Franz Hartz

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Grave of Prelate Franz Hartz in the parish church of St. Cyriakus Krefeld-Hüls

Franz Hartz (born June 15, 1882 in Hüls , † February 15, 1953 there ) was a German Roman Catholic pastor . He was also called the father of the displaced.

Life

Hartz attended the Thomaeum grammar school in Kempen and then studied theology in Münster . Here he was ordained a priest on June 13, 1908 . In the same year he joined the KStV Osning in the Cartel Association of Catholic German Student Associations . In 1914 he did his doctorate in Münster under the moral theologian Joseph Mausbach with the dissertation essence and purpose of punishment. An ethical appreciation of absolute and relative legal theory. In 1924 Hartz became curate and parish administrator in the parish of St. Elisabeth, in 1928 pastor to Liebfrauen, both in Berlin. After the establishment of the Diocese of Berlin in 1930, Bishop Christian Schreiber appointed him as Bishop of Berlin to the Cathedral Capitular at St. Hedwig's Cathedral .

Pope Pius XI appointed Hartz on February 21, 1931 as Praelatus nullius of the prelature Schneidemühl , which at that time counted 134,000 Catholics in 75 parishes and twelve pastoral care stations. Under his leadership, the area experienced an upswing through the construction of new churches, Caritas homes, the formation of new parishes and the expansion and consolidation of church organizations. As the first German shepherd, he introduced the celebration of so-called betsing masses . Before the Russian troops marched in, Hartz left Schneidemühl on January 26, 1945 . Partly on foot he first got to Demmin and in the last weeks of the war to Fulda . He lived here from 1945 until the end of his life, and from here he maintained lively contacts with the former Schneidemühler clergy.

In 1949 Hartz took up the post of Papal Commissioner for the Pastoral Care of Expellees . At the same time he was the representative of the German Bishops' Conference for refugee affairs. In the years that followed, he pursued both tasks with great dedication. At his suggestion, for example, the creation of a central Catholic church registry office for the expellees as well as the provisional care of the ecclesiastical and lay church pensioners who were expelled from the east went back. In the diocese of Fulda he helped by taking over company trips, especially in the diaspora . Pope Pius XII paid tribute to his tireless efforts . 1951 by being awarded the title “Most Revered Excellency”.

During his usual Christmas visit to Hüls in the winter of 1952/1953, Hartz fell ill and died in his home community. On February 18, 1953, he was buried in the Hüls parish church of St. Cyriakus, after the Archbishop of Cologne Josef Cardinal Frings had given the absolutio ad tumbam . Incidentally, Hartz not only remained nominally prelate of the Free Prelature Schneidemühl until his death.

Award

  • The city of Krefeld has dedicated Franz-Hartz-Strasse to him in the Hüls district.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Rhineland Regional Association - Quality for People, Rheinische Geschichte portal, Franz Hartz, accessed on March 3, 2016
  2. ^ Koss, Siegfried., Löhr, Wolfgang .: Biographisches Lexikon des KV . SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 1991, ISBN 3-923621-55-8 .
  3. ↑ The Auxiliary Bishop's company trip starts unusually accessed on April 3, 2016

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hartz, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic clergyman
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Hüls (Krefeld)
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1953
Place of death Hüls (Krefeld)