Franz Morthorst
Franz Wilhelm Morthorst (born December 13, 1894 in Goldenstedt , † July 6, 1970 in Cloppenburg ) was a German Catholic clergyman .
Life
Morthorst was the son of the Goldenstedt baker Johann Heinrich Morthorst and his wife Anna Maria Caroline geb. Dierken. He attended high school in Vechta and began studying theology in Münster in 1913 , which was interrupted by military service in the First World War. Morthorst was only able to complete his studies after the end of the war and was ordained a priest on December 18, 1920 in Münster . He was then briefly vicar in Ellenstedt in 1921, then in the same position from 1921 to 1925 in Delmenhorst and then until 1936 in Vechta . In Vechta, Morthorst was also the chief editor of the Oldenburgische Volkszeitung , the organ of the Oldenburg Center Party, from 1925 . As a fundamentally apolitical person, he was particularly concerned with the cultural section of the newspaper, for which he wrote numerous poems and essays in High German and Low German . Nevertheless, Morthorst got caught up in politics from 1932 onwards due to his fight against the National Socialists .
In the Oldenburg state election campaign in 1932, Carl Röver , who was elected Germany's first NSDAP Prime Minister in June 1932, said: “There is a fellow from Morthorst sitting at the Oldenburgische Volkszeitung, this scoundrel, this villain, but wait only a short time, ... then I will I'll smash his typesetting machine for him ... I'll close the whole place to him, and not by force, but by law. ”Morthorst's resolute resistance led to the Volkszeitung being banned for four days in July 1932. In July 1933, Morthorst was then forced to leave the editorial office. In September 1935 he was arrested and imprisoned for three weeks for tearing down National Socialist posters from the Kolping House in Vechta . In 1936 he came to Visbek as vicar , where he continued to try to fend off Nazi attacks against the Catholic Church, the Catholic schools and clubs. When he stood up for the men arrested in the course of the Goldenstedt school strike , he was designated by the Gestapo as the main troublemaker in the Catholic Münsterland , expelled from the Oldenburg region and brought to Münster by the police in September 1938. From there he received a pastoral care position in Warendorf a short time later .
After the end of National Socialist rule, he returned to Cloppenburg as a chaplain in 1946 and was primarily involved in the Catholic labor movement, in the Kolping families and in the Catholic Workers' Association. In addition, he was also active in the home movement and became popular on the radio through his Low German morning speeches. From 1949 he also worked as a synod examiner . In 1956 he received the honorary title of Papal Secret Chamberlain .
The theologies of Augustine and John Henry Newman were among the main influences on his theological thought .
literature
- Morthorst, Franz Wilhelm. In: Hans Friedl u. a. (Ed.): Biographical manual for the history of the state of Oldenburg . Edited on behalf of the Oldenburg landscape. Isensee, Oldenburg 1992, ISBN 3-89442-135-5 , p. 479 ( online ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ quoted from Michael Hirschfeld in: Wilfried Kürschner (Ed.): The rural area: Politics - Economy - Society . Münster 2017, p. 125
- ↑ Michael Hirschfeld: Catholic milieu and displaced persons: a case study using the example of the Oldenburger Land . Cologne / Weimar 2002, p. 270, note 95
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Morthorst, Franz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Morthorst, Franz Wilhelm (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Catholic clergyman |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 13, 1894 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Goldenstedt |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 6, 1970 |
| Place of death | Cloppenburg |