Berthold Rottler

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Berthold Rottler OSB (* 16th October 1748 in Obereschach in Villingen ; † 16th October 1826 in St. Paul im Lavanttal ) was from 1801 to 1806, the last abbot of the monastery of St. Blasien in the Black Forest and from 1809 until his death abbot of St. Paul Abbey in the Lavant Valley in Carinthia.

Life

Berthold Rottler was born as Ferdinand Rottler in the small town of Obereschach in the southern Black Forest. He entered the Benedictine monastery of St. Blasien and studied theology in Salzburg. In 1772 he made his solemn profession , where he was given the name Berthold. Two years later he was ordained a priest. He then taught at the monastery school and also studied history in Freiburg im Breisgau. In 1784 he received his doctorate in philosophy in Salzburg and was then professor of diplomacy, numismatics and archeology at the University of Freiburg , but continued to work in St. Blasien as a professor of theology and as an archivist as well as in the Propstei Klingnau in St. Blasien Aargau as provost .

When he was elected abbot of the St. Blasien monastery in 1801, the abolition of his abbey was already foreseeable due to the political circumstances. Shortly after taking office, Rottler had a large part of the abbey's art treasures and books brought to Switzerland in order to protect them from possible attacks. In 1806, Breisgau , which had previously belonged to the Habsburg Front Austria , and the monasteries of St. Blasien and St. Peter became part of the new Grand Duchy of Baden . Several monasteries had previously been dissolved in the course of secularization , and on February 26, 1806, the Benedictine monastery was informed that it "should be regarded as provisionally closed" . In March 1806 Rottler traveled to Karlsruhe with Ignaz Speckle , the abbot of the neighboring monastery, with whom he had already discussed the new situation, in order to receive a clear statement about the future of the abbeys from the new sovereigns. However, there was initially no clear answer. It was not until October 16, 1806 that the Baden government finally declared the two Benedictine monasteries of St. Blasien and St. Peter to be abolished. He asked for the Berau provost's place to stay, but this was refused.

In 1809 Franz I handed over St. Paul Abbey in Lavanttal to Berthold Rottler.

Rottler had already gone to Vienna beforehand to obtain assurance from Emperor Franz I that he and his monks would find a new home under the protection of the Habsburgs in Austria if the monastery was abolished. Rottler moved to Austria with part of the convent, around 40 monks, as well as books and art treasures from the monastery. Franz I assigned them to the Spital am Pyhrn Abbey in Upper Austria, which had recently been closed for this purpose . In return, the emperor demanded that the grammar school and lyceum in Klagenfurt be occupied by scholars from the monastery. Upon arrival, Rottler sent teachers from his convent to Klagenfurt. There the Franciscan monastery at the Marienkirche had been cleared to create a dwelling for the monks.

The new situation turned out to be unsatisfactory. On the one hand there were lengthy negotiations about the pay of the teachers, on the other hand the convention was divided up between the hospital and Klagenfurt due to the great distance. Rottler therefore asked the court in Vienna to let him have the St. Paul Abbey in Lavanttal , which had been abandoned since 1787 , and after lengthy negotiations this request was finally approved. In April 1809 Abbot Rottler and his monks left Spital am Pyhrn and moved into the Lavanttaler Stift on April 15, 1809.

During his tenure in St. Paul, Rottler was primarily concerned with the school system. In the year of his arrival he had a collegiate high school set up, in 1812 issued new statutes adapted to the teaching activities at the monastery and in 1817 opened a Konvikt . In addition to his work at the monastery, he was a member of the prelate class of the Carinthian provincial estates from 1811 , in 1812 he was elected to the Estates Committee Council and appointed by the Emperor to the Imperial Council.

Berthold Rottler died on his 79th birthday, October 16, 1826, and was buried in the old cemetery in St. Paul. With Meinrad Amann from Hofkirch one of the monks who had come with him in 1809 from St. Blaise to St. Paul, was elected as his successor.

swell

predecessor Office successor
Mauritius Ribbele Abbot of St. Blaise
1801 - 1806 		---
predecessor Office successor
Anselm II of Endling Abbot of St. Paul in the Lavant Valley
1809 - 1826 		Meinrad Amann
personal data
SURNAME Rottler, Berthold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rottler, Ferdinand (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION last prince abbot of the St. Blasien monastery (1801–1806) and abbot of the St. Paul monastery in Lavanttal (1809–1826)
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1748
PLACE OF BIRTH Obereschach near Villingen
DATE OF DEATH October 16, 1826
Place of death St. Paul in the Lavant Valley