Anton Michael Wohlfarth

Anton Michael Wohlfarth (born October 31, 1756 - † January 4, 1836 ) was abbot of the Cistercian monastery Neukloster in Wiener Neustadt .

Life

Anton Michael Wohlfarth was born in Wiener Neustadt as the son of Johann Michael Wohlfarth and his wife Eva Christine, née Weldinger. In addition to the soap-making, the family also ran agriculture and viticulture and was well off economically. Anton Wohlfarth attended the Jesuit grammar school in Wiener Neustadt , where he joined the Marian Student Congregation. In autumn 1773 he began studying philosophy at the University of Vienna and always received very good grades in all subjects.

On November 20, 1776, Wohlfarth became a novice in the Cistercian monastery in Wiener Neustadt. It is possible that his uncle, the new Cistercian monastery P. Placidus (Ferdinand Kaspar) Pogner, was decisive for this decision. Wohlfarth was influenced by the Jesuits , but could not join the Jesuits because the Society of Jesus was abolished in 1773.

After his probationary year, Wohlfarth was already teaching Latin grammar at the Neukloster Abbey secondary school. He made his profession on October 21, 1780 due to the age clause, which entitles him to profession at the age of 24, and kept his baptismal name as a religious name. From 1779, Wohlfarth also studied Greek, hermeneutics of the Old and New Testaments and church history for two years; courses in systematic dogmatics, patrology and polemics followed with top marks. He then studied canon law from 1782 to 1784.

On September 20, 1783 Wohlfarth was ordained a deacon in the house chapel of the episcopal residence in Wiener Neustadt , a little more than six months later, on April 10, 1784, he was ordained priest there . His first Mass he celebrated on 18 April. From November 1784 he studied at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Vienna and from 1785 lived in the Vienna General Seminary , of which he was prefect from 1787 to 1790. On October 13, 1785 he received his doctorate at the University of Vienna; from 1791 until his recall to the new monastery in 1797 he was professor of biblical studies at the seminary in St. Pölten .

In 1797, a son of Maria Theresa , Archduke Ferdinand, moved into the prelature of the new monastery with his family and his court. Since Ferdinand's youngest son, the twelve-year-old Karl Ambros, was destined for the clergy, he was instructed in religion by Wohlfarth during his time in the new monastery (until 1801), who wrote a child-friendly “Old Testament story” for this purpose. During this time Wohlfarth also acted as a preacher and was novice master in the monastery.

Act as abbot

After the death of Abbot Alberich Stingel on January 24th, 1801, the convent elected Anton Wohlfarth as its new abbot with a two-thirds majority on May 16th. The abbot's benediction took place the next day.

Due to the lack of personnel, he always tried to find new novices: during his term of office the new monastery had 45 novices, 25 of whom were professed, the majority of whom left the monastery. From 1784 onwards, due to the lack of staff, it was no longer possible to perform choral prayer and was therefore replaced by common morning and evening prayer. The constant economic problems of the monastery made new admissions difficult, so there were problems in the pastoral care of the parishes supervised by the monastery.

After it was again permitted to run theological private schools since 1790 - but with the restriction that there were enough state-certified teachers available - the abbots of the four Lower Austrian Cistercian monasteries Heiligenkreuz , Lilienfeld , Zwettl and Neukloster came to promote the training of their young clergy , together. The aim was to found a joint institution, as the permanent lack of staff would have made it difficult for the pens to go it alone. Initially, the Neukloster was discussed as the seat of the educational institution, but the decision was finally made in favor of Heiligenkreuz. On November 6, 1802, the philosophical-theological college was opened. Wohlfarth was not only a co-author of the statutes, but can also be seen as the driving force behind the foundation.

Wohlfarth not only endeavored to educate the religious youth in this area, but also endeavored to establish and maintain the religious high school in Wiener Neustadt. The establishment was finally ordered by the court, and the new monastery was entrusted with the maintenance and management. The difficult economic situation and the shortage of staff meant that the four Lower Austrian Cistercian monasteries united for the implementation and raised funds and teachers together. However, the premises of the grammar school, which opened on November 5, 1804, were set up in the Neukloster and Wohlfarth was appointed local director.

Anton Wohlfarth was unable to walk from 1816, and his legs were completely paralyzed from 1826. He died at the age of 80 on January 4, 1836.

literature

• Alberich Matthias Strommer: Anton Wohlfarth. 1801 to 1836 abbot of the new monastery in Wiener Neustadt, a representative of late Josephinism. A contribution to the history of the Neukloster, which has been united with the Heiligenkreuz Abbey since 1881 (Heiligenkreuzer study series, vol. 3). Heiligenkreuz 1984, without ISBN.
• Entry in Constantin von Wurzbach : Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich , vol. 57, p. 234f., Vienna 1889.

Web links

• Anton Wohlfarth in Biographia Cisterciensis