Franz Xaver Hacker

Das Marienkind , title page of the 12th edition, 1912

Joseph Haydn , 7th edition, 1929

The Fuggers and their time , 5th edition, 1908

Franz Xaver Hacker (born January 20, 1836 in Nymphenburg , † January 28, 1894 in Munich ) was a Catholic priest and a well-known German writer under the pseudonym Franz von Seeburg .

Life

Franz Xaver Hacker was born on January 20, 1836 in Nymphenburg near Munich as the son of the elementary school teacher Andreas Hacker and his wife Magdalena. After his discharge from elementary school, the boy attended the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , which he graduated in 1855. He then studied in Freising, Metten and Munich - philosophy , theology and law.

In 1859 he was ordained a priest . At first he belonged to the Capuchin order , where he had the religious name Wolfgang, then he left the order and became a secular priest .

In 1865 Hacker fell seriously ill and was barely able to exercise his priestly office for three years. Afterwards the Episcopal Ordinariate sent him to the Chiemsee to relax , where his health recovered. Here he wrote his first work "Das Marienkind" in 1869 under the pseudonym Franz von Seeburg. It appeared as a sequel in a little-known Tyrolean paper, and when Hacker wanted to publish it in book form, he had to pay for it. Nevertheless, it was precisely this that was to give his life a clear turn. Friedrich Pustet , the founder of the famous Regensburg publishing house, stocked up on travel reading during a stopover in Munich. In doing so, he became aware of the book by Franz Xaver Hacker. He asked about the author and paid him a visit at the Chiemsee. It was here that the two men became friends, and Pustet encouraged Hacker to continue writing. From then on, his books were published by Pustet-Verlag Regensburg.

Initially still active as a pastor at the Chiemsee, Franz Xaver Hacker finally went to Munich as the Hochstift Vicar. Between 1877 and 1887 he was also a teacher and preacher at the Wilhelmsgymnasium there. In 1886 he became court chaplain and honorary canon of the court church of St. Kajetan, in 1887 inspector and director of the royal institution for the blind in Munich. In addition, Prince Regent Luitpold appointed him to the royal clergy . Franz Xaver Hacker died on January 28, 1894 in Munich.

Literary work

In addition to his already mentioned first work “Das Marienkind” (1869), which saw numerous editions, Franz Xaver Hacker mainly wrote historical novels with a decidedly Catholic attitude, which, however, were not works of tendency. Of these, the books are particularly significant: “Through night to the light” , a Bavarian painting of the times and customs from the early 19th century (1875), “The Fuggers and their time” , about the famous Augsburg merchant family (1879), Joseph Haydn , a biographical life novel of the composer (1882), as well as "The witch judges of Würzburg " , about the witch madness and the figure of the courageous Jesuit Friedrich von Spee , who fought him (1883). All of Hacker's books saw multiple editions, some up to the 1950s, and were also translated into French and other languages.

Work overview

• "The Child of Mary" , story, 1869,
• "Through night to light" (A time and moral painting from the beginning of the 19th century), 1875,
• “Cyclame” (An Ancient Tale), 1875;
• "The Nightingale" (A village story from the Bavarian highlands), 1877,
• “Pope Pius IX” , 1878;
• "The Egyptian Joseph" (A flowery example of Jesus, our dear Savior), 1878,
• "The Fuggers and their time" (A cycle of pictures), 1879,
• “Laudate pueri Dominum!” , Prayer booklet, 1881;
• "Joseph Haydn" (A Life Picture), 1882,
• "The witch judges of Würzburg" , historical novella, 1883,
• "Immergrün" , folk tales, 6 volumes, 1899;
• "Calendar narratives" (from 1878 on), (Ed.), 6 vols., 1899–1900,

literature

H. Keiter, short biography of Franz Xaver Hackers in the 8th edition of his book "Das Marienkind" .

Web links

• Website about the person, with (incomplete) list of works
• The former teachers at the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich, whose family name begins with "H"; including an article about Franz Xaver Hacker

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Max Leitschuh: The matriculations of the upper classes of the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , 4 vols., Munich 1970-1976 .; Vol. 4, p. 58.