Georg Ferdinand von Waldburg-Zeil

Coat of arms of the princes of Waldburg zu Zeil and Trauchburg

Georg Ferdinand von Waldburg zu Zeil and Trauchburg (born January 8, 1823 at Zeil Castle ; † August 14, 1866 , in Regensburg ) was a prince's son from the Zeil line of the Upper Swabian noble family of Waldburg's Truchess , a Jesuit priest, and a nationally known people's missionary , pulpit speaker and poet.

Live and act

He was born the son of Prince Franz von Waldburg zu Zeil and Trauchburg (1778–1845) and his third wife, Maria Theresa Freiin von der Wenge zu Beck (1798–1864). She was the aunt of Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler , his mother's sister.

Georg Ferdinand von Waldburg to Zeil and Trauchburg attended St. Michael's College , entered with 17 years in the Spiritus Sanctus to Brig as a novice in the Jesuit order and was to study in Rome sent. There he was ordained a priest in 1848, but had to flee home because of the revolution , where he held his first Holy Mass at Zeil Castle.

Father von Zeil, as he was usually called, appeared nationwide in Germany as a preacher of popular missions . Because of this and because of his princely descent, he achieved a high level of awareness. Wolfgang Menzel writes about it in his "History of Europe from the fall of Napoleon to the present (1816-1856)" :

“ Immediately after the suppression of the Baden uprising, missions were held by Jesuits all over the lake district, in neighboring Württemberg, Bavaria and deep down on the Rhine ... A young prince of Waldburg-Zeil, belonging to the Society of Jesus, was still preaching from the heat the revolting people the peace and the love of the Savior in the same place where his ancestor, Georg Truchsess von Waldburg , had trampled it under the hooves of his horses. The devotion with which the people listened to the fathers was entirely voluntary and so general that no one dared either to disturb the preachers, who were so awe-inspiring, or to accuse them of the hated Jesuit names. "

- Wolfgang Menzel: "History of Europe from the fall of Napoleon to the present (1816-1856)", Volume 2, page 380

The clergyman also wrote poems, the best of which were published in 1857 as an anthology by Verlag Kirchheim zu Mainz . Some of them were spread on prayer cards until the middle of the 20th century. The book mentioned also contains an autobiographical poem about the father's escape from Rome in 1848 to his ancestral castle.

Hermann von Vicari wanted Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler or his cousin Georg von Waldburg-Zeil as coadjutor bishop of Freiburg im Breisgau .

Because of Father Zeil's in Speyer Cathedral and other places in the diocese, e.g. For example, in Landstuhl and Grünstadt , there was a controversy between Bishop Nikolaus von Weis and the Bavarian government in 1851 , as no approval had been sought beforehand.

Father Georg Ferdinand von Waldburg-Zeil is also the great-uncle of the famous Nazi opponent Cardinal Konrad von Preysing . His grandmother Anna von Waldburg-Zeil (1821–1849) was the sister of Father Georg Ferdinand.

The Jesuit married his niece Sophie Leopoldine Ludovica von Arco-Zinneberg (1836–1909) with Count Franz Xaver Joseph von Waldburg zu Wolfegg and Waldsee (1833–1906) in St. Ludwig in Munich in 1860 . She was later called the "Mother of Upper Swabia" because of her selfless charity; her son Hereditary Count Friedrich (1861–1895) also joined the Jesuit order.

Works

• Poems by Father Georg von Waldburg-Zeil , Kirchheim, Mainz, 1857. Complete scan of the book

literature

• Eduard Vehse : History of the German Courts since the Reformation. Volumes 43-45. Hoffman and Campe, Hamburg 1858-1859, pp. 54-55, scan of the statements about Father Waldburg-Zeil and his family environment .
• Joseph Kehrein : Biographical literary lexicon of the Catholic German poets, folk and youth writers in the 19th century. Volume 1. Woerl, Zurich et al. 1868, pp. 231–232, scan of the chapter on Father Georg von Waldburg-Zeil .
• Wilhelm Lindemann: Wilhelm Lindemanns history of the German literature. Edited and partly revised by Anselm Salzer . 7th edition. Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1898, About Father Waldburg-Zeil .
• Bernhard Duhr (Ed.): Files on the history of the Jesuit missions in Germany 1848–1872. Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1903, scan of the source .
• Johannes Mundwiler: P. Georg von Waldburg-Zeil SJ A people's missionary of the 19th century. A picture of life. Herder, Freiburg (Breisgau) 1906
• Heinz Gollwitzer : The gentlemen. Political and social position of the mediatized 1815–1918. A contribution to German social history. 2nd revised and supplemented edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1964, scan of the source .
• Walter-Siegfried Kircher: "Education, ... life, ... good faith". Noble education and Catholic religion in the 19th century. In: Lars Bednorz (ed.): Religion needs education - education needs religion. Horst F. Rupp on his 60th birthday. Verlag Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8260-4154-9 , pp. 168-182.

Web links

• Genealogical page about Father Georg Ferdinand von Waldburg-Zeil
• Obituary in the "Literary Handweiser for Catholic Germany" , year 1866, column 356, person no. 93

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Source on the relationship with Bishop von Ketteler
2. ↑ Source on the primacy at Zeil Castle
3. ^ Review of the poetry volume by Father Waldburg zu Zeil
4. ↑ Poem about the flight from Rome to the homeland
5. ^ Source on Bishop Vicari's wish for a successor
6. ↑ Ludwig Stamer, Church History of the Palatinate, Volume 4, page 212
7. ↑ Genealogy page about the grandparents of Cardinal Preysing
8. ↑ Source on the wedding of the niece Sophie Leopoldine Ludovica von Waldburg zu Wolfegg and Waldsee ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ Hereditary Count Father Friedrich von Waldburg zu Wolfegg and Waldsee SJ