Heinrich Grafenhorst

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grafenhorst's grave in Vechta

Heinrich Grafenhorst (born March 2, 1906 in Kneheim ; † July 12, 1970 in Vechta ) was a German Catholic priest and Episcopal Münsterscher official in Vechta.

Life

Heinrich Grafenhorst was born into a large farming family. He grew up on farms near Meppen and in the Hagel farmers near Bunnen . He attended the Marianum high school of the Marists in Meppen and the Realprogymnasium in Cloppenburg , where he graduated from high school in 1925. He then studied Catholic theology and philosophy at the universities of Münster and Innsbruck. He was ordained a priest in 1930.

Grafenhorst was vicar in Steinfeld and from 1931 in the parish of St. Peter in Oldenburg . There he was also a prison chaplain . In Oldenburg, the Dominicans Laurentius Siemer , Thomas Stuhlweissenburg, the former Provincial , and Titus Horten were in Gestapo custody. Vicar Grafenhorst tried to get relief from their prison conditions. From 1938 he was chaplain in Essen / Oldenburg and from 1940 chaplain and naval pastor in Wangerooge . In 1942, at only 36 years old, he was appointed pastor of St. Marien in Wilhelmshaven . Wilhelmshaven was badly hit by the bombing . After the end of the war, there was also the plight of the displaced , who poured into the destroyed city. Pastor Grafenhorst organized food collections from the farmers of his southern Oldenburg homeland to alleviate their hunger.

In 1947 Grafenhorst was appointed pastor of St. Peter in Oldenburg and dean of the Oldenburg deanery , which at that time comprised the entire north Oldenburg diaspora (the area of ​​the former county of Oldenburg ).

After Bishop Michael Keller had appointed Johannes Pohlschneider as his vicar general , he appointed Heinrich Grafenhorst as his successor in the office of Episcopal Officials for the Oldenburg part of the diocese of Münster , based in Vechta, with effect from December 1, 1948 .

Grafenhorst committed himself to the establishment of numerous parishes, churches and ecclesiastical institutions for the consolidation of the Catholic Church in his district, in particular through the integration of the Catholic expellees from the German eastern areas .

Grafenhorst was a pioneer of practical ecumenism . At a time when “ecumenism” often meant the conversation between the Christian denominations to get to know each other and to overcome old prejudices, Grafenhorst, who was friends with Gerhard Jacobi , the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg , took a step further. He suggested that we not just talk to each other but pray together. In April 1970, Oldenburg Christians celebrated an ecumenical service for the first time in the Lambertikirche .

In 1949 Grafenhorst became a non-resident cathedral chapter in Münster.

In 1954 he was appointed Knight of the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulcher by Cardinal Grand Master Nicola Cardinal Canali and invested in Cologne Cathedral on December 8, 1954 by Lorenz Jaeger , Grand Prior of the German Lieutenancy . He was last Commander of the Order.

honors and awards

literature

in order of appearance

  • Hans Schlömer: Heinrich Grafenhorst 1906–1970 . In: Yearbook for the Oldenburger Münsterland , vol. 20 (1971), pp. 219–222.
  • Maria Anna Zumholz : “Criminal or Martyr?” The foreign exchange lawsuit against the Dominican Fathers Laurentius Siemer, Titus Horten and Thomas Stuhlweissenburg in Oldenburg . In: Willi Baumann, Michael Hirschfeld (eds.): Christenkreuz or Hakenkreuz. On the relationship between the Catholic Church and National Socialism in the state of Oldenburg . Plaggenborg, Vechta 1999, ISBN 3-929358-54-9 , pp. 275-312.
  • Michael Hirschfeld:  Heinrich Grafenhorst. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 22, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-133-2 , Sp. 456-460.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Maria Theresia Haschke: The Catholic Church in Wilhelmshaven / Rüstringen during the Nazi period 1933–1945. A documentation . Lüers, Jever 2003, ISBN 3-9806885-9-3 .
  • Helmut Hinxlage: Heinrich Grafenhorst (1906–1970). Episcopal official in Vechta . In: Willi Baumann, Peter Sieve (Hrsg.): The Catholic clergy in the Oldenburger Land. A manual . Dialogverlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 3-937961-32-1 , pp. 302–304.
  • Maria Anna Zumholz, Heinrich-Ferdinand Reinhardt: Heinrich Grafenhorst (1906–1970) . In: Maria Anna Zumholz, Michael Hirschfeld (ed.): Oldenburg's priests under Nazi terror. Everyday rulership in milieu and diaspora . Aschendorff, Münster 2006, ISBN 3-402-02492-6 , pp. 242-249.
  • Franz Bölsker: On the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the episcopal official Heinrich Grafenhorst (1906–1970) . Church + Life , Münster 2020 ( online ).

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c Franz Bölsker: On the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the episcopal official Heinrich Grafenhorst (1906–1970) , p. 3.
  2. ↑ Rainer Maria Groothuis: In the service of a supranational power. The German Dominicans under the Nazi dictatorship . Regensberg, Münster 2002, ISBN 3-7923-0754-5 , p. 294.
  3. ^ Hans Schlömer: Heinrich Grafenhorst 1906–1970 . In: Jahrbuch für das Oldenburger Münsterland , vol. 20 (1971), pp. 219–222, here p. 220.
  4. ↑ Helmut Hinxlage: Heinrich Graf Horst (1906-1970). Episcopal official in Vechta . In: Willi Baumann, Peter Sieve (Hrsg.): The Catholic clergy in the Oldenburger Land. A manual . Dialogverlag, Münster 2006, pp. 302–304, here p. 302 f.
  5. ^ Michael Hirschfeld: Heinrich Grafenhorst . In: BBKL , Vol. 22, Col. 456-460, here Col. 456.
  6. ^ Hans Schlömer: Heinrich Grafenhorst 1906–1970 . In: Jahrbuch für das Oldenburger Münsterland , vol. 20 (1971), pp. 219–222, here p. 221.
predecessor Office successor
Johannes Pohlschneider coat of arms
Episcopal Münsterscher official in the official district of Oldenburg
1948 - 1970 		Max Georg Freiherr von Twickel
personal data
SURNAME Grafenhorst, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic priest
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Kneheim
DATE OF DEATH July 12, 1970
Place of death Vechta