Gustav Meinertz

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Bernhard Friedrich Gustav Meinertz (born August 21, 1873 in Berlin ; † September 11, 1959 in Cologne ) was a Catholic priest in Cologne.

Life

Gustav Meinertz, from a Berlin merchant family, grew up in Aachen. After studying philosophy and theology at the Collegium Albertinum in Bonn, he was ordained priest in Cologne Cathedral in 1897 . He became pastor in Urbach in 1907 and in Kalk in 1916 . From 1922 to 1931 he was pastor of St. Severin in Cologne.

In 1931 he became diocesan director of the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith and of the Franziskus Xaverius Association in the Archdiocese of Cologne. In 1935 Meinertz became the diocesan director of Opus Sancti Petri to promote the local clergy. In 1935 he was appointed General Secretary of the German Association of the Holy Land by Cardinal Karl Joseph Schulte . He held this office until April 1959. He was appointed papal house prelate.

Gustav Meinertz was invested in the Knightly Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 1935 and most recently held the rank of Grand Crusader. From 1936 to 1959 he was Chancellor of the German Lieutenancy. He was the founding editor of the first edition of the order magazine "Deus Lo Vult" in May 1953.

He has authored several books and articles on Palestine .

Meinertz died at the age of 86 in his Cologne apartment. He was buried in the grave of the German Association of the Holy Land in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne .

The salvation of the Torah

During the November pogrom in 1938 and in the presence of hundreds of SA men, Gustav Meinertz rescued the 1902 Torah scroll from the burning synagogue in Glockengasse in Cologne . As a motive for this act he gave: “Here not only the Bible of the Jews is destroyed, but also the Bible of the Christians. It's the same, the Old Testament. ”He hid the scriptures in his house. After the end of the Second World War , the priest presented the Torah to the re-established Cologne synagogue community.

Since the roll was damaged by the fire, it could no longer be used for the service. In the synagogue on Roonstrasse she found a place of honor in a showcase in the entrance area and was shown during guided tours. After the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. in Cologne on the occasion of World Youth Day 2005 , when he also visited the Cologne synagogue, the idea arose to restore the roll in Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Cologne paid the costs. The restoration was carried out by Rabbis Jitzchak Steiner and Jitzchak Goldstein from the Machon Ot Institute. On November 9, 2007, in the presence of the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany , Charlotte Knobloch , the two Chief Rabbis of Israel, Schlomo Amar and Jona Metzger , the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, and the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jürgen Rüttgers , in the role the last words "before the eyes of the people of Israel" are written down. The Torah scroll can now be used again in the liturgy .

honors and awards

  • Appointment as monsignor by Pope Pius XII. (1941)
  • Appointment as Commander of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (1950)
  • Appointment as papal honorary prelate by Pope Pius XII. (1951)
  • Appointment as Commander with Star of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (1958)
  • Appointment as Grand Crusader of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (1959)
  • Appointment as Honorary Chancellor of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (1959)
  • Honorary member of the K.St.V. Winfridia Cologne in KV

Works

  • Gustav Meinertz: In the Land of the Lord: A Palestinian Book , Donauwörth 1939.
  • Valmar Cramer, Gustav Meinertz: The Holy Land in the past and present. Collected articles and reports on Palestine research , Volume 1, Palestine Issue No. 17-20, Cologne 1939.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Death certificate no. 1636 of October 12, 1959, registry office Cologne old town. In: LAV NRW R civil status register. Retrieved June 20, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Hans-Dieter Arntz: Cologne prelate saved Torah scroll during the "Reichskristallnacht" , accessed on November 25, 2014
  3. ↑ a b c d e Alexander Weiß: "Prelate Meinertz, a courageous character" , Parish Don Bosco Forchheim, November 10, 2007, accessed on November 25, 2014
  4. ↑ Parchment certificate Gustav Meinertz Elevation to Commander-in-Chief with Star in the Order of the Knights of the Holy Grave Exhibitor Cardinal Canali , Historical Archive of the Archdiocese of Cologne , accessed on November 25, 2014
  5. ↑ Monthly pages 3/2014 - KV , accessed on November 25, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Meinertz, Gustav
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meinertz, Bernhard Friedrich Gustav (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic priest in Cologne
DATE OF BIRTH August 21, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 1959
Place of death Cologne