Franz Joseph Fischer (Abbot)

Franz Joseph Fischer (* 1740 (baptized on October 12, 1740) in Calle ; † 21st August 1806 ibid ) was the last abbot of Prämonstratenserstiftes Wedinghausen

Franz Joseph Fischer

Live and act

Fischer came from a simple family of arable people and received his education in the pen Wedinghausen belonging school Laurentianum in Arnsberg . He then studied theology and was ordained a priest in Cologne . He then entered the monastery himself as a conventual . His scientific talents and his musical talent set him apart from his fellow brothers early on. So he was the writer of a play. At the age of 28 he was already teaching as a high school professor (" prof. Poet. Organisata musicus ") at the Laurentianum. He later became the prior and pastor of Arnsberg.

Despite his undisputed abilities, Fischer was not without controversy among the confreres. They accused him of being harsh and lacking in empathy. Therefore, the conventuals needed several ballots in the election of a new abbot before Fischer was finally elected on August 7, 1781. A year later he was officially installed in his office by the auxiliary bishop of Cologne, Karl Aloys von Königsegg-Aulendorf .

The policy of the Electorate of Cologne and its neighboring Duchy of Westphalia , the latter mainly under the aegis of Franz Wilhelm von Spiegel , were shaped by numerous reforms in the spirit of the Catholic Enlightenment during Fischer's tenure . Since Fischer tended to stand for baroque Catholicism, he was sharply criticized by representatives of the Enlightenment. The Electorate of Cologne commissioner Balduin Neesen called him the "archetype of a monk ruler."

Wedinghausen was also badly affected by the Enlightenment reforms. As early as 1783, the monastery lost its direct responsibility for the grammar school, which became a state institution. A certain unrest also came from within the community. Even if in vain, Georg Friedrich Pape tried to implement an extremely rationalist theological orientation. More serious for the community was the visit of the archbishop's visitation commissioner Balduin Reesen in 1788. He largely forbade the canons to use the previously cultivated instrumental music and traditional sacred choral music. In their place, at least for a time, the German church chant, which the traditionalists viewed as a Lutheran revolution. But even more important was the intervention in the internal constitution of the pen. The previous rule of the abbot was restricted and his administration was controlled by a chapter from ten of the oldest conventuals. The previous arrangement of Wedinghausen over the women's monasteries Rumbeck and Oelinghausen was canceled, as was the appointment of the Arnsberg pastor to the monastery. At times Fischer thought of resigning from office and going to Rumbeck Abbey as prior. Only Archbishop and Elector Maximilian Franz of Austria dissuaded him from doing so.

In the course of the French Revolution , the Cologne cathedral chapter fled to Arnsberg. The abbot had to make his house available to him. After the election of the new Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Meinhard von Königsegg-Aulendorf in 1796, Fischer was appointed Vicariate General Manager. After his death in 1803, the end of the monastery was already foreseeable through the resolutions of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss . Fischer took the opportunity to celebrate the funeral one last time, surrounded by the conventuals and dressed with the signs of his office, with all splendor.

After the transfer of the Duchy of Westphalia to Hessen-Darmstadt, Fischer, representing all the monasteries in the Duchy, took the oath of the new sovereign in September 1803. When on October 17, 1803, Landgrave Ludwig X. of Hessen-Darmstadt, as the new sovereign of the Duchy of Westphalia, ordered the abolition of all monasteries, this also affected Wedinghausen. Abbot Fischer received a pension of 650 florins a year  and an apartment in the Rumbeck monastery . After its abolition, the pension was increased to 1650 florins, the insignia such as miter, abbot, pectoral cross and ring remained in the possession of Fischer. He returned to his birthplace, where he also died.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schmitt: Franz Fischer. 1994, p. 203.

literature

• Karl Feaux de Lacroix: History of Arnsberg. Arnsberg 1895. (Reprint: Stein, Werl, 1983, ISBN 3-920980-05-0 , pp. 495–502)
• Michael Schmitt: Franz Fischer - last abbot of the Wedinghausen monastery. In: Refuge between the times 1794-1803. Cologne cathedral treasures in Arnsberg. Arnsberg 1994, ISBN 3-928394-11-8 , pp. 203f.