Archbishop's Study Home St. Fidelis

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Archbishop's Study Home St. Fidelis
View of Konvikt Sigmaringen.jpg
view
type of school Boarding school , gymnasium konvikt
founding 1856
address

Konvikstrasse 19

place Sigmaringen
country Baden-Württemberg
Country Germany
Coordinates 48 ° 5 '5 "  N , 9 ° 13' 40"  E Coordinates: 48 ° 5 '5 "  N , 9 ° 13' 40"  E
carrier Archdiocese of Freiburg

The Archbishop's Student Home St. Fidelis in Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg was a boarding school of the Archdiocese of Freiburg , which wanted to give its students a good education without having its own school. It was closed at the end of the 2002/2003 school year.

history

Seminarium Fidelianum (Board of Directors)

The Fidelishaus, the original home of the Archbishop's Student Home St. Fidelis

When the house where Fidelis von Sigmaringen was born was foreclosed on June 10, 1855 , Pastor Thomas Geiselhart bought it for around 8,000 guilders . On October 5, 1856 he moved into the house with eleven students from the grammar school. Negotiations with the higher church authority for the establishment of a boys' seminar had progressed so far by the summer of 1857 that a separate administrative council consisting of eight members ( Kuratorium Fidelianum ) was appointed for the house and Geiselhart was elected head ( president ). Only from then on was the student residence officially founded and opened in autumn 1867 with 16 students as the “Seminarum Fidelianum”. Once again, Geiselhart had to beg a considerable sum of money (11,000 guilders) for the necessary further expansion of the house. So he could take 50 students.

All students attended the Hedingen grammar school in Hedingen Abbey . The ecclesiastical institution mainly accepted prospective theology students, but non-theologians were also residents of the house from the start. The times for study, prayer and free time were regulated by the house rules. At that time there was already a sizeable library and two pianos provided basic musical training. The board of trustees decided on the admission and departure of a student. The costs for the individual amounted to 180 guilders for non- Hohenzollern and 50 guilders for Hohenzollern annually; Unprofitable students received, as best they could, financial support from incoming donations or any excess bills.

An announcement in the autumn of 1873 almost meant the end of the dormitory: The Prussian May laws forbade the admission of new students. When the number of pupils had dropped to four in the school year 1876/77, the aged head of the house dared to accept six pupils as boarders, who in 1885 had already reached sixteen again.

Geiselhart's successor

In the fall of 1885, Thomas Geiselhart retired to the Nazareth orphanage that he had also founded . Geiselhart bequeathed his successor, President Friedrich Schick, the property of the student residence to the value of 80,000 marks and securities to the value of 55,000 marks. The number of students had increased to 63 by 1892. On August 25, 1893, the former parish administrator and president of the Fidelish House Friedrich Schick died. In November 1893, Rector Marmon became the head of the study home and ran it until May 1907. During this time, the Fidelishaus was rebuilt and added, and the exterior facade of the house was renewed. On May 16, 1907, the Studienheim celebrated its 50th anniversary. At the same time, Rector Marmon was retired from office. Rector Waldner was in charge of the Konvikt from 1907 to 1920. His successor was Rector Anton Sauter.

New building on Schönenberg

The still very cramped conditions and the increase in noise pollution had caused those responsible to decide to look around for another building for the needs of the Gymnasialkonvikt. First of all, the “Prinzenbau” was inspected (which in these days passed to the state). After lengthy discussions, this huge building appeared unsuitable. Since Prince Friedrich Viktor von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who was well-balanced at the time, agreed to build a building site on Schönenberg, the new building was built (today: student residence). The two architects Hans Herkommer (Stuttgart) and Friedrich Imbery (Sigmaringen) were commissioned. The three-wing building, which was modern and functional at the time, was completed in two years: the construction cost was 600,000 Reichsmarks . In addition to grants and donations, one was dependent on a large loan, which was only completely taken care of after the war. The inauguration was celebrated in the spring of 1933. The prince also donated the space adjoining the new building to today's federal road to the facility, so that some of the land gained was able to provide for oneself by growing fruit and vegetables. Rector Sauter went down in history as the builder of today's student residence. The inauguration of the Archbishop's Study Home St. Fidelis took place in the presence of Archbishop Conrad Gröber and Prince Friedrich Viktor von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

The Konvikt in the Third Reich

Rector Anton Sauter was a prudent and far-sighted man. His clear lines and his supposed severity were borne by a strong priestly piety and a fine, human kindness. These character traits also helped him to survive the difficult times that began with the Nazi regime.

An increasingly difficult era began for the St. Fidelis Student Home. The educational work of a church Konvikt experienced increasing political and social discrimination, students were ridiculed and despised. Threats from the political rulers, initially hidden, gradually became more open and culminated in the rector's legal disempowerment. There was more and more evidence that the National Socialists would do something to dissolve the house in order to take action against church educational work, whose ideals apparently opposed those of the political rulers. As it finally turned out, the Konvikt was to become a National Political Educational Institution (Napola).

The then Rector Sauter only found out about this shortly before, but he did something about it in his own way: late in the evening he went to a high officer of the Wehrmacht he had known from earlier and reached the Konvikt as a military hospital the next day was confiscated. Only in this way could the house be withdrawn from access by the Schutzstaffel . The original meaning of the study home was nevertheless interrupted. The rector and the sister superior were allowed to stay in the house in small rooms.

The first years of the study home as a military hospital were unspectacular, in line with the war. The commanders remained calm, paid rent, had damage repaired and spared the facility. However, this changed when the fortunes of war turned against Germany at the beginning of the 1940s: More and more seriously wounded soldiers came into the house, the pastoral care of the rector and the sister superior for the soldiers was severely hampered at times, and the furnishings were handled roughly and carelessly without the rector being able to do anything about it.

After the Second World War

In post-war Germany , Rector Sauter tried to get the building cleared from the French occupying forces . At first the French also used the house as a hospital, but in the spring of 1946 the Konvikt was opened again. For Rector Sauter, this offered the opportunity to withdraw from active work in the Konvikt. He saw his duty as done and retired to the pensioner's apartment in the house. His successor Anton Volm took over the new beginning. Anton Sauter spent several more years as a priest in the student home.

August Krist followed as the new Rector in 1948, then Hermann Ritter in 1957 and Stephan Küchler in 1963. In 1967 Karl Missel became rector of the Konvikt and carried out this role for the next 35 years. He endeavored to support young people in their self-discovery and to implement the impulses of the Second Vatican Council. In accordance with his mission statement "Education, Religion and Community", he promoted extracurricular activities such as music, craft activities and sport. At the Hohenzollern high school in Sigmaringen, where many of the Konvikt students had lessons, he was also a teacher of the Catholic religion. For his pedagogical work and his pastoral work, Missel was appointed ecclesiastical council ad honorem in 1982 and monsignor in 1987.

In the 1980s, almost 100 students who called themselves “Kitteraner” lived in the Konvikt. The set of rules was no longer as strict as it was in the early days, and the earlier dormitories had also been replaced by rooms with three or four beds, which were grouped together. Later it was switched to double rooms.

closure

At the end of the 2002/2003 school year the Konvikt was closed due to the falling number of students. The Sigmaringen city pastor Karl-Heinz Berger was appointed rector to handle the closure in January 2003 after his predecessor Karl Missel resigned from his post in December 2002 for health reasons. Berger remained in office until the closure in November 2003.

In autumn 2004, a meeting place for mentally ill people was set up on one floor of the former St. Fidelis student home. The rooms were rented and the meeting place was operated by the Caritas Association Sigmaringen. The new owner became the Archbishop's Foundation for Children's Home House Nazareth, which converted part of the premises for this purpose.

Remodeling and further use

In 2016 Haus Nazareth began extensive renovations of the building. The west wing was torn down in March of that year, against which resistance had risen among the citizens of Sigmaringen. A dormitory for the mentally ill and a residential group for autistic adolescents were built in the north wing. A day care center for the mentally ill was set up on the ground floor and the community psychiatric service is located in the south wing. An event hall was created in the former dining room. Four apartments for young people have been created in the former kitchen. A figure of Christ, which was supposed to fall victim to the demolition of the west wing, was removed from the citizenship after protests and is to be restored and then placed in front of the Geiselhart Museum of the Nazareth House. The church inventory of the chapel affected by the demolition was largely preserved and continued to be used by the House of Nazareth or sold to other churches. The construction costs for the renovation were estimated at four million euros, of which the archdiocese wanted to contribute an amount of 3.4 million euros, while the rest should be financed by the House of Nazareth. After the renovations were completed, the Konvikt was renamed “House Bethlehem” on December 9, 2017 .

daily routine

The daily routine was as follows:

  • 6:10 am: Wake up
  • 6:30 am - 7:00 am: early studies (Tue, Wed, Fri)
  • 7:00 a.m .: breakfast
  • 7.30 a.m .: Start of school
  • 1:10 p.m .: lunch
  • 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm: free time
  • 3 pm–4.30pm: first phase of study
  • 4: 30–4: 45 pm: break with snack
  • 4: 45–5: 00 pm: Meditation
  • 5: 00–6: 00 pm: second phase of study
  • 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm: free time
  • 7:00 pm - 7:30 pm: dinner
  • 9:30 pm/22:00 pm/22:30 pm: bed rest depending on age

Rectors

  • 1855–1885: Thomas Geiselhart
  • 1885–1893: Friedrich Schick
  • 1893-1907: Joseph Marmon
  • 1907–1920: Karl Friedrich Waldner
  • 1920–1945: Anton Sauter
  • 1946–1948: Anton Volm
  • 1948–1957: August Krist
  • 1957–1963: Hermann Ritter
  • 1963–1967: Stephan Küchler
  • 1967–2002: Karl Missel
  • 2003: Karl-Heinz Berger

Known students

  • Nikolaus Maier (1891–1977), pastor and local researcher
  • Karl Lehmann (1936–2018), cardinal, chairman of the German Bishops' Conference

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ erzbistum-freiburg.de: Thomas Geiselhart , accessed on December 23, 2011
  2. ↑ a b Prelate Hermann Ritter turns 90th Archdiocese of Freiburg, January 2, 2020, accessed on May 24, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Missel worked at the Konvikt for decades. Schwäbische Zeitung, May 12, 2014, accessed on May 24, 2020 .
  4. ^ A b c Karlheinz Fahlbusch: Remembering good times in Konvikt St. Fidelis. Bernhard Eisele tells about his youth. In: Südkurier Online. Südkurier Medienhaus GmbH, Konstanz, December 7, 2017, accessed on May 24, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Michael Hescheler: "Konvikt: Demolition of the west wing begins". In: Schwäbische Zeitung, March 1, 2016