Brotherhood of St. Christoph
The Brotherhood of St. Christoph is an "Association of Christian Charity", and with over 18,000 members in 2011 it was a large, purely charitable association. These include well-known people such as Juan Carlos of Spain , Beatrix of the Netherlands , members of the Saudi royal family and the princes of Liechtenstein . The seat of the brotherhood is the hospice St. Christoph am Arlberg in Tyrol .
history
It was founded in 1386 by Heinrich the Foundling (also called Heinrich von Kempten ) to collect money for the construction of the St. Christoph am Arlberg hospice as a shelter for travelers in need. In the middle of the 20th century the brotherhood of Arnold Ganahl was brought back to life. The resurrected brotherhood initially mainly supported orphans of the workers who died while building the Arlberg road tunnel and enabled them to get a proper education. Since then, the brotherhood has experienced an upswing in a new and unprecedented bloom and today mainly supports children and people who got into need through no fault of their own.
All members of the brotherhood, as well as the functionaries of the board of directors, carry out their work on a voluntary basis , which means that all donated money goes exclusively to the needy. The current brotherhood master is Adolf Werner, the senior host of the hospice hotel. Treasurer is his wife Gerda Werner (the daughter of the re-founder Arnold Ganahl)
The seat of the brotherhood is the Arlberg Hospiz Hotel with the brotherhood chapel of St. Christoph.
Brotherhood coat of arms
The Brotherhood of St. Christoph has a coat of arms as a symbol. The “brotherhood coat of arms” is a replica of the representation in one of the traditional medieval heraldic books from the time of Heinrich the Foundling (14th century). It shows the "Lamb of God" in white on a golden background ( Diocese of Brixen ), the "Cross" in gold on a white background ( Diocese of Constance ), and underneath three red crosses on a white background, symbolizing the Christian virtues "Faith - Hope - Love ".
See also
literature
- Robert Büchner: St. Christoph am Arlberg. The story of the hospice and tavern, chapel and brotherhood, of bridges, paths and roads, mules, hosts and other people on an alpine pass. (Late 14th to mid 17th century) . Böhlau, Vienna et al. 2005, ISBN 3-205-77282-2 .
- Jan P. van Endert (Ed.): St. Christoph Brotherhood Arlberg Hospiz . Wenger, Karst 1976.
- Hanna Molden, Hans Thöni: Arlberg. Passport, hospice and brotherhood. From the historical beginnings to the present . Edition Brandstätter, Vienna et al. 1986, ISBN 3-85447-168-8 .
- Hans Thöni: The brotherhood of St. Christoph am Arlberg . 7th edition. Schuricht, Bludenz 2000.
- Eduard Widmoser, Werner Köfler (Hrsg.): Messenger book of the brotherhood St. Christoph on the Arlberg. Tyrolean manuscript "Codex Figdor " . Südtirol-Verlag, Innsbruck 1976, ISBN 3-87803-001-0 .
