Franz Egger (Bishop)

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Orazio Gaigher : Prince-Bishop Franz Egger von Brixen, 1914

Franz Egger (born April 26, 1836 in Hippach , Zillertal , North Tyrol, † May 17, 1918 in Innsbruck ) was Prince-Bishop of Brixen from 1912 until his death in 1918 . After his death, as a result of political events, Tyrol was divided between Austria and Italy and large diocesan areas, including the bishopric of Brixen, fell to Italy. Therefore there was a vacancy of several years in the bishopric, in which the diocese was headed by the vicar capitular Franz Schmid . It was not until 1921 that Franz Egger was succeeded by Johannes Raffl as Prince-Bishop of the Diocese of Brixen. The parts of the diocese that remained with Austria (mainly North Tyrol) were separated from the diocese of Brixen in 1925.

Origin and family relationships

Franz Egger was born as the youngest of 9 children of the farmers Andreas Egger and Anna Egger. Rieser, born on the Gschwendberg, in Hippach, Zillertal. His father fell away from the Catholic Church and joined the so-called inclinants in 1837 . This was a movement of Protestant-oriented believers who had left the Catholic Church and who, after persistent public insistence on leaving the church, were finally expelled from the state of Tyrol because of the peace of the religion. The number of inclinants from the Zillertal was over 400 people, including over 100 children. Except for nine who went to other areas of Austria, all others emigrated to Prussian Silesia in 1837 , including Franz Egger's father. He was one of the main leaders of the sectarians and left his family of 10 penniless in Tyrol, as they refused to renounce the Catholic faith. He even tried to sell his wife and children to his house and yard, but this was foiled by the court. Then the father - in order to have money - took on debts on the property, which his family who stayed behind later had to pay off. When he left, he took everything that was in the house with him. The peasant family, already living in modest circumstances, no longer had a breadwinner and moreover lived on a farm that was in debt. Prince-Bishop Cardinal Friedrich zu Schwarzenberg of Salzburg supported them financially at the expense of his secretary, who in turn was friends with the pastor of Hippach. Mother and children still had to work hard to make a living. After 25 years of separation, the father Andreas Egger returned to his wife and family in Tyrol in 1862, converted to the Catholic Church in 1866 and died in 1868. Anna Egger outlived her husband by more than 10 years and died in 1879 with her spiritual son Blasius Egger (see im following section "Special") in Umhausen.

Priest and professor

Franz Egger as a professor, around 1875.

Franz Egger visited a. A. in Dornauberg (municipality of Finkenberg ) the school where his much older brother Georg worked as a teacher. On the recommendation of his local clergy, he attended high school studies at the cathedral school in the bishopric of Brixen, the so-called Kassianeum. After successfully completing high school, he studied philosophy at the University of Innsbruck for a year , went to the College of Germanikum in Rome with the support of the then Prince-Bishop Bernhard Galura and was ordained a priest there on November 11, 1860. He completed his Roman studies with a doctorate in philosophy and theology. Between 1862 and 1868 he was initially a cooperator (assistant priest) in Finkenberg and Fügen (Zillertal) , two parishes near his home town. Then Prince-Bishop Vinzenz Gasser transferred him as a cooperator to the curate Muigg in Vinaders ; the construction of the Brenner Railway at that time required a pastor with knowledge of Italian. After 4 years of activity in this parish not far from the Brenner Pass , Franz Egger was appointed prefect of studies and professor of philosophy at the Brixen seminary , one of the most famous and renowned in the entire Habsburg Empire. Egger was prefect of studies and professor there for 15 years, then rain of the house for more than 25 years (1882–1908). Among his fellow professors, the canon lawyer Simon Aichner (1816–1910), the church historian Johann Nepomuk Zobl (1822–1907) and above all the exegete, newspaper publisher and social politician Aemilian Schöpfer (1858–1936) stood out. Soon after his appointment to the seminary regens , the priest was promoted to cathedral capitular in the same year , in 1892 he became papal house prelate , in 1895 dean of the cathedral , in 1900 he became provost of the cathedral .

Auxiliary Bishop and Prince-Bishop of Brixen

Prince-Bishop Franz Egger, full length.

In April 1908, Prince-Bishop Joseph Altenweisel appointed Prelate Egger as auxiliary bishop in Brixen, based in Feldkirch-Vorarlberg, and as vicar general of this northern part of the diocese. In June 1908 the chief shepherd consecrated him in the cathedral of Brixen as titular bishop of Laranda .

Auxiliary Bishop Franz Egger succeeded Diocesan Bishop Josef Altenweisel as Prince-Bishop of Brixen when he died suddenly in June 1912. The appointment took place on September 27, 1912, the papal confirmation on November 6 and the enthronement on November 27 of the same year. In his capacity as Prince-Bishop of Brixen, Egger automatically became a member of the Austrian Imperial Council and the Tyrolean Parliament. Since 1914 he was an honorary member of the Catholic student association AV Austria Innsbruck .

Bishop Egger was known everywhere for his undemanding, saintly lifestyle. It was a great achievement of his pontificate to end the dispute between the Conservatives and Christian Socialists in Tyrol. A decision with far-reaching consequences was his choice of the young professor Sigismund Waitz as auxiliary bishop and vicar general for Feldkirch-Vorarlberg. Here Prince-Bishop Egger had to assert himself against the concerns of the Viennese Nuncio Emidio Taliani , as well as against the strict resistance of the Conservative Party. So it came about that when Egger was ordained bishop of Waitz on June 8, 1913 in Brixen, as well as when he was inaugurated in Feldkirch, many conservatives demonstratively stayed away. Nevertheless, the choice of the active and very capable Waitz, who later became diocesan bishop, proved in retrospect to be extremely farsighted and beneficial. Through his zealous Auxiliary Bishop Waitz, the elderly Prince-Bishop Egger developed a tremendous charitable activity, especially during the First World War; in his person he was invisibly present, as it were, with the troops and in the military hospitals. Franz Egger encouraged several important Tyrolean priest personalities in their very own talents, such as the later provost of St. Jakob zu Innsbruck Josef Weingartner and the famous folk poet Sebastian Rieger , known as Reimmichl. A few days before his death, the shepherd in Brixen ordained Carl Lampert as a priest, who was to die in 1944 as a martyr and confessor against National Socialism. After the priestly ordinations mentioned on May 12, 1918 (42 new priests), Prince-Bishop Egger donated confirmation to 1,500 children on May 14 and 15, together with Auxiliary Bishop Waitz in Innsbruck. On the afternoon of May 15, Egger drove on to Telfs in the Upper Inn Valley and had another 200 children there alone. He then made a visit to the parish. In the evening he returned to Innsbruck and felt a slight discomfort on the way home. At the age of 82 he passed away the next day, May 17, 1918, as a guest of the Propsteihof in Innsbruck, gently and without agony. He was buried in Bressanone Cathedral.

Special

Blasius Egger, curate in Umhausen , Tyrol, older brother of Prince-Bishop Franz Egger.

In 1889 Franz Egger founded the Priest Conference Journal. He wrote 3 theological books, namely a "Philosophy", a "Dogmatics" and a "Fundamental Theology".

Popularly known and very touching are his childhood and youth memories, written down in 1879 after the death of his mother, which were originally only accessible to family and friends. In 1935, Dr. Klemens Oberhammer prepared for the public, annotated accordingly and posthumously published by Tyrolia Verlag Innsbruck under the title "A bishop tells about his mother".

Prince-Bishop Egger's older brother Blasius Egger was also a priest and long-time curate in Umhausen , Tyrol. He died in 1913 as the dean of Brixen Cathedral . In the memory booklet of his brother "A bishop tells about his mother" is also a chapter written by him with his own memories. Bishop Egger's cousin Andreas Rieser was also a clergyman.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815-1950: Raffl, Johannes (1858-1927), Fürstbischof (ÖBL 1815-1950, Vol. 8 (Lfg. 40, 1983), p. 390) (accessed on September 24, 2014)

Web links

Commons : Franz Egger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Joseph Altenweisel Bishop of Brixen
1912–1918 		Johannes Raffl
personal data
SURNAME Egger, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Egger, Francis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman Catholic Bishop, Prince-Bishop of Brixen
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1836
PLACE OF BIRTH Hippach
DATE OF DEATH May 17, 1918
Place of death innsbruck