Daniel Wilhelm Sommerwerck

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Daniel Wilhelm Sommerwerck

Daniel Wilhelm Sommerwerck called Jacobi (born April 21, 1821 in Minden ; † December 18, 1905 in Hildesheim ) had been Bishop of Hildesheim for 34 years since 1871 .

Career

Sommerwerck was the son of Protestant parents and was baptized Lutheran in Minden . His father died soon after his birth and his mother, who had remarried, entrusted him to Karl Jacobi, his stepfather's brother. He was chaplain in Ringelheim from 1827 , then pastor in Bavenstedt until 1861 .

From 1833 to 1839 Sommerwerck completed high school at the Josephinum in Hildesheim and then studied theology at the Philosophical-Theological Institute . Because of the surplus of candidates, he was not supposed to become a parish priest as a “foreigner”, but a clergyman, for which he also studied classical philology and history in Bonn and Göttingen from 1843–1846. On August 24, 1846 he was ordained a priest in Hildesheim and was then a grammar school teacher at the Josephinum for 17 years, as well as a brotherhood preacher at the Antoniuskirche and from 1854 cathedral preacher .

In 1863, Bishop Eduard Jakob Wedekin appointed him to the office of Vicar General , which he performed with prudence and prudence. Already at this time the diocese leadership was more and more in his hands. After Wedekin's death, the cathedral chapter elected Sommerwerck first as vicar of the capitular and on April 13, 1871 as bishop. He received the episcopal ordination on December 31, 1871 by the Osnabrück bishop Johannes Heinrich Beckmann .

Episcopal work

The Bernwards Monument 1893

As a bishop, Sommerwerck showed steadfastness, but also diplomatic skill and pedagogical understanding. These properties proved their worth particularly during the stormy times of Bismarck's Kulturkampf . On the one hand, he strengthened the back of his priesthood, which almost unanimously refused the required declaration of loyalty to the state and in some cases accepted massive material difficulties. On the other hand, he supported the establishment of church councils required by the state for the proper administration of church assets out of conviction. In order to circumvent the state requirements for pastoral positions, Sommerwerck left the pastoral positions becoming vacant legally vacant, which earned him no less than 60 penalties from the government. As a result of the Prussian Monastery Act of 1875, almost all orders and congregations had to leave the diocese, which led to the most severe emergency situations in schools, hospitals and other institutions.

When the Kulturkampf came to an end in the mid-1980s, Sommerwerck made an active contribution to normalizing the situation. In this context, the 900th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of St. Bernward , who at the time was a teacher and adviser to emperors. Sommerwerck personally suggested the production of the large Bernward monument , which still stands in the cathedral courtyard today, and unveiled it on September 28, 1893. He also campaigned for the construction of a representative St. Bernward Church in Hildesheim and donated 35,000 marks for it , the total of the monetary gifts he had received on the occasion of his golden jubilee in 1896. In 1901 Sommerwerck was appointed to the highest possible confidence in the Prussian manor house .

During Sommerwerck's tenure, the economic and social situation changed dramatically. The upheavals in the Hanover metropolitan area were particularly profound . The number of diocesans rose from 90,000 to over 200,000. Bishop Sommerwerck perceived the developments with vigilance and concern and supported all efforts to find a home for the people in the Catholic associations and in the liturgy. He paid particular attention to the expansion of the Catholic school system. Quite a few churches were expanded or rebuilt. The returning orders and congregations were partially greeted with a festive welcome and encouraged to resume or resume their teaching, nursing and pastoral work. When Daniel Wilhelm Sommerwerck died in 1905, he left behind a diocese that had become consolidated and self-confident in many ways.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scharf-Wrede (1995), p. 183, note 35: "Sommerwerck" was written in the certificate of election with "-k", in the official obituary notices of the cathedral chapter as in all files and documents of the diocese archives with "-ck", which is why I use this notation. The "old master" of Hildesheim church historiography, Adolf Bertram, also uses this form, while Aschoff only uses it in his early works.
  2. ↑ Scharf-Wrede (1995), p. 182f .: Out of gratitude to his uncle and foster father Karl Jacobi, Daniel Wilhelm Sommerwerck took over his name. The appointment as cathedral capitular and vicar general took place in the name of "Jacobi", and the official documents and announcements of the vicariate general he always signed with "DW Jacobi". This changed with the episcopal ordination and he was now - in accordance with the Hanoverian and Prussian personal status legislation - as "Sommerwerck gen. Jacobi". His actual bishop name was "Wilhelm".

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Commons : Daniel Wilhelm Sommerwerck  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Eduard Jakob Wedekin Bishop of Hildesheim
1871 - 1905 		Adolf Bertram
personal data
SURNAME Sommerwerck, Daniel Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sommerwerk, Wilhelm; Jacobi, Daniel Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Hildesheim
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Minden
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1905
Place of death Hildesheim