Fritz Claus
Fritz Claus , actually Johann Martin Jäger (born August 5, 1853 in Martinshöhe ; † February 6, 1923 in Edenkoben ), was a German Catholic priest in the diocese of Speyer , who became known as a writer , Palatinate dialect poet and singer under his pseudonym .
family
Jäger was born the son of the elementary school teacher Johannes Jäger and his wife Maria Würrer. Already in 1858 his mother died in Bann , 1861 his father, who is now at the elementary school in Bruchweiler had been transferred. Having become an orphan, Jäger spent three years with his father's grandfather in Münchweiler an der Rodalb . In 1864 he came into the care of his uncle Martin Würrer, who was then a Catholic pastor in Ramberg .
education and profession
At the age of 14 Jäger switched from elementary school to Latin school in Annweiler and then, when his uncle was transferred to Geinsheim in the Upper Palatinate , to the Neustadt Latin school . He then visited the Episcopal Konvikt in Speyer . From 1875 he studied theology in Munich . In 1879 he was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Georg von Ehrler in Speyer Cathedral . His first places of activity were Trulben , Frankenthal , Landau and Kirchmohr , which is now part of Niedermohr ( West Palatinate ). In particular, as the parish priest of Zweibrücken (1893-1910), he was actively involved in church life and in associations.
Works and meaning
Jäger's pastimes were hiking and writing. In many stories , legends and folk stages , pieces in prose and in verse form , some in high German , partly in local dialect , he treated the Palatinate and the Palatinate Forest . His extensive poetic work, which he operated under the pseudonym "Fritz Claus", made him famous in the Palatinate literature . Because of his vocal appearances, he was also called the "singer of the Palatinate Forest".
Jäger's two-volume collection Fröhlich Pfalz, Gott erhalts appeared in 1885 and 1889 . Poems and sagas . In 1901 a second, expanded edition followed, in 1909 a third, which was particularly elaborate. In 1900 and 1901 Claus published the two volumes of prose and poetry in the Palatinate Forest . Among his numerous stage works were u. a. The Usurer and De Peter vun Bermesens . His poem about the saga of the devil's table became well-known in the Palatinate because of its pictorial language.
Jäger was one of the founders of the Palatinate Forest Association , which made him one of its first honorary members. The construction of the Luitpold tower on the Weißenberg went back to his initiative. In the Schamborntal near Leimen , in the area of his childhood, a monument was erected in 1906 while he was still alive . The Kingdom of Bavaria , to which the Palatinate belonged at the time, awarded him the honorary title of Royal Spiritual Counselor and the Order of Merit of St. Michael IV Class with Crown.
When Jäger was buried in Edenkoben, where he last held the pastor's office, on February 9, 1923, the Speyer Bishop Ludwig Sebastian also took part in the celebrations.
In the Palatinate, some hikers' huts were later given the name "Fritz-Claus-Hütte" in honor of Jäger, for example at his birthplace Martinhöhe, at Münchweiler an der Rodalb or at Brücken , where there is also a Fritz Claus spring at the hut.
Book cover
Age picture, around 1920
Death picture, back side
Fritz-Claus-Quelle at the hut of the same name belonging to the Palatinate Forest Association near Brücken
literature
- Franz L. Pelgen (Ed.): Fritz Claus: Mer sein Pälzer . Poems and sagas (= Small Landau series ). Publishing house Palatinate Art Dr. Hanns Blinn, Landau 1983.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Fritz Claus: Maria Rosenberg - legend, legend and history . Publishing house of the Zweibrücker Volkszeitung, Zweibrücken 1911.
- ↑ a b Roland Paul : Fritz Claus. (No longer available online.) District Association of the Palatinate , archived from the original on December 6, 2014 ; Retrieved November 29, 2014 .
- ^ Stephan Neuberger: The history of the Luitpold tower. Retrieved on November 29, 2014 (with the biography of the initiator Fritz Claus).
- ^ Fritz-Claus-Stein. outdooractive.com, accessed July 15, 2018 (with photo).
- ↑ a b Sterbebildchen, published in 1923 by the bereaved.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Claus, Fritz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jäger, Johann Martin (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Catholic priest in the Diocese of Speyer as well as writer, Palatinate dialect poet and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 5, 1853 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Martinshöhe |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 1923 |
| Place of death | Edenkoben |