Gregory II. Fuchs

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portrait of Gregor Fuchs on an engraving

Gregor II. Fuchs (born September 22, 1667 in Stadtlauringen ; † January 19, 1755 in Obertheres , today Theres ) was abbot of the Benedictine monastery in Obertheres from 1715 to 1755 .

Life

Early years

Gregor Fuchs was born on September 22nd, 1667 in Stadtlauringen in the area around the Free Imperial City of Schweinfurt . He was the son of Johann Fuchs, who came from Neustadt an der Saale . His mother, Margarethe Fuchs, came from Bamberg and was born Fröhlich. The parents had bought a property in Stadtlauringen where the future abbot spent his youth. The school education of Gregor Fuchs is not mentioned in the sources.

On December 23, 1691, Gregor Fuchs came to the Benedictine monastery Theres as a young student. Here he entered the monastery and made his perpetual vows on January 1, 1693 . On September 16, 1705 Gregor Fuchs celebrated his in the abbey church Thereser first Mass . Now he left the abbey first and completed his studies at the University of Würzburg . He then began a career in office within the monastery and thus earned the respect of his confreres. In 1711 Fuchs was prior and wrote a monastery history.

As abbot

After the death of Abbot Kilian Frank on May 12, 1715, the monks elected Gregor Fuchs as Abbot Gregory II. As early as 1716, the new abbot began demolishing the Romanesque monastery church in order to renovate the monastery buildings in the Baroque style. For this he hired the Würzburg court architect Joseph Greissing . On July 7, 1716 the foundation stone for the new abbey church was laid. The rest of the monastery buildings were also started to be renewed. The construction work was completed by 1748.

During the construction work, a prince-bishop's decree was issued in 1725, which made it more difficult for Theres Monastery to cut stones. Bishop Christoph Franz von Hutten feared that the construction work on his residence in Würzburg could not progress quickly enough because Theres Monastery had confiscated all the stones from the Zabelstein quarry . After several trips to various offices, construction work could continue.

The abbey received a new coat of arms as early as 1718. The symbol of the monastery patron, the cauldron of St. Vitus , disappeared and was replaced by the eagle of the supposed monastery founder, Adalbert von Babenberg . In addition to the monastery itself, Gregor Fuchs also had the abbey properties built. The Marienkapelle in Obertheres was rebuilt in 1722. In Untertheres, Abbot Gregory laid the foundation stone for the new parish church on March 31, 1728.

Several large stone crosses and wayside shrines were built on the paths between the monastery properties , testifying to the popular beliefs of the time. Abbot Gregor held a pontifical office at the inauguration of the Balthasar Neumann Basilica in Münsterschwarzach in 1743 . Around 1750 the official court in Obertheres was built. Abbot Gregory II. Fuchs died on January 19, 1755 after a forty-year reign at the age of 88.

coat of arms

The coat of arms of the community of Theres

Due to the lively construction activity of Abbot Gregor II. Fuchs, the personal coat of arms is often found in the former domain of the monastery. Description : In yellow a red, right-facing fox on a green background. As a variant, the fox is turned left on a copper engraving. In addition to several buildings of the former abbey, the coat of arms has also been handed down as part of the municipal coat of arms of the large community of Theres, here the green ground is missing.

literature

  • Guntram Freiherr von Gise: The abbots of the former Theres monastery (= home sheet of the state education authority Hassfurt No. 3/1968) . Hassfurt 1968.
  • Gabriel Vogt: Castle and Village. Monastery and castle. Theres am Main. A contribution to the history of the village and the former Benedictine abbey of St. Vitus zu Theres am Main . Münsterschwarzach 1979.

Web links

Commons : Gregory II. Fuchs  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Vogt, Gabriel: Castle and Castle. Monastery and village . P. 116.
  2. ↑ Gise, Guntram Freiherr von: The abbots of the former Theres monastery . P. 8.
  3. ↑ Vogt, Gabriel: Castle and Castle. Monastery and village . P. 145.
personal data
SURNAME Fuchs, Gregor II.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gregorius II (Latin)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Benedictine abbot
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1667
PLACE OF BIRTH Stadtlauringen
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1755
Place of death Obertheres