1967 he worked as a pastor in Ensheim , Saar-Palatinate , where he shared the life of the villagers for a generation, especially during the difficult period of World War II .

Pastor Konrath was a staunch opponent of National Socialism and, due to his military career, also had a combative disposition. So he got into a permanent conflict with the Nazi authorities, where probably only his reputation as a highly decorated, former front-line officer saved him from imprisonment. The documentation about the resistance of Palatinate priests against National Socialism lists the following facts about him:

“July 1935 Warning by the Gestapo because of putting up a 2 m tall, illuminated at night Christ sign on the tower of the church. In June 1936 church flags hung up by the SA at 18 houses in the village were burned on the occasion of a church festival. In August 1936, the parsonage was broken into and “political records” were stolen; Another warning from the Gestapo. 1938 school ban and 4 weeks ban on preaching. A total of 3 house searches and 30 interrogations by the Gestapo. "

In September 1939 the Ensheim near the front was evacuated due to the outbreak of war and Pastor Konrath and the community moved to Heidingsfeld , Franconia, in assigned emergency quarters. After returning, the damage to the church and rectory had to be repaired. In the winter of 1944/45 heavy fighting raged in the area around Ensheim and war damage occurred again, which took many years to repair. Like most of the residents, Konrath also left the combat area and stayed for a few weeks in Biedershausen near Landstuhl . The returned clergyman later promoted the reconstruction and housing construction in the industrial town on the outskirts of Saarbrücken . He was an avid and popular pastor and organized pilgrimages to Lourdes . Until a few weeks before his death he worked as an active local pastor and died at the age of 72 in a Saarbrücken hospital. He was buried in his parish Ensheim, which had become his second home in 32 years.

An obituary of the Saarbrücker Zeitung from October 23, 1967 stated u. a .: “After returning home, he devoted himself to restoring the church and the rectory, which had suffered severe war damage. During the time of his priestly work in Ensheim, he procured a new organ, built a new morgue and built a new twelve-class school on Wickersberg. "

literature

• The Palatinate theologians in the World War. Pilger Publishing House. Speyer approx. 1930, pp. 35, 40.
• Palatinate theologians in the World War. The pilgrim . Pilgrim No. 23 from June 6, 1937.
• Historical notes. Supplement to the schematism of the Speyer diocese in 1947. Pilger-Verlag. Speyer 1947 p. 33. (also published in reprint)
• Saarbrücker Zeitung of October 23, 1967: Obituary.
• Obituary Pastor Alois Konrath. The pilgrim. Pilgrim No. 44 of October 29, 1967.
• Pilgrim calendar Speyer (yearbook of the diocese). 1969. Obituary.

Web links

• Entry in Saarland Biographies.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Matthias Stickler : New beginning and continuity - Würzburg in the Weimar Republic , in: Ulrich Wagner (ed.): History of the city of Würzburg: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century , Vol. III / 1. Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, p. 183 and p. 192/193 (plate 13).