Franz Reinisch

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Franz Reinisch

Franz Dionysius Reinisch SAC (born February 1, 1903 in Feldkirch - Levis , Vorarlberg , Austria-Hungary ; † August 21, 1942 in the Brandenburg-Görden prison , Germany ) was a Pallottine and a member of the Schoenstatt Movement . He was the only priest who the oath of allegiance to Hitler refused, and was executed.

Life

Franz Reinisch was born on February 1, 1903 in Feldkirch, Austria. A day later he was baptized. When he was baptized, his parents consecrated him to Our Lady. Franz Reinisch grew up with two brothers and two sisters. His father Franz Reinisch, a tax officer, was often transferred to Franz Reinisch's childhood. So the von Feldkirch family moved to Bozen , Bruneck and finally to Innsbruck . During his time in Bolzano, Franz Reinisch survived a serious illness.

School time and youth

From autumn 1914, Franz Reinisch and his brother Andreas attended the Franciscan high school in Hall in Tirol . In 1919 the brothers looked for a flat together in order to be more independent. Franz, who fell in love during this time, slacked off considerably in his school performance. He was also an enthusiastic member of the Sternkorona high school association in the MKV . Franz Reinisch passed his Matura in the summer of 1922 .

Study time

Franz Reinisch began studying law on September 28, 1922 at the Leopold Franzens University in Innsbruck . His motto for this time, derived from the motto of his student union KÖHV Leopoldina Innsbruck , which he joined on November 3, 1922, was: “Our faith in Jesus Christ and Mary is immovable like the mountains of our homeland.” A year later he studied in Kiel forensic medicine and was temporarily a member of AV Rheno-Guestfalia Kiel. During this time he took part in a four-week retreat . Through the experiences in the port city and the thoughts of the days of reflection, he made the decision to become a priest. In Innsbruck he began studying theology and philosophy in autumn 1923. At the age of 22 Reinisch entered the seminary in Bressanone . It was here that he had contact with the Pallottine fathers for the first time and became a close friend of the Pallottine fathers Richard Weick, known as SAC. He later came to Schoenstatt through him . In Advent he took part in a pilgrimage to Rome. The highlight of this pilgrimage was an audience with the Pope on Christmas Eve 1926. Two years later, on June 29, 1928, he was ordained a priest in Innsbruck Cathedral . In the same year he entered the Pallottine monastery Untermerzbach near Bamberg on November 3rd . Here he was confronted with strict house rules. He learned to give up things like smoking. Right at the beginning of his studies, Franz Reinisch had to give up 150 cigarettes. After three weeks in the novitiate, he planned to leave it by fleeing. Reinisch wanted to escape to freedom over the wall of the novitiate at a particularly favorable place in the early evening. However, when he passed the Lourdes Grotto, he could not go any further. He justified this by saying that it was as if someone had held him. This evening became the key experience of his vocation for him. He finished his theology studies in Salzburg in autumn 1932.

The time in Schoenstatt

In 1933 Franz Reinisch was transferred to Friedberg near Augsburg. Here he was responsible for youth work and quickly showed his talent for speeches and sermons. He found many enthusiastic listeners, especially among the young people. He first heard about Schoenstatt through a priestly magazine. Five years later, in 1938, after several transfers to Konstanz, Hohenrechberg , St. Paulusheim in Bruchsal , Salzburg and Untermerzbach, he finally came to Schoenstatt . Here Franz Reinisch was entrusted with missionary work and pastoral care for men. He held many retreats, retreats and conferences here. From Schoenstatt he made many trips all over Germany. He also developed a close relationship with Father Josef Kentenich . During this time, the Gestapo became aware of his speeches, in which he openly addressed the incompatibility of the Christian faith with the ideas of the Nazi regime. For this reason he was banned from preaching and speaking on September 12, 1940 . In order to still be able to work for the church, he translated church news and texts from Italian magazines into German. True to his conscience, he visited groups despite the ban on speaking and strengthened them in their faith.

His conscience decision

“As a Christian and an Austrian, I can never swear an oath of allegiance to a man like Hitler. There must be people protesting the abuse of authority; and I feel called to this protest. "

- Franz Reinisch

Franz Reinisch, who was convinced that Hitler was the personification of the Antichrist , refused the oath of the flag on Hitler, although conscientious objectors expected severe punishment. While many advised against it, he was encouraged by Father Josef Kentenich, who at that time was already imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp . During the time of his conscientious decision-making, he often prayed in front of the image of Mary in the Schoenstatt Shrine: “Dear MTA , let me live and die as an ardent Schoenstatt Apostle!” On Easter Tuesday in 1942 he received the order to join the Wehrmacht. During his prayers the final decision not to take oath of the flag was made. During a recent visit to Innsbruck, he informed his parents of his decision while walking through the cemetery.

On April 15, 1942, Franz Reinisch, deliberately one day later than ordered, arrived at the barracks in Bad Kissingen and immediately declared his refusal to obey Hitler. He was arrested and taken to court martial. His trial dragged on, so that he was taken to Berlin-Tegel prison in May . In August Franz Reinisch was transferred to Brandenburg near Berlin, where he was to be informed of the judge's decision. In prison he wrote the Marian song “You are the great sign”, as it were as his death song in anticipation of the death sentence. On August 20, 1942 at 8:00 p.m. the public prosecutor read out the death sentence, which he commented on with the statement: “The convict is not a revolutionary, that is, an enemy of the state and the people who fights with fist and violence, he is a Catholic Priest who uses the weapons of the Spirit and of faith. And he knows what he is fighting for. ”Franz Reinisch prayed all night and wrote a farewell letter to his parents and siblings. One of the last greetings from the prison cell was: “To love and suffer in joy. F. Reinisch ”. On August 21, 1942, at midnight, he again made holy confession. He received Holy Communion at 1:00 a.m. At 3:00 a.m. he handed in all the things he still had with him: the handkerchief in which the Eucharist was wrapped, the death cross , the rosary, some books and the farewell letter. At 3:30 am, his shoes and stockings were removed, his hands were cuffed behind his back, and he was taken to the basement in front of the execution room. At 5:03 a.m., Franz Reinisch was beheaded .

Franz Reinisch was the only Catholic priest who refused to obey the flag and was executed, and belongs to the so-called group of "martyrs from North Tyrol". He is also known as the "martyr of conscience". His urn is buried today next to the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt.

The news of Reinisch's execution also reinforced Franz Jägerstätter, who was imprisoned for the same reasons, in his decision to refuse military service. Jägerstätter was executed in 1943.

Cardinal State Secretary Luigi Maglione wrote to the Superior General of the Pallottines on August 18, 1943 : “In a letter of your own you described the example of the confrere who was executed with the guillotine. The Holy Father is in doubt whether he should complain to you about the loss of a member of such generous demeanor, or whether he should congratulate you on the glory that he has acquired. "

Honors

In 1999 the Catholic Church accepted Father Franz Reinisch as a witness of faith in the German martyrology of the 20th century .

On May 28, 2013, the process for the beatification of Franz Reinisch was opened in Trier in the presence of Bishop Stephan Ackermann . The postulator for this process is Heribert Precipitation SAC . The procedure was completed on June 28, 2019.

His feast day is August 21. Since 1962, he has been commemorated in the Reinisch Vigil on the night of August 20-21.

In Schwäbisch Gmünd, a plaque attached to the “ Prediger ” cultural center commemorates the local victims of National Socialism, including Father Reinisch. From 1938, Gestapo offices were also set up in the “Prediger”.

In his native Feldkirch the Franz-Reinisch-Weg is named after him, and in Innsbruck / Wilten a street sign has marked the Pater-Reinisch-Weg since 1983 . Since 2001, the Pater-Franz-Reinisch-Brücke has been a reminder of him in the Vallendar Association . In Germany in Friedberg (Bavaria) a street is named after him, and the Schoenstatt Youth of the Archdiocese of Bamberg gave the Reinisch House its name.

Memorial Chapel Dom Passau

Bad Kissingen has been commemorating Reinisch since 2001 with a Reinisch memorial and the Pater-Reinisch-Weg in the former barracks area, where the martyr began his way of the cross. The Pater Reinisch House of the Schoenstatt Movement in the Diocese of Würzburg, which had been named after him since 1979, was also located in Bad Kissingen until 2012. For years there was a memorial plaque for Reinisch in the American barracks of the spa town, which after the departure of the Americans found a new place in the Herz-Jesu parish church of Bad Kissingen. The Pallottine Center in Hersberg Castle in Immenstaad has a plaque for Reinisch.

In the Cathedral of Passau Reinisch is honored in the Memorial Chapel.

In 2019 the Pater-Franz-Reinisch Weg was opened in Bruchsal .

musical

On April 14, 2018, the musical DANGEROUS: Franz Reinisch - Musical about an upright person by the writer and composer Wilfried Röhrig premiered in Bad Kissingen. Further performances with up to 850 spectators followed in Bamberg, Vallendar-Schoenstatt, Hall / Tirol, Borken, Erfurt and Östringen.

literature

  • H. Kreutzberg: Franz Reinisch - a martyr of our time. Limburg an der Lahn 1953.
  • Klaus Brantzen (Ed.): In the face of death. Diary from prison. Neuwied, Neuwied 1987.
  • Klaus Brantzen (Ed.): Martyrs of conscience. Neuwied, Neuwied 1987.
  • Karl von Vogelsang Institute (ed.): Suffered for Austria. Christians and Patriots in Persecution and Resistance. Norka, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-85126-007-4 .
  • Provincialate of the South German Pallottine Province (Hrsg.): Resistance from faith. Documentation. Lectures and services on the 50th anniversary of the death of Father Franz Reinisch SAC. Hofmann-Dr., Friedberg near Augsburg 1992.
  • Klaus Brantzen: Father Franz Reinisch - his life picture. A man stands by his conscience. Neuwied, Neuwied 1993.
  • Jutta Dirksen: The risk of freedom. Father Franz Reinisch. Patris, Vallendar-Schoenstatt 1993, ISBN 3-87620-167-5 .
  • Klaus Brantzen: Materials about Franz Reinisch. Research inst. Brenner Archive, Innsbruck 1996.
  • Franz-Josef Tremer: Radically lived Christianity. Father Reinisch and his "Political Inscriptio". In: REGNUM. 34. Vol. H. 4 Nov. 2000, 170-178, ISSN  0341-3322 .
  • Wojciech Kordas: Courage to resist. The refusal of the oath of the flag by Fr Franz Reinisch as a prophetic protest. EOS, St. Ottilien 2002, ISBN 3-8306-7109-1 .
  • Heribert Precipitation : Prophetic Protest. The decision path of Fr Franz Reinisch. Patris, Vallendar-Schoenstatt 2003, ISBN 3-87620-252-3 .
  • Franz-Josef Tremer: Brothers in Spirit. Franz the Jägerstätter and Reinisch the Schoenstatters. In: REGNUM. 41. Vol. 4 Dec. 2007, 179-188, ISSN  0341-3322 .
  • Franz-Josef Tremer: “They bite on granite with me” - the conscientious objector Franz Reinisch. In: epd. Documentation, Frankfurt am Main, 2008 No. 2, 53-59, ISSN  1619-5809 .
  • Franz-Josef Tremer: "They bite granite for me". Franz Reinisch - a “liberation theologian” from Schoenstatt. In: REGNUM. 44. Vol. 4 Nov. 2010, 177-187, ISSN  0341-3322 .
  • Christian Feldmann : An oath on Hitler? Never! Franz Reinisch: A life for human dignity. Patris, Vallendar-Schönstatt 2012, ISBN 978-3-87620-310-2 and Pallotti Verlag, Friedberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-87614-080-3 .
  • Helmut Moll (Ed. On behalf of the German Bishops' Conference): Witnesses for Christ. The German martyrology of the 20th century. , Paderborn et al. 1999, 7th revised and updated edition 2019, ISBN 978-3-506-78012-6 , Volume II, pp. 1014-1018.
  • Peter Pichler: Life and work of the Pallottine Father Franz Reinisch. Innsbruck 2016, DNB 1124100962 .
  • Martin J. Emge: Beyond Death. Life paths with Franz Reinisch . Schoenstatt Publishing House, Vallendar 2018, ISBN 978-3-935396-70-7 .

Film and musical

  • Rhineland-Palatinate State Image Office: Father Franz Reinisch. A man stands by his conscience . Koblenz 1989.
  • Franz Reinisch Forum, Vallendar: Father Franz Reinisch . A film by Angela Marlier. Vallendar 2016.
  • Wilfried Röhrig: Dangerous: Franz Reinisch - Musical about an upright man. CD, 23 songs, running time: 63 min, rigma-Musikverlag Viernheim 2018, ISBN 978-3-933294-50-0 .

Web links

Commons : Franz Reinisch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Joachim Schmiedl: Reinisch, Franz. In: Schoenstatt Lexicon. Facts - ideas - life. Patris-Verlag, Vallendar 1996, ISBN 3-87620-195-0 . (jki.de)
  2. ↑ Franz Reinisch's diary accessed on the website of the beatification of Franz Reinisch on July 5, 2014.
  3. ↑ Robert Streibel: God in the Reich Chancellery and in the concentration camp. Religion and National Socialism: An Outline. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b Ekkart Sauser:  Reinisch, Franz. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 1558-1559.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  5. ↑ Traces of a martyr. In: POW - Press Service Bischöfliches Ordinariat Würzburg. Vol. 39, No. 12, March 24, 2010, pp. 9-10.
  6. ↑ Pius XII. accessed on August 2, 2017.
  7. ↑ August 21st is the anniversary of Father Franz Reinisch's death - memorial service in Schoenstatt, Reinisch night in Kirchmöser
  8. ↑ Exhibition “Traffic Areas” by Werner Kaligofsky ( Memento from August 20, 2007 in the web archive archive.today ), Gallery in the Taxispalais Innsbruck, 2001.
  9. ↑ Vallendar City Council pays tribute to the Pallottine Father Franz Reinisch, who is known beyond the borders of Germany. In: Heimatecho - weekly newspaper of the municipality of Vallendar. quoted in Schoenstatt encounters. Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  10. ↑ Reinisch House. ( Memento of February 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved September 8, 2009.
  11. ↑ Steadfast to death. Schoenstatt Movement, accessed August 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ Amidst the people. on: www.archiv.schoenstatt.de , April 21, 2008.
  13. ↑ "DANGEROUS: Franz Reinisch - Musical about an upright man"
  14. ↑ schoenstatt.de
personal data
SURNAME Reinisch, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Reinisch, Franz Dionysius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Catholic clergyman, Pallottine, member of the Schoenstatt Movement, victim of National Socialism
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Levis (Feldkirch) , Vorarlberg, Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1942
Place of death Brandenburg-Görden