Bentivolius Heinrich Marxen

Bentivolius Heinrich Marxen OFM (born October 27, 1911 in Rees am Niederrhein as Heinrich Marxen , † January 10, 1995 in Mönchengladbach ) was a German Franciscan and escape helper during the Nazi era .

Live and act

Exaten Castle in 1965

Heinrich Marxen entered the Cologne province ( Colonia ) of the Franciscan order and received the order name Bentivolius (the benevolent), after one of the first brothers of the order's founder Francis of Assisi . On August 9, 1936 Bentivolius Marxen was in the monastery church of St. Barbara in Mönchengladbach for ordained priests . Then he was a high school teacher in Exaten near Roermond (Netherlands). Exaten Castle was used by the Saxon Franciscan Province of Saxonia as a high school with boarding school for German boys, which was recognized as a German school abroad , since 1927 - like the neighboring St. Ludwig College in Vlodrop . With the re-establishment of the Cologne Franciscan Province in April 1929, Exaten passed to this province.

During this time, Marxen experienced the harassment of the National Socialists : After the number of pupils had fallen sharply due to new passport and currency regulations, they withdrew from the school at Exaten Castle and the other schools run by religious in the Netherlands on August 19, 1938 , recognition as a German school abroad. At risk of death he organized the delivery of illegal mail from his order between the Netherlands and Germany. He was considered a determined and active opponent of the National Socialists and a staunch anti-militarist.

At the end of the 1930s, Marxen was transferred to the Franciscan monastery of the Moresnet-Chapelle pilgrimage site . This place belongs to the old Belgian communities that belonged to Belgium until the invasion of the Wehrmacht on May 10, 1940 (and again after the liberation on September 12, 1944). From 1941 to 1945 he was a pilgrimage pastor there. As such, he looked after the people who came with the weekly processions via the locally so-called Bittweg from Aachen, including French and Walloons who had escaped from captivity , on their way to Belgium and possibly further. Like other Catholic actors in the area, Father Bentivolius was part of a network of escape helpers ( passeurs ) from the old Belgian communities across the new border.

Father Marxen was also involved in the Catholic youth pastoral care in Moresnet-Chapelle by looking after the local boy scout group Baden Powell , which was able to meet at his instigation in the former hermitage Gordes-Klause.

On September 11, 1944, the last German soldiers from Moresnet fled from the approaching Americans . They called the Father as a rich German citizens an ultimatum to come with them. When he refused, he should be shot dead. A crowd that took a threatening stance towards these withdrawing Germans was ultimately able to save the father's life. The next day, in the wake of the US troops, a group of "freedom fighters" ("Armée Blanche") came to Moresnet. They found an air safety helmet with a swastika in Father Marxen's room . Then they wanted to shoot him in the same place as the German soldiers the day before. This time he was saved by an altar boy who was able to convincingly describe the work of the priest during the occupation.

Bentivolius Marxen became a chaplain at the Franciscan Church of the Holy Cross in Essen in 1947 . Then he was a retreat master on the Apollinarisberg in Remagen and later Guardian of the convent in Essen. From 1959 he worked as a nurse and priest pastor in the Eifel. From 1962 to 1992 he was pastor of the parish of St. Gertrudis in Oedingen . In November 1976 he founded the St. Gertrudis Oedingen church choir there.

Marxen retired in 1992, which he spent again in Moresnet-Chapelle. He died in Mönchengladbach. He is buried in the second grave of the Franciscan cemetery in Moresnet-Chapelle, behind the altar on the Calvaire (Way of the Cross). A photo of Marxen can be found in an article about this cemetery.

Honors

The Pater-Bentivolius-Marxen-Strasse in Oedingen bears his name.

Publications

• During his first time in Moresnet, he wrote Frère François (Brother Francis), inspired by the French philosopher Joseph Folliet (1903–1972) and his work “La spiritualité de la route” ( Spirituality on the move ).
• The old parish church of St. Gertrud in Remagen-Oedingen . In: Heimatjahrbuch Kreis Ahrweiler , year 1990, p. 64 ( online ).
• Another contribution to local history is his translation of the Herigarius will , supplement to the Gertrudis messenger from June 1987

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gravestone in the Franciscan cemetery in Moresnet-Chapelle / Belgium
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Cell phone tour Ostbelgien, part 8: War, Nazis and resistance , part of the democracy project of the Autonomous University in Eupen , accessed on June 17, 2020.
3. ^ ^{A b} Elisabeth Hoffmann La mémoire de la "Résistance" au prisme d'une histoire comparée des associations d'anciens résistants du Luxembourg, de l'Alsace, de la Moselle et de la Belgique de l'Est (1944-2017) , Dissertation 2018 Luxembourg. P. 13
4. ↑ Art. Bentivolius de Bonis in the portal heiligenlexikon.de, accessed on June 17, 2020.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Bentivolius Heinrich Marxen in the Ahrweiler Wiki.
6. ^ Klooster Sint Ludwig , accessed June 17, 2020.
7. ↑ Royal Tourist Association Three Frontiers: Gordes Hermitage in Moresnet Chapel , accessed on June 17, 2020.
8. ↑ Hallengemeinschaft Oedingen eV (Ed.): On the history of Oedingen from 853 to 2000 , p. 205.
9. ^ Photo of the tombstone in the Franciscan cemetery in Moresnet-Chapelle
10. ^ Trois frontieres.be: The cemetery of the Calvary The cemetery of the Calvary
11. ↑ onlinestreet.de: Pater-Bentivolius-Marxen-Str.
12. ↑ Hallengemeinschaft Oedingen eV (Ed.): On the history of Oedingen from 853 to 2000 , p. 35.