August Konermann

August Konermann (born May 24, 1881 in Recke-Steinbeck , † April 15, 1950 in Münster ) was a German Roman Catholic pastor and journalist . As the “workers priest” and diocesan president of the Catholic workers movement (KAB) of the diocese of Münster , he has become known far beyond its borders. Pope Pius XII appointed him prelate in 1943 .

Life

August Konermann was born on a farm in the small village of Steinbeck, where he also spent his childhood. After studying theology in Münster he received on May 25, 1907 Münster Cathedral in Muenster by Bishop Hermann Jakob Dingelstad the priesthood . Konermann then worked for two years as rector of the agricultural winter school in Ascheberg , for four years as vicar at the Aegidiikirche in Münster and then for eight years as chaplain at St. Marien in Ahlen , where he was also president of the largest KAB association. With the dogma-historical study The Doctrine of the Origin of Human Souls in Christian Literature up to the Council of Nicaea , he received his doctorate in theology in Münster in 1915 .

Because of his success in worker pastoral care , Bishop Johannes Poggenburg appointed him diocesan president of the KAB in the diocese of Münster in 1921. As a result, the Münster Diocesan Association developed into the largest in Germany with 65,000 members. Konermann was constantly on the way to meetings, retreats and courses in order to spread the church's social teaching and to strengthen the association's work.

The emerging National Socialism was Dr. Konermann disapproved of, which intensified after the seizure of power in 1933 and the subsequent synchronization , in the course of which the KAB associations were also banned and dissolved. Together with the diocesan praeses of Paderborn, Heinrich Marx , Konermann published the book Burning Questions of Land and Industry Pastoral Care in 1933 . Sermons and lectures for the time of need of our people , whom he received Siegfried or Christ in 1935 . Sermons and addresses for the industrial and rural pastoral care followed. The new rulers observed his work very closely. In 1935, the Secret State Police intercepted a postcard sent to the workers' secretary Josef Jakob (parliamentary group leader of the center in Bocholt ), on which President Konermann indicated the possibility of a mass exit of the KAB members from the Nazi unity organization German Labor Front (DAF). Thereupon the Gestapo arrested Konermann on September 8, 1935 and locked him in the state police prison in Münster. At the mediation of a clergyman, he was released after ten days, but expelled from the Münster administrative district . Konermann spent the time of his exile in Haste near Osnabrück and in the Marienstift in Vechta . He was able to return to Münster on April 20, 1936.

The center of his work there was the Kettelerheim, where he had held courses in previous years. Appointed by the bishop to head the retreat center in 1937, the Kettelerheim developed into one of the largest retreat houses . Tens of thousands met there for contemplation and reflection. With the beginning of the Second World War , however, it was closed and confiscated by the Wehrmacht .

His work for the labor movement and his attitude towards the Nazi regime moved Pope Pius XII. in addition, Dr. Konermann was appointed his house prelate in 1943. The award was presented to him by Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen .

After the end of the war, Prelate Dr. Konermann put a lot of energy into rebuilding the labor movement. On his initiative, the KAB diocesan association was also founded. In 1948 he was a co-founder of the Gottfried-Könzgen-Heim in Haltern am See .

He also pushed ahead with the reconstruction of the Kettelerheim, which had been destroyed in the war. During a tour of the construction progress, Prelate Dr. However, August Konermann had a tragic accident, of the consequences of which he died on April 15, 1950. His funeral at the Steinbeck cemetery four days later turned out to be an impressive demonstration by the church workers' movement. Among the huge number of mourners were several thousand KAB men with 150 KAB banners, 98 priests and Auxiliary Bishop Heinrich Roleff . The tomb of the worker priest, who has not been forgotten in the Münsterland, was created by the sculptor Joseph Krautwald from Rheine.

In 1968, in honor of Prelate Konermann, the old part of the Christophorushaus in Münster was renamed the Dr.-Konermann-Heim . In Steinbeck, Prälat-Konermann-Strasse commemorates him.

Fonts

• The doctrine of the origin of human souls in Christian literature up to the Council of Nicaea. A study of the history of dogma , dissertation, Münster 1915
• as editor: retreats and retreat organization. Tasks of modern pastoral care. Lectures , (2nd edition), Einsiedeln 1925
• as editor: The religious and moral situation of the industrial masses and their ecclesiastical coverage. Weeks of peace; House and Chapel Mission. Lectures and sermon material , Münster 1928
• as editor together with Heinrich Marx : Burning questions of rural and industrial pastoral care. Sermons and lectures for the time of need of our people , Münster 1933
• as editor: Siegfried or Christ. Sermons and addresses for industrial and rural pastoral care , Münster 1935
• Men's sermons on basic religious issues , Würzburg 1941
• Sermons and addresses to the world of men , Münster 1947
• Core questions of modern pastoral care. Pastoral care and religious customs in the countryside , Münster 1950

literature

• Annette Kleinert: Prelate Dr. August Konermann , in: Recke. A village is changing . Ibbenbürener Vereinsdruckerei (IVD), Ibbenbüren 1983, ISBN 3-921290-07-4 , pp. 233-234
• Werner Heukamp : Praelat Dr. Konermann the worker priest , in which: From people and events. Unnerwäggens düor Riecke, Steemke and Espel tells in high and low German . Ibbenbürener Vereinsdruckerei (IVD), Ibbenbüren 2006, ISBN 3-932959-51-5 , p. 52