Corbinian Hofmeister

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Corbinian Hofmeister, OSB , baptized name Alexander (born February 26, 1891 in Taus in today's Czech Republic; † October 24, 1966 in Tutzing ) was an abbot of the Bavarian Benedictine Abbey of Metten and resistance fighter against National Socialism.

Life

After the early death of his parents, the seven-year-old Alexander Hofmeister came into the care of his older sister, who was married to a Bavarian customs inspector in Aschaffenburg . He and her family first moved to Tittling , then to Landshut and finally to Dingolfing . After attending the grammar schools in Landshut and Metten, he entered the Benedictine Abbey of Metten in 1910 and received the religious name Corbinian when he was professed on November 16, 1911 . Corbinian Hofmeister completed his studies in theology and philosophy as part of his home studies at the monastery, then at the University of Innsbruck and at the theological college in Eichstätt . He then studied French and English philology at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . After a lengthy study visit to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Vincent in the USA and the English Benedictine Abbeys Downside and Belmont, Corbinian Hofmeister began teaching at the grammar school in Metten in 1927.

When Abbot Willibald Adam resigned from office for health reasons in 1929, the 38-year-old Corbinian Hofmeister was elected as his successor. From the very beginning, Abbot Corbinian Hofmeister was critical and hostile to the ever-increasing National Socialism . During his tenure, by decision of the National Socialists on March 31, 1939, he had to close the grammar school of Metten Monastery, founded in 1837, as well as the monastery seminary, the episcopal seminary and the religious seminary.

In the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal there were more and more meetings of personalities such as Josef Müller , Dietrich Bonhoeffer , Johannes Neuhäusler and the Benedictine abbots of Ettal and Metten (Lower Bavaria), Willibald Wolfsteiner and Corbinian Hofmeister during the Nazi era . Hofmeister was in close contact with the resistance group around the head of the German defense , Admiral Wilhelm Canaris .

Abbot Corbinian and Domkapitular Neuhäusler were arrested by the Gestapo at Easter 1943 and were under arrest at the Dachau Concentration Camp with Martin Niemöller (cell 30) and Michael Höck (cell 31) from April 1944 to April 1945 . Hofmeister was taken to cell 35 and Neuhäusler to cell 32 of the “special prisoners” station in the notorious detention building of the Dachau concentration camp.

After the end of the war, Abbot Corbinian was repeatedly used as a mediator with the American occupation forces. In 1946 he accepted the German Benedictines, who had been expelled from the Bohemian abbey of Braunau , in Metten. On his initiative, the former Augustinian Canon monastery in Rohr in Lower Bavaria was given to them for resettlement.

Quotes

  • “In addition, Abbot Corbinian also saw the Christmas carol as a modest instrument for that ecumenical encounter that has become a warm concern for him since the friendship with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, which had entered into during the most difficult years of German history.” - Augustinius Mayer OSB (Abbot von Metten) on the song Silent Night Holy Night!

literature

  • Benedikt Busch: Corbinian Hofmeister (1891–1966). Abbot of Metten. In: Contributions to the history of the Diocese of Regensburg (BGBR) , Volume 23/24 (1989), 1000-1012.
  • Michael Höck : Nec laudibus nec timore. With Abbot Corbinian Hofmeister in the Dachau concentration camp. In: Contributions to the history of the Diocese of Regensburg (BGBR) , Volume 15 (1981), 363–366.
  • Michael Kaufmann: Memento Mori. In memory of the deceased conventuals of the Benedictine abbey Metten since the rebuilding in 1830. In: Development history of the Benedictine abbey Metten , Vol. 5, Metten 2008, 402f.
  • Nova et vetera. Festschrift of Metten Abbey on the silver jubilee of the priesthood and the tenth day of consecration dedicated to its abbot, the Most Revered Lord Corbinian Hofmeister, with awe and devotion. Metten 1939.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Willibald Adam Abbot of Metten Monastery
1929–1966
Augustine III Mayer