Beda Kleinschmidt

Beda Kleinschmidt's relief on the "Bedastein"

Beda Kleinschmidt OFM (* October 12, 1867 in Brakel as Julius Theodor Kleinschmidt ; † March 7, 1932 in Paderborn ) was a German Franciscan , church and art historian.

Life

1867-1915

Julius Theodor Kleinschmidt was the seventh of 12 children of the master plumber Ferdinand Kleinschmidt (born February 22, 1829 in Brakel, † in July 1876) and his wife Gertrud geb. Robrecht (born December 6, 1839 in Nieheim ) and baptized on October 17, 1867 in the parish church of St. Michael in Brakel. After attending primary school, Julius Kleinschmidt was able to attend the Latin school in Brakel and at Easter 1884 switched to the Theodorianum grammar school in Paderborn, where he was admitted to the upper secondary school and lived in the Liborianum boys' seminar .

On January 14, 1888, he entered the Saxon Franciscan Province of the Holy Cross ( Saxonia ) and received the religious name Beda . He went through the novitiate in Harreveld near Lichtenvoorde ( Netherlands ), followed by the study of philosophy and theology at the study houses of the order province in Düsseldorf and Paderborn . On August 8, 1892 Beda Kleinschmidt was ordained a priest by Bishop Hubertus Simar in Paderborn Cathedral . He then worked for several years as a teacher at the Saxonia grammar schools in Dorsten, Düsseldorf and Wiedenbrück and as a lecturer for rhetoric at the provincial study houses there. In Düsseldorf he was also a librarian and master of theology students from 1896, and from 1899 to 1902 he worked in the same position in Wiedenbrück. From 1903 he was lecturer for theology at the religious college in Paderborn for two years, as he had further educated himself scientifically in addition to his teaching activities. In 1905 he took over the management of the boarding school in Harreveld as rector and managed to get the provincial management to move the college to Vlodrop in the Dutch province of Limburg as the St. Ludwig college because of the poor state of construction .

During this time he also conducted liturgical history studies and historical studies on Christian art, including on several trips to Italy - especially to Assisi -, to Belgium, France and Scandinavia. In addition to articles in several theological and art journals, for example on priestly vestments and liturgical implements , he published a textbook on Christian art history in 1910 and a first volume on the Holy Sepulcher of St. Francis of Assisi , the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi, which was later followed by two more volumes . In 1911 he initiated the publication of the series of monographs on the history of Christian art , and in 1914 he founded the journal Franziskanische Studien . When he was transferred to the monastery on the Kreuzberg in Bonn as a guardian in 1911 , he soon undertook the thorough renovation of the church there and renewed the pilgrimage route from Endenich to the Kreuzberg and the veneration of the Mater Dolorosa .

Father Beda worked to the fact that the number of doctorates of Franciscans of the Saxon province at state universities increased; from 1911 to 1918, 16 provincial members achieved the doctorate . He himself had never studied at a university, but on June 18, 1915, due to his publications, he was awarded a doctorate from the theological faculty of the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg .

Provincial of Saxonia

At the provincial chapter in Paderborn on August 11, 1915 and again on August 22, 1918 Beda Kleinschmidt was elected Provincial Minister of Saxonia for three years . He lived in the monastery in Düsseldorf , the seat of the provincial government. Half of the provincial members were drafted into military service, and there was a shortage of pastoral care and housekeeping staff in the monasteries. The province kept in touch with the drafted brothers through a circular that appeared from 1914 and was replaced by 14 episodes of a "small war newspaper"; from 1918 it became the provincial newspaper "Mitteilungen aus der Provinz" ("Messages from the Province") (from 1920 to 1996 "Vita Seraphica"). Father Beda visited wounded members of the provinces in the hospitals in Charleroi and Antwerp and also came to places of war history in Belgium. At Christmas 1916 he called on the brothers during their military service "to sacrifice out of love for God, but also out of love for the 'hard-pressed fatherland'". As Provincial , on February 1, 1918, on behalf of the Saxonia Brothers , he was awarded the Red Cross Medal for the help the Franciscans provided in the medical service during the war, and on July 6, 1918 he was awarded the Pectoral Cross of the Order of Malta .

The double stress of his leadership positions in the order, especially during the war years, and the scientific activity led to overload and severe health problems, so that on February 10, 1919, for health reasons, he appointed Definitor Fr. Lukas Koch as provincial vicar with his representative appointed provincial and retired to the monastery in Paderborn. On October 25, 1921, Father  Raimund Dreiling was elected Minister Provincial.

1919-1932

After his gradual recovery and without management responsibility, Beda Kleinschmidt resumed his travel activities for study purposes, which he financed through his writings, sermons and donations. He traveled to Spain and Portugal, to Israel and to North America, which also prompted him to publish about "German Abroad" and the Catholic mission overseas. His travel impressions appeared in numerous Catholic daily and weekly newspapers. From 1925 he taught occidental and east Asian art as well as liturgy at the university of his order in Paderborn . He also brought out two more volumes on the Church of San Francesco in Assisi. The number of his scientific articles in specialist journals is around 170. From 1925 until his death he worked as a pastor on Sundays and public holidays in Kempenfeldrom , where he was called the " Eggepater ". He died after pneumonia on March 7, 1932 in the State Hospital in Paderborn.

Honors

• In July 1930 he became an honorary citizen of his hometown Brakel.
• Since 1948 a memorial plaque for the “Eggepater” Beda has been attached to a wayside shrine on the “Eggeweg” hiking trail; Father Beda discovered this baroque memorial stone, today called “Bedastein”, while hiking.

Fonts

• Textbook of Christian art history. Schöningh. Paderborn 1910.
• The Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi. Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin 1915 (1st volume), 1926 (2nd volume), 1928 (3rd volume).
• My mary psalter. Laumann, Dülmen 1925.
• History of Christian Art. 2nd, increased edition, Schöningh, Paderborn 1926.
• The Germans abroad overseas and the Catholic Mission Movement with special consideration of Germany and Austria from 1875 to 1925. Aschendorff, Münster 1926.
• Francis and his work I. Mary and Francis in art and history. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1926.
• Monographs on Christian Art II. St. Francis. B. Kühlen, Mönchengladbach o. J.
• My trips to Spain. Franziskusdruckerei, Werl 1927.
• My hiking and pilgrimages in Spain. Aschendorff, Münster 1929.
• German Abroad and Church. A manual and reference book on a historical and statistical basis. Volume 1: Foundation. European German Abroad. Volume 2: The Germans Abroad in Overseas. Aschendorff, Münster 1930.
• Saint Anna. Your reverence in history, art and folklore. L. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1930.
• Anthony of Padua - in life and art, culture and folklore. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1931.

literature

• P.  Autbert Stroick  OFM: Beda Kleinschmidt OFM †. In: Saint Wiborada. A yearbook for book lovers. Volume 1 (1933) pp. 156-159.
• Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Details from his life compiled by Sister M. Apollinaris Jörgens. Brakel n.d. (= Brakeler Schriftenreihe No. 19).
• Jürgen Werinhard Einhorn OFM: Beda Kleinschmidt. Twice provincial minister between 1915 and 1919. In: Dieter Berg (Ed.): Management und Minoritas. Life pictures of the Saxon Franciscan provincials from the 13th to the 20th century. Butzon & Bercker Verlag, Kevelaer 2003, pp. 321–358.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Brakel n.d., pp. 7-16.
2. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 535; P. Autbert Stroick OFM: Beda Kleinschmidt OFM †. In: Saint Wiborada. A yearbook for book lovers. Volume 1 (1933) pp. 156-159, here pp. 157f .; Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Brakel n.d., p. 16f.
3. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 533.
4. ↑ Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Brakel n.d., pp. 25f.
5. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, p. 541; Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Brakel n.d., p. 22f.
6. ↑ Dieter Berg (Ed.): Traces of Franciscan History. Chronological outline of the history of the Saxon Franciscan provinces from their beginnings to the present. Werl 1999, pp. 539,543,545,547; Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Brakel n.d., p. 24.
7. ^ P. Autbert Stroick, OFM: Beda Kleinschmidt, OFM †. In: Saint Wiborada. A yearbook for book lovers. Volume 1 (1933) pp. 156-159, here p. 159; Heimat- und Museumsverein Brakel eV (Ed.): Father Beda Kleinschmidt OFM 1867–1932, an honorary citizen of the city of Brakel. Brakel n.d., pp. 25-34 and 46f.
8. ↑ eggegebirgsverein.de , accessed on 30 November 2016th

Web links

Wikisource: Beda Kleinschmidt  - Sources and full texts

Wikisource: Author: Beda Julius Kleinschmidt  - Sources and full texts (English)