Bonifaz Zölß

Bonifaz Zölß OSB (born March 11, 1875 in Kirchdorf an der Krems as Josef Zölß , † March 22, 1956 in Admont ) was an Austrian clergyman and the 64th abbot of the Admont Benedictine monastery in Styria .

Life

Bonifaz Zölß was born on March 11, 1875 in Kirchdorf an der Krems and baptized in the name of Josef. As a musean (boarding school student ), the choirboy attended the Kremsmünster Abbey High School from 1887 to 1895 before entering the novitiate . Subsequently, he began to study theology in the Canon Monastery of St. Florian . After priestly ordination on 29 July 1900, he studied at the University of Vienna and received his doctorate there in 1904 to Dr. rer. nat. His dissertation dealt with contributions to the knowledge of atmospheric electricity . He then worked at the Kuffner Observatory in Vienna- Ottakring from 1904 to 1905 and taught at the same time at the Schottengymnasium in Vienna's 1st district, Inner City . Afterwards he was active as a professor of mathematics at the Stiftsgymnasium Kremsmünster from 1905 to 1934 and was also an adjunct of the Kremsmünster observatory , as such he was on leave in 1929. As an adjunct of the observatory, he was in charge of the construction of the Meridiankreishaus (1907) and was the planner in 1910 and the authorized signatory of the Admont Monastery electricity company from 1910 to 1938 .

From 1929 to 1931 he was Secretary of the Economic Council and then from 1931 to 1938 Secretary of the Seniors' Council. From 1930 to 1938 he also held the office of cellar and from 1932 to 1936 he was the managing deputy of the apostolic administrator of St. Lambrecht Abbey, Hermann Peichl , who came from Bohemia . When Abbot Oswin Schlammadinger, who had been in office since 1907, resigned from his position at the beginning of 1935 due to financial difficulties and went into early retirement, Zölß, known as an economist, was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Admont Monastery after his resignation. Up until the annexation of Austria in 1938, he succeeded in restoring the monastery finances as far as possible by selling properties, works of art and valuable books. Among the sales was the so-called Admonter Madonna , which is said to have been made around 1310 and which was subsequently sold to Graz (afterwards exhibited in the Graz Joanneum for decades ).

As early as 1929 Zölß had rejected the election of abbot in Kremsmünster; he also did this when he was called to Lambach. In 1938, however, he accepted the election of coadjutor with the right of succession before he was appointed on May 4, 1938. The following year the monastery was closed and the monastery and all its possessions were confiscated by the Gestapo . The displaced convent was largely divided into the surrounding abbeys and monasteries. Zölß stayed in Kremsmünster Monastery until 1941 during the expulsion that lasted until the end of the Second World War in 1945 and then stayed in nearby St. Gallen until 1945 . After returning to the monastery, he retained his position as coadjutor with the right of succession until the death of Abbot Oswin Schlammadinger in 1953, before he was promoted to abbot himself.

As such, he was in charge of Admont Abbey until his own death on March 22, 1956, eleven days after his 81st birthday. Bonifaz Zölß, who died of a heart attack , was buried at the pilgrimage church Frauenberg an der Enns in the village of Frauenberg in the municipality of Ardning . Zölß also initiated the restoration of this church after the Second World War. His successor as abbot was Koloman Holzinger , who himself remained in office until his death in 1978. Today, among other things, a wayside shrine in the outer area of ​​Admont Abbey commemorates Abbot Boniface.

Heraldic shield

The coat of arms of Abbot Bonifaz Zölß is divided into two horizontal sections. The lower area takes up about two thirds of the shield. In this same section four stars are shown, whereas three characters are shown in the upper narrow area. An artistic and curved border acts as a sign holder. The lettering MONASTERIO ET FRATRIBUS is located below the coat of arms .

Web links

• Bonifaz Zölß in the Biographia Benedictina (Benediktinerlexikon.de)
• Bonifaz Zölß in the short biographies on the web pages of the Kremsmünster observatory
• Bonifaz Zölß in the EnnstalWiki

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Admont: Madonna Has Returned , accessed September 30, 2019

predecessor	Office	successor
Oswin Schlammadinger	Abbot of Admont Abbey 1953–1956	Koloman Holzinger