Anton Marxer

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Liechtenstein postage stamp from 1974

Franz Xaver Anton Marxer (born May 20, 1703 in Heiligkreuz near Tisis , † May 25, 1775 in Vienna ) was auxiliary bishop in Vienna.

Life

Franz Xaver Anton Marxer was born in 1703 in Heiligkreuz near Tisis as a citizen of Ruggell . His parents Ulrich Marxer and Anna Maria geb. Schmied ran the inn "Zum Schwarzen Adler" there. He worked as an altar boy from an early age, which brought him into contact with the Jesuit priest Konstantin Storff, who also gave him lessons and later made it possible for him to attend the Jesuit grammar school in Feldkirch . In 1720 Marxer went to Vienna to study theology and philosophy and finished both subjects with a doctorate.

Marxer was ordained a priest on May 22, 1728 and also worked at the university. In 1732 he became professor of theology and in 1738 dean of the theological faculty and canon of St. Stephen . He became head of the poor fund and received from Maria Theresa the task of reorganizing the poor, which among other things led to the establishment of the first Viennese orphanage on Rennweg in 1742 . Marxer was its director until 1759. In 1761 Maria Theresia bought the facility, which in the end offered space for up to 300 children. In 1746 he received the Ebersdorf estate (today Kaiserebersdorf) near Vienna from Maria Theresa for his services.

Episcopal coat of arms

In 1749 he was appointed auxiliary bishop and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Vienna . From 1753 he also served as provost and chancellor of the University of Vienna until his death . He died at the age of 72 and was buried in front of the high altar of the pilgrimage church in Gutenbrunn.

Church career and social activity

Marxer rose quickly in the Catholic Church to the position of auxiliary bishop and vicar general. At the instigation of the Empress, he was consecrated in 1748 by the Vienna Prince Archbishop Sigismund Cardinal Kollonitz as titular bishop of Chrysopolis in Arabia . He was also pastor of Hütteldorf , Kaiserebersdorf and Kirnberg, where, however, due to his obligations in Vienna, he was represented by vicars. Having won a total of 90,000 guilders in two lottery winnings, Marxer acquired Gutenbrunn Castle in 1754 , which he used as a summer residence, as well as the associated pilgrimage chapel, and put the rest of it in his orphanage. In order to give the veneration of Mary associated with a miraculous image an appropriate framework, he had a church built by Hildebrandt's student Johann Ohmeyer according to the “Vorarlberg cathedral scheme”, which was consecrated in 1758. In memory of his birth in Heiligkreuz near Tisis (Feldkirch), he named the place Heiligenkreuz. It became an important place of pilgrimage in the 18th century. In 1767 the west wing of the castle was expanded to become a seminary for Lower Austria (the then huge diocese of Passau ), which was dissolved again in the course of the reforms of Emperor Josef II. In 1783. It was only reopened in St. Pölten in 1791 after the death of Josef II . In 1768, today's orphanage church of the Birth of Mary was built on the site of the orphanage's chapel. At the opening, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , who was only 12 years old, performed his specially composed "Orphanage Mass" in the presence of Empress Maria Theresa. The orphanage was closed by Emperor Josef II in 1785 and converted into an artillery barracks.

Honors

literature

See also

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Marxer, Anton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marxer, Franz Xaver Anton
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian clergyman, auxiliary bishop of Vienna
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1703
PLACE OF BIRTH Holy Cross at Tisis
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 1775
Place of death Vienna