Bernhard Würschmitt

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Book cover of the biography with Würschmitt's artist monogram.
Würschmitt pyramid, Bad Bergzabern old cemetery
Lizard and fern on the tombstone for his brother, Domkapitular Bruno Würschmitt , co-founder of the Palatinate Pollichia , Domkapitelsfriedhof Speyer
Plant and insect from the same tombstone

Bernhard Würschmitt (actually Bernhard Gottfried Josef Würschmitt, born November 21, 1788 in Mainz , † June 18, 1853 in Bergzabern ) was a Catholic priest and sculptor .

Life

Bernhard Würschmitt was one of 16 children of the Electoral Mainz Court and Government Councilor Ivo Franz-Xaver Würschmitt and his wife Susanna Theresia born. Fritz.

During the French conquest of Mainz in 1792 , the family fled to Erfurt . There the boy grew up and attended the Catholic high school. He studied in Erfurt and Aschaffenburg, and was ordained a priest on June 25, 1816 in Würzburg by Auxiliary Bishop Gregor von Zirkel . Würschmitt served as chaplain in Aschaffenburg , Gailbach , Haibach , Röllbach and Miltenberg , and received his doctorate in philosophy; In 1821, at the presentation of Prince Karl Thomas zu Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, he became pastor for the Breuberg lordship , based in Neustadt im Odenwald, and in 1825, pastor of Steinfeld . In Neustadt in 1822 he published the "Christian Catholic Hymns and Prayer Book for General Use in Public Services" published in Aschaffenburg.

In 1826 the priest moved to the diocese of Speyer , whose bishop Matthäus Georg von Chandelle came from Aschaffenburg and where Würschmitt's brother Bruno Adolf was already pastor of Neustadt an der Haardt , and later as cathedral chapter. On March 3, 1826, he transferred to the Diocese of Speyer, became pastor of Grevenhausen (today Lambrecht ), on November 29, 1828, city pastor in Grünstadt / Weinstrasse and in 1832 of Schwanheim . On April 9, 1836, the retirement took place (Quieszierung). The clergyman then lived as a retiree in Bad Bergzabern , where he died in 1853.

In addition to his profession as a priest, Würschmitt also worked as a sculptor and painter. In addition to paintings and altars, he made a great deal of sculptural work, mostly high-quality tombstones; of which many are still preserved today, u. a. two pieces for Pastor Gabriel Hagspiel and Mayor Wilhelm Bordollo in Peterspark Grünstadt. In the Catholic Church of Lambrecht , the high altar painting “Crucifixion of Christ”, the oil painting “Maria Immaculata” and an extraordinary pulpit confessional come from his hand. A classical high altar by Bernhard Würschmitt has also been preserved in the Esthal St. Konrads Church .

On June 14, 1829, in Grünstadt, in front of the Catholic parish church, he received King Ludwig I of Bavaria and celebrated a festival service in his presence. Würschmitt was a benefactor of the poor, but had constant difficulties with his parishioners because of his often quick-tempered manner. Walter Lampert writes about this in his book “1100 Years of Grünstadt” (1975): “An impulsive nature that fiercely fought everything that opposed his feelings. He gave his coat and shirt for the poor and gave them help and advice. ” Bernhard Würschmitt also tended to joke. In Grünstadt it is said that the tailors ordered a painted guild sign from him for their meeting place, which he decorated with the symbol of a billy goat. When they complained about it and asked for another painting, he did so with water-soluble paint. The sign was hung up again, but the next downpours washed off the painting and the goat reappeared to the general amusement or as a cause of new disputes.

After his forced retirement, he lived only for the arts, died as a devout Catholic and without having been unfaithful to his priestly duties. For his brother, Professor Bruno Würschmitt , cathedral capitular in Speyer, natural scientist and co-founder of the Palatinate Pollichia, he made an extraordinary tombstone with depictions of animals and plants in the Speyer cathedral capitular cemetery . For the cemetery in Hagenbach he created an imposing crucifixion group, on the cemetery cross he made in Erlenbach in 1838 he put the autobiographical inscription: “Haec Icon divi Christi salvatoris miseri manu sacerdotis sculpta” (= “This image of Christ, the divine Redeemer, is through the hand of an unfortunate priest has been chiseled out ”) . A sister of Würschmitt was an abbess.

In 1842 Bernhard Würschmitt made a 4.50 m high tomb for the Bergzaberer researcher and world traveler Johann Heinrich Christoph Bürger (1775–1842), called the "Würschmitt Pyramid". It was extensively restored in 2016 as it is one of the best sculptures in town. On her are u. a. symbolized by different heads the continents.

In June 1849, Würschmitt was captured and mistreated by rioters from the Palatinate. In 1851, as a witness before the special court, with regard to the former revolutionaries, he coined the word that has gone down in Palatinate historiography:

"Those who were red like ox blood are now blue (for the king) like the cornflower that blooms in the field."

Posthumous influence and fame

The Munich artist Konrad Knoll , highly esteemed by King Ludwig II, came from Bad Bergzabern and was a student of Bernhard Würschmitt, as was the Mannheim sculptor Wilhelm Hornberger , who created the tomb for Goethe's lover Friederike Brion in Meißenheim Baden . Last but not least, Würschmitt's student Friedrich Sanwald from Bad Bergzabern was also heavily influenced by him.

About Bernhard Würschmitt, Dr. Otto Abel, Landau, 1938, the book Dr. Bernhard Gottfried Josef Würschmitt, Catholic pastor, a sculptor in the Palatinate . It includes an inventory of all the priest's artistic works that were still available at the time.

literature

  • Otto Abel: Dr. Bernhard Gottfried Josef Würschmitt, Catholic pastor, a sculptor in the Palatinate , Landau, 1938.
  • A Palatinate Pastor as a Sculptor - A late obituary for an eventful fate of priests and artists , Der Pilger , No. 23, from June 5, 1938.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Website of the diocese of Mainz
  2. ^ Website of the community of Michelstadt ( Memento from April 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Website about the hymn book
  4. ↑ Digital view of the hymnal
  5. ^ Walter Lampert: 1100 Years of Grünstadt , Grünstadt City Administration, 1975, p. 386
  6. ↑ Newspaper article on the restoration of the "Würschmitt Pyramid", 2016
  7. ^ Negotiations before the extraordinary special court of the Palatinate in Zweibrücken , 1851, columns 113–128; (Digital view of the testimony)
  8. ^ Friedrich Sanwald

gallery

personal data
SURNAME Würschmitt, Bernhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Würschmitt, Bernhard Gottfried Josef (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catholic priest and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Mainz
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1853
Place of death Bergzabern