Gerhard Vynhoven

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gerhard Vynhoven (also Vinhofen or Venhoven ) (born April 14, 1596 in Neersen ; † March 14, 1674 in Düsseldorf ) was a German Catholic priest .

Vynhoven was born on the Vennhof near Neersen. He studied theology in Douai and was ordained a priest in 1621. From 1621 to 1623 he had a pastor's position in Anrath and in 1623 set out on a five-year trip to Palestine . In 1632 he became pastor in Osterath and became rector of the pilgrimage chapel in Stalleiken near Wattenscheid . In 1642 (during the Thirty Years' War ) he became field chaplain to Johann von Werth , whom he persuaded in 1647 to convert to the emperor.

Even after the end of the Thirty Years' War he stayed with von Werth in Bohemia until 1652 . In 1651 he was appointed prelate by the church . In 1652 he returned to Neersen, where, as the house priest of the local Baron Adrian Wilhelm von Viermund, he suggested the establishment of a Minorite monastery .

From his total of two or three trips to Palestine he had brought sketches and drawings of the Nativity Grotto in Bethlehem , the Crucifixion Group and the burial chapel in Jerusalem and in 1654 began building a chapel in Neersen, within which the Nativity Grotto in Bethlehem and the burial church in Jerusalem in 1:50 scale were modeled. The chapel was completed in 1661 and is now known as the Little Jerusalem Chapel .

After his death that year, Vynhoven was buried in the chapel.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vynhoven, Gerhard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vinhofen, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic priest
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1596
PLACE OF BIRTH Neersen
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1674
Place of death Dusseldorf