Dominicus Geyer

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Dominicus Geyer SOCist (also Dominikus Geyer ; real name Mathias Xaverius Geyer ; born March 1, 1662 in Neisse , Principality of Neisse ; † December 5, 1726 in Warmbrunn , Duchy of Schweidnitz ) was abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Grüssau from 1696 to 1726 .

Life

Abbot Dominicus Geyer

Dominicus Geyer was born as Mathias Xaverius Geyer . His parents were the master shoemaker Mathias Geyer († 1691) and his wife Anna. He began his humanistic studies in his hometown Neisse and completed them in Wroclaw in 1680 . In the same year he entered the Cistercian monastery Grüssau and took the religious name Dominicus . In 1681 he took the religious vows , then he began with the philosophical-theological studies. On June 8, 1686, he was in the Church of St. James in Nysa ordained the first Mass he celebrated a few weeks later on the feast of the Visitation in Grüssau. He was then appointed sacristan and church curator by Abbot Bernhard Rosa . After deepening his theological knowledge, he taught philosophy and theology at the Grüssau house seminar from 1689. In the same year he became a member of the Wroclaw St. Thomas Brotherhood of Dominicans . From 1692 he held the post of subprior and archivist . For reasons of age, Abbot Bernhard Rosa increasingly entrusted him with administrative activities, including the supervision of the new construction of the St. Joseph Church in Grüssau. Often he also had to take on business trips.

After the death of Abbot Bernhard Rosa on November 1, 1696, the Heinrichauer Abbot Heinrich IV. Kahlert took over the organization of the upcoming abbot election. He was supported by Abbot Malachias Baguda von Himmelwitz and Abbot Augustin Neudeck von Kamenz . In the election on November 22nd. J. the state elder Hans Heinrich Freiherr von Nimptsch and the imperial council and state deputy Hans Maximilian von Lilienthal were also present at Eisendorf . Dominicus Geyer was elected with all votes in the first ballot. Then the convent moved to the chapter house singing the Te Deum with burning candles. There Abbot Heinrich IV. Kahlert led the newly elected to the abbot's chair and presented him with the abbot's staff.

Immediately after the election, the deans from the nearby Bohemian cities of Náchod and Trautenau with a secular chapter secretary appeared in Grüssau as envoys of the Bishop of Königgrätz , Johann Franz Christoph von Talmberg . You should preside over the election of the abbot or declare an election that has already been made invalid. Obviously, Bishop Talmberg was of the opinion that, for historical reasons, as Episcopus diocesanus in Grüssau, he had the right to preside and confirm the election ( jus praesidenti et corfirmandi ). Only after the delegates could be convinced that Grüssau had belonged to the diocese of Breslau from the beginning , whose prince-bishop had guaranteed the Silesian Cistercians free election in 1677, did they leave. While Abbot General Nikolaus Larcher von Citeaux confirmed Geyer's election on February 19, 1697, the approval of the Governor of Schweidnitz, Hans Friedrich von Nimptsch auf Ölse , dragged on until June 16 th . J. out.

Further difficulties arose with the ordination of the abbot. In the course of the settlement of an exemption dispute , the Silesian Cistercians had already received the right to freely elect an abbot from their then diocesan bishop Karl II of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn in 1677 and in return waived their religious privilege to receive the abbot ordination from the abbot of the mother house . However, the ordination could not be carried out by Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg , as he had not yet received the ordination himself. It is not known why the ordination was not given to the auxiliary bishop of Wroclaw, Johann Brunetti . In any case, Dominicus Geyer obtained an exemption from the Prince-Bishop on June 4, 1697 so that the Benediction could be donated by the Heinrichau Abbot Heinrich Kahlert. This took place on September 15, 1697 in the collegiate church of Heinrichau. The participants also included the Braunau abbot Othmar Daniel Zinke . On February 5, 1700 Dominicus Geyer was appointed to the imperial council by Emperor Leopold I and on October 10, 1722 as chairman of the tax rectification commission ( tax assessment commission ) for the principalities of Schweidnitz and Jauer .

As the successor to the successful and art-loving Abbot Bernhard Rosa, Abbot Dominicus Geyer took over the orderly situation. Most of the farm buildings were new, and the farm yields and livestock were exemplary. During his tenure he abolished the private property of the monks and paid attention to the strictness of faith and compliance with the rules of the order. In 1703 he acquired the indebted Bolkenhainer Burglehen with the villages of Einsiedel , Giesmannsdorf, Hohenhelmsdorf, Ruhbank, Klein-Waltersdorf and Wiesau from the Barons of Zedlitz . With this acquisition, the Grüssauer Stiftsland reached a size of 297 square kilometers. Subsequently, the crumbling Bolkoburg was completely renovated and equipped from 1703-1715. In the associated castle villages, new houses were built, which were given to settlers at favorable prices, as well as further mills, Kretschame, etc. A manorial castle was built in Ruhbank, in which a priest resided as administrator of the Bolkenhain estate.

Dominicus Geyer rendered great services to the construction and renovation of churches and other buildings in the Grüssauer Stiftsland:

  • In 1699 he initiated the construction of the new parish church in Liebau , and in 1725 the town hall was built according to a design by the master builder Felix Hammerschmied from Schweidnitz.
  • A new court house was built in Schömberg in 1701, in 1707 the "Apostle Houses" and in 1717 the fountain on the ring. Construction of the St. Anna Church began on St. Anna Mountain near Schömberg in 1722.
  • In 1707 the St. Laurentius Chapel on the Schneekoppe was renovated.
  • 1707–1720 the new parish church was built in Wittgendorf .
  • In Altreichenau , the St. Nicholas Church was built from 1703.
  • In Albendorf the parish church was rebuilt from 1711 to 1722.
  • In 1723 the Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers was expanded near the summer palace of the Grüssau Abbots in Ullersdorf .
  • From 1703 the chapels of the Grüssau Way of the Cross built under Abbot Bernhard Rosa, for which the devotional book of the Grüssau Passion Book had been printed as early as 1682 , were rebuilt in stone.
  • In Schweidnitz Dominicus Geyer built a city residence for the Grüssau abbots in 1723–1725, the so-called Grüssau House , which was also known as the “Stiftshof”. The residence was intended to serve as city accommodation for him and his successors during the state parliament sessions of the Principality of Schweidnitz-Jauer .

During the reign of Abbot Dominicus Geyer, 43 monks took their religious vows. He was kind and helpful to his subjects. He continued the feeding for the poor introduced by his predecessor in full. The St. Joseph Brotherhood, which he sponsored, had over 2000 new members from all classes every year. He paid attention to pastoral care and regularly visited the churches of his collegiate country. After a stroke in 1723 he did not recover, but remained in office. He was supported by his secretary Benedikt Seidel and the prior Mathias Rösner. After his condition worsened, he went to the Warmbrunn Provostry for a spa treatment on November 23, 1726. There he died on December 5th, 1726. His body was found on December 10th. J. is buried in the Grüssau monastery church. He was succeeded by Innozenz Fritsch .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lutterotti's accusation that Bishop Talmberg obviously did not know the boundaries of his diocese is put into perspective by the fact that the border forest in this area was cleared by the Bohemian Benedictines of the Politz monastery and the Opatowitz provost of Grüssau, which was founded in 1242. A demarcation between the two only came about in 1249. At that time the stone area came to the Politz monastery, while the Bober area was settled from Grüssau. Only with the further development of the border did the southern Bober area become part of Silesia. See Ludwig Petry among others: History of Silesia . Vol. 1. Sigmaringen 1988. ISBN 3-7995-6341-5 , p. 3f. Schömberg, south of Grüssau, with its surrounding villages belonged to Bohemia until 1289 and was then donated to the Duchy of Schweidnitz-Jauer as a royal donation. Nevertheless, the area remained with the Archdiocese of Prague until about 1500 .
  2. ↑ According to the sources cited there, the consecration took place on November 24, 1696. Since P. Lutterotti wrote the article cited here based on archival documents from the Grüssau monastery, the consecration date mentioned here is more likely.
personal data
SURNAME Geyer, Dominicus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Geyer, Dominikus; Geyer, Mathias Xaverius (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abbot of the Cistercian monastery Grüssau
DATE OF BIRTH March 1, 1662
PLACE OF BIRTH Neisse , Principality of Neisse
DATE OF DEATH December 5, 1726
Place of death Warmbrunn , Duchy of Schweidnitz