Cordula Wöhler

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Cordula Wöhler, photo around 1885
Book cover with pseudonym, 1897
Book title page with pseudonym and real name.
Memorial picture of the Archdiocese of Munich on the death of Cordula Wöhler.

Cordula Wöhler , later Cordula Schmid , pseudonym Cordula Peregrina (born June 17, 1845 in Malchin ; † February 6, 1916 in Schwaz , Tyrol), was a religious writer and poet, from whom the text of the hymn, which is widespread throughout the German-speaking area, " Bless you, Mary ” .

Life

Cordula Wöhler was the eldest daughter of the Evangelical Lutheran theologian (Johann) Wilhelm Wöhler (1814–1884), at the time of her birth school principal in the Mecklenburg state parliament town of Malchin, later pastor of Lichtenhagen near Rostock , and his wife Cordula, née. Banck (1822–1900), the daughter of a merchant from Stralsund .

Cordula had her first encounter with the Catholic faith through the books of the spiritual writers Christoph von Schmid and Alban Stolz . In August 1864, she and her family toured Thuringia, Bavaria, Tyrol and Switzerland. It was here that the girl experienced the Catholic service herself for the first time, which, according to her own admission, made a “great impression” on her because of its splendor and sacredness. She then entered into a long correspondence with Professor Alban Stolz. After another holiday with her parents in southern Germany in 1868, the young woman decided to convert to the Catholic faith. In March 1869 the parents became aware of this and there was heated controversy with them. At the age of 25, Cordula Wöhler declared her age in 1870 and informed the parents of the definitive decision to change their faith. She threw them out of the house because, as a Catholic, she could no longer live in a Protestant rectory.

Under the impression of these tragic personal events, Cordula Wöhler wrote a prayer hymn to Mary, to which she confidently took refuge. On May 31, 1870, she wrote her most famous poem “Bless you, Maria, bless me, your child”, which Karl Kindsmüller (1876–1955), a Lower Bavarian teacher, church musician and composer of numerous sacred songs, later set to music. Another melody suggested by Josef Poll (1873–1955) in the Catholic “Mädchenliederbuch” (Regensburg 1919) did not succeed.

Today the song is one of the most popular Marian songs in the German-speaking area, especially in Bavaria, Austria and Tyrol; there it has become common property and can be sung by heart by most believers. Before 1975 it was included in almost all southern German diocesan hymns and was also included in various regional parts of the Catholic standard hymn book " Gotteslob ", which has been introduced since then (e.g. in the diocese of Würzburg and Speyer). The unbroken enthusiasm of many believers, however, ensured that almost 40 years after it disappeared from many hymn books, it is represented again in the new edition of the praise of God in 2013.

On July 10, 1870, Cordula Wöhler joined the Catholic Church in Freiburg im Breisgau . She made her creed before the archbishopric administrator and auxiliary bishop Lothar von Kübel . Three days later she was confirmed and on July 16 she received Holy Communion for the first time.

From March 1871 the convert lived in Tyrol . Lukas Tolpeit, the parish curate of Eben am Achensee , had offered her a position in the local parish Widum . On the side she wrote poetry and wrote religious scriptures. Then she moved to Schwaz and worked in a pastry shop, but only stayed there for about 5 months. Then she stayed with a young couple on the Freundsberg near Schwaz. Here she revised her later widely distributed book “What the Eternal Light tells. Poems on the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, ”which appeared in 25 editions and made them well known. Other publications followed, both in prose and works of religious poetry . Some of them appeared under the pseudonym "Cordula Peregrina". During this time the Franciscan Father Arsenius Niederist was her soul guide.

A turning point in life occurred in 1876. Josef Anton Schmid from Oberstaufen im Allgäu turned to the poet and asked her for a “pious poem” for a memorial plaque that he wanted to dedicate to the Jesuit Father Jakob Rem, who was called to be holy, at his birthplace in Bregenz . An intensive correspondence arose between Josef Anton Schmid and Cordula Wöhler, which, due to their affinity, led to an engagement before they even knew each other personally. The couple finally married in Riezlern in the Kleinwalsertal and moved to Bregenz. Cordula Wöhler was now officially called Cordula Schmid, but remained generally known by her maiden name. In 1881 the couple moved to Schwaz, where they bought a house on Innsbrucker Straße and later adopted two orphans.

Cordula Wöhler lived and worked here as a religious poet and writer and, together with her husband, as an activist in the Catholic parish. She died there on February 6, 1916; her husband followed her on May 25 of the same year. Both are buried on the south wall of the Schwaz parish church. According to her epitaph, she was the holder of the papal cross of honor Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice .

The relationship with the family had gradually improved. Finally she was in contact with her parents and her sister again by letter and was occasionally visited by them in Schwaz. However, Cordula Wöhler has never been back to her northern German homeland.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Fischer gives the years 1916 - 1926 as the period of origin in the Freiburg anthology ; the praise of God (2013) listed as setting time of the year 1916. See Michael Fischer. On the history and diffusion of the song "Bless you, Mary." In: Freiburg anthology - poetry and song. Digital documentation of lyrical short texts. (July 2005) [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.lyrik-und-lied.de  
  2. ↑ Common stanzas of the song "Bless you, Maria"
  3. ↑ On the history and distribution of the song "Bless you, Maria" by Michael Fischer (July 2005), in: Freiburger Anthologie - Lyrik und Lied. Digital documentation of lyrical short texts. [2]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.lyrik-und-lied.de  
  4. ↑ Official website of the Diocese of Mainz with Cordula Wöhler's Marian hymn "Bless you, Maria"
  5. ↑ Alphabetical index of songs and chants. ( Memento from May 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) In: Gotteslob 2013, p. 1342
  6. ↑ To the soul guide, Father Arsenius Niederist, with a mention of Cordula Wöhler (on page 3)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 567 kB)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.franziskaner-schwaz.at  
  7. ↑ Website with photo of the epitaph
personal data
SURNAME Wöhler, Cordula
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peregrina, Cordula (pseudonym); Schmid, Cordula
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German poet and writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Malchin
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1916
Place of death black