Georg von Pfronten-Kreuzegg

Votive picture

Brother Georg von Pfronten-Kreuzegg called "Brother Jörg", (born November 25, 1696 in Pfronten- Kreuzegg as Andreas Erhart , † October 7, 1762 in Frascati ), was a Capuchin .

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Andreas Erhart came from a large farm, his grandfather Johann even had the largest property in the Kreuzegg district. The father Georg died in 1712, only 52 years old. As a result, the mother Anna married again the following year with Roman Fischer. According to the custom at the time, the children from a previous marriage received their paternal inheritance and were only entitled to the parental farm if the subsequent marriage did not produce any offspring. The siblings Anastasia and Joachim were only eleven and seven years old when their mother married. The 17-year-old Andreas was sent to an Immenstadt baker as an apprentice. There the young man came into contact with the Capuchin Order.

In 1717, after passing his journeyman's examination with distinction, Andreas Erhart moved to Rome . There was a large colony of German bakers there, including Pfronteners. At the age of 28 he entered the Capuchin Order as a novice and was given the name Georg. He then lived as a lay brother in various convents near Rome and worked as a cook and in the monastery workshops. In 1725 he made his profession .

Brother Georg died in Frascati in 1762 in the name of holiness. He was buried there in the Capuchin Crypt. In 1922 his remains were transferred to the Capuchin Church of St. Anton in Kempten .

Brother Georg evidently showed a great deal of empathy for the sick and dying, as well as active help for poor people, especially children. In Rome he was said to have had supernatural gifts. From time to time a bright shimmering radiance emanated from him, he had had the gift of bilocation , and through him the sick were healed in a miraculous way. When Fra Giorgio died, the boys in Frascati are said to have shouted: “E morto il Santo!” (“The saint has died”).

Because of his holy life, the beatification process was opened as early as 1781 . In the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, however, it came to a standstill and the resumption after the transfer of the bones of Brother George to Kempten did not come to an end. Brother Georg is still on the list of the Capuchin Order for incomplete beatification procedures.

For the continuation of the beatification process, J. Magnussen and Josef Köberle published Br. Georg's biographies, which are based on testimony from contemporary witnesses, especially his biological brother Joachim. He later followed his brother to Rome and entered the Jesuit community .

Brother Georg Chapel

Brother Georg Chapel

Right next to the house where Brother Georg was born (old house number 111, “bei Schwammeböck”) there is now a place of worship, the “Brother Georg Chapel”. It is reported that two respected citizens from Rome came to Pfronten in 1780. One had stated that he was present at the end of the servant of God. Brother Jörg asked him to see to it that a wayside shrine or a chapel in honor of Mary or another saint would be built in his hometown. For this purpose he had given eight ducats . This construction was started and completed by Pastor Selb (died 1803 in Pfronten). Soon afterwards a portrait of Brother Georg arrived from Rome, which was hung in the chapel. This or a copy of it is in the choir of the parish church of St. Nicholas .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Pfronten municipal archive, summary extract of the previous tax description from 1675

literature

• Ingeborg Magnussen : Brother Jörg von Pfronten-Kreuzegg , III.-Ordens-Verlag Altötting, imprimatur 1926
• Josef Köberle: Brother Georg von Pfronten in the splendor of virtue , Martinus bookstore Illertissen, 1937
• Peter Dörfler : The journeymen of the maid Michline . Herder-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1953. Peter Dörfler describes the story of the Capuchin brother in the form of a novel .
• Klaus Wankmiller: brother Georg von Pfronten-Kreuzegg (1696 - 1762). On the 250th anniversary of the death of the blessed Capuchin brother , in: Alt Füssen - Yearbook of the Historical Association of Alt Füssen (2012), pp. 78–97.
• Ekkart Sauser :  Georg von Pfronten-Kreuzegg. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 17, Bautz, Herzberg 2000, ISBN 3-88309-080-8 , Sp. 444-445.

Web links

• Entry in the dictionary of saints
• Ongoing canonization process of the Capuchin Order ( Memento of August 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )