Anton Foohs
Anton Foohs (born January 3, 1871 in Kerzenheim ; † December 12, 1940 in Munich ) was a priest of the Diocese of Speyer , initiator of the 1st Speyer Diocesan Catholic Day in St. John's Cross , 1908, military chaplain in Landau , from 1910; in the First World War divisional pastor of the 3rd Bavarian Infantry Division , after the war chaplain in the Probstmayer volunteer detachment, in the Reichswehr and the Bavarian State Police , then professor for religious studies in Würzburg. He had the academic degree or title of Dr. phil. , Spiritual Councilor and Papal Secret Chamberlain .
Life
Anton Foohs was born on January 3rd, 1871 in the north Palatinate city of candles , as the son of the farmers Anton Foohs and Catharina Barbara born. Wildanger born. From 1881 he attended the Latin school in Grünstadt , then the grammar school in Neustadt , where he passed his Abitur in 1890. He then began his philosophical, theological and legal studies in Innsbruck (3 semesters) and then moved to the University of Würzburg, where he received his doctorate in philosophy. After completing his studies, he was accepted into the seminary in Speyer and ordained a priest on August 16, 1895.
After years of chaplaincy in Lambrecht (Grevenhausen), Ensheim , and Edenkoben , he received the branch in Böbingen in 1902 , in 1905 he became parish administrator in Harthausen , in 1906 pastor of Trippstadt in the Palatinate Forest . As a pastor there, in 1908 he was instrumental in initiating the 1st Speyer Diocesan Catholic Day in the St. John 's Cross that belongs to his parish . This Catholic Day has become a firm tradition in the Speyer diocese and took place until 2007 at the location in Johanniskreuz chosen by Pastor Foohs. Due to forest damage and the resulting expensive security work, the events can currently no longer take place there.
On November 1, 1910, Anton Foohs took the post of military chaplain in the Bavarian garrison town of Landau . With the outbreak of the First World War he was promoted to divisional pastor of the 3rd Bay. Infantry Division . In this capacity he went through the entire war. In his obituary, in the Speyer diocese newspaper "Pilger" , official assessments from the military qualification report are quoted. It says there, among other things:
" Chaplain Dr. Anton Foohs is an exemplary field chaplain, who goes far beyond his duties and who fearlessly breaks through the barrage in all battles in order to stand by the wounded in the front line and to speak to the fighting. Though his achievements are far beyond what is due, he is quiet and humble and never spoke in the morning about being in the front line on the night of the fight. An amiable, fine, always cheerful companion, very popular on the staff .... Pastor Dr. Foohs confirmed the qualities he was given in the great defensive battles of Arras, Loos, on the Somme and in Flanders. His Iron Cross 1st class is adorned with a real soldier's heart in priestly dress ... It will remain unforgettable for the division, as Dr. Foohs on 9.6.1918 during the storming of the Thiescourt forest, stayed in the front rows for 12 hours ... fulfilling his office. "
Anton Foohs was the regular Bavarian division pastor from August 1, 1914 to December 13, 1918. During this time, he was permanently at the front. After the war he voluntarily stayed with his comrades as a pastor. He was in charge of the detachment of Major Theodor Probstmayer, the last commander of the 4th Bavarian Infantry Regiment, and took part with him - subordinate to the Freikorps Epp - on behalf of the Reich government in the battles against Soviet rule in Augsburg and Munich . In June 1919, the Probstmayer Detachment merged with other voluntary associations (e.g. Freikorps Würzburg, Freikorps Aschaffenburg, Freikorps Bamberg, Freikorps Bayreuth, Iron Squad Berthold) in the "Reichswehr Brigade 23 Würzburg". Anton Foohs now lived in the parish of St. Bernhard Würzburg and pastored the aforementioned Reichswehr formation as a priest, as well as the (barracked) Bavarian State Police in Würzburg. When he left, the site commander General Hermann Ritter von Speck wrote in a daily order:
" The high conception of his profession, his personality as a priest and as a person, his active example of practical Christianity, combined with a lively understanding of the soldier and soldier nature, have earned the outgoing military chaplain to the highest degree the trust and admiration of the military community he oversees, which will be effective far beyond his present departure. "
From 1921 Anton Foohs acted as a professor (later senior teacher) for religious studies at the district high school in Würzburg, at times also at the lyceum, at the girls' high school and at the women's school. Bishop Matthias Ehrenfried von Würzburg appointed him his clerical council in 1930.
On July 19, 1931, Anton Foohs appeared again as a keynote speaker at the Catholic Day of the Diocese of Speyer, in his former parish Johanniskreuz. There he gave a speech on the 40th anniversary of Ludwig Windthorst's death , entitled: "Windthorst and our time". It was to be the last of these Catholic days before World War II . In 1932 he was canceled because of a major event of the Center Party taking place on the same day in Ludwigshafen am Rhein , at which Chancellor Heinrich Brüning spoke; from 1933 the diocesan catholic days could no longer take place.
Anton went Foohs 1935 in pension and moved from Würzburg to Munich. On March 24, 1938, Pope Pius XI appointed him . to the papal secret chamberlain. Shortly before the age of 70, the priest died of "cardiac paralysis" in a clinic in Munich, which he had to visit because of his heart condition. He was buried in Hainfeld in the Palatinate, in the family grave of his brother August Foohs. Anton Foohs had numerous awards, including the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, the Bavarian Military Merit Order 4th Class with Crown and Swords, the Prince Regent Luitpold Medal , and the Wound Badge in black, for two wounds.
Post fame
A biographical sketch of the priest by Hans Ammerich was published in the 2008 yearbook of the Klerusblattverlag München Diener im Weinberg des Herr, Priest Personalities from twelve dioceses . As a result, people in the Palatinate remembered the striking clergy and the Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science published its annotated and illustrated diary entries from the First World War in 2010 under the title Waiver of Revenge. The war diary 1914/18 of the division pastor of the Landau garrison Dr. Anton Foohs .
literature
- Pilgrim No. 52, December 22, 1940, general obituary.
- Pilgrim No. 1 of January 5, 1941, obituary notice.
- Pilgrim No. 2, January 12, 1941, military obituary.
- Ludwig Börst: "The Palatinate Theologians in World War 1914-18", pages 26 and 40, Pilger-Verlag Speyer, approx. 1930.
- Hans Ammerich: Pastor Dr. Anton Foohs, founder of the Catholic Day of the Diocese of Speyer , in the book: Servants in the Lord's Vineyard, Priestly Personalities from Twelve Dioceses , Klerusblatt-Verlag, Munich, 2008.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Carl W. Müller (Ed.): Renunciation of revenge. The war diary 1914/1918 of the division pastor of the Landau garrison Dr. Anton Foohs. Palatinate Society for the Advancement of Science, Speyer 2010, ISBN 978-3-932155-29-1 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Foohs, Anton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Priest of the Diocese of Speyer, military pastor, chaplain in the First World War |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 3, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Candle home , |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 12, 1940 |
| Place of death | Munich |