Heinrich Wismeyer

Heinrich Wismeyer (born July 17, 1898 in Munich , † October 31, 1985 there ) was a German organist , university professor , priest and dialect poet .

life and work

Heinrich Wismeyer was born the second of three sons (Josef and the third, Ludwig) of Josef Wismeyer and his wife Anna (née Gresbeck). He grew up in Munich (Auenstrasse 24 II left) and started school in 1904 at the boys' school on Wittelsbacherstrasse. He received musical suggestions from home early on: his parents and older brother played with him at home in a variety of chamber music ensembles. After his father was promoted, the family moved to Passau in 1908 . In 1911 the family moved to Rosenheim again for work . During this time the first compositions and organ services took place.

On December 1, 1916 he was drafted into the 1st Infantry Regiment "König". After ten months of military service on the Western Front, he was officially released as a private after being awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class in Neuburg an der Donau on February 1, 1919. He then studied philosophy and theology at the University of Munich . As music prefect in the ducal Georgianum , he composed his first mass for male choir. Heinrich Wismeyer was ordained a priest in 1922 , celebrated his primacy on July 16, 1922 in the Maximilianskirche and was then chaplain in Munich-Allach .

At this time he began to study music at the Academy for Tonkunst in Munich with Ludwig Berberich , Joseph Haas , Felix Maier and Emanuel Gatscher, which he passed on July 4, 1924 with the "special award". Influenced by the then General President of the Catholic Youth, Ludwig Wolker , he preferred pastoral care to a church musician and became a vocational school catechist . During this time he also created compositions that were awarded prizes. With his friend Otto Steinberger he began to organize courses for organists on a part-time basis from 1937 . He pursued this activity well into the 1970s, which later earned him the nickname Wandering Apostle in church music .

After the end of the Second World War he returned to Munich from the " evacue paradise " ( Hans Leitner : Dux et Commes ) Oberstdorf . There he went through a problem-free denazification process as a “exonerated” person and then received a professional license from the American occupying power as a freelance artist . On August 15, 1945 he was appointed cathedral organist at the Munich Cathedral of Our Lady and became a lecturer on July 1, 1946, and around 1949 professor of organ at the Munich University of Music . From 1952, he severely restricted his work as a professor for health reasons. On August 4th, 1952, he was appointed organ expert. A life event for him was the consecration of the new Zeilhuber cathedral organ on October 13, 1957, which finally ended all temporary arrangements in his duties.

Wismeyer worked at the Munich hymn book service and was responsible for the organization of the Eucharistic World Congress in 1960. In 1968 he founded the Office for Church Music in Munich and headed it as diocesan music director , organized training courses and retreats for church musicians and worked on the praise of God . In 1953, 1958 and 1970 he convened diocesan church music days. He was a member of the General Cecilia Association and the Bavarian Tonkünstlerverband.

Pope Paul VI appointed him papal honorary prelate on July 13, 1961 , after he had been appointed papal secret chamberlain in 1942 . In 1973 he was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit .

In 1969 he handed over the office of cathedral organist to his master student Franz Lehrndorfer , who had succeeded him at the university in 1962. After his retirement he appeared as a dialect poet and narrator from 1971 and gave stories and anecdotes with “mischievous cheerfulness and cuteness” ( Kirchenmusicalische Mitteilungen 1985). It also took care of its private crib collection . Some of it can also be seen in the Munich City Museum .

Wismeyer certain testamentary that at his funeral no eulogy was allowed to be kept. The clerical dignitaries and secular dignitaries said goodbye to him on November 6, 1985 in the Liebfrauendom and at his funeral at the Ostfriedhof with brief words of thanks.

His students include organists such as Franz Lehrndorfer, Eberhard Kraus , Georg Ratzinger , Rudolf Thomas , Alois Kirchberger, Robert Maximilian Helmschrott , Josef Schmidhuber and Karl Maureen .

Works (selection)

• Three sacred songs (1930)
• Klosterneuburg Singing Mass (1936)
• Choral cantata: I believe in God in all need (1949)
• Let us lift up our hearts and voices (published 1983)
• Song of the carol singers (published 1990)
• I want to give you my heart (published 1990)
• Break your bread for the hungry (published 1990)

Sound carrier

• Oh Heavenly Lady Queen (Binder, T74672)
• Dialect poems by H. Wismeyer (Teldec, TST 78503)

Fonts (selection)

• Thoughts on Organ Playing in Catholic Worship Services (1947)
• The nature and task of right-wing church music (1954)
• Stories about the Organ (autobiographical, 1972)
• From the trash of my life (autobiographical, 1976)
• Meditate in Boarisch (1978)
• Of All Kinds of People (1981)

literature

• Church music communications (special issue): Prelate Professor Heinrich Wismeyer, 1898–1985. Office for Church Music in the Ordinariate of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, 1985.
• Hans Leitner: The Munich cathedral organist Heinrich Wismeyer (1898–1985). In: Dux et comes - Festschrift for Franz Lehrndorfer on his 70th birthday. Edited by Hans D. Hoffert and Klemens Schnorr. Universitätsverlag, Regensburg 1998, ISBN 3-930480-68-9 , pp. 124-136.

Web links

• Heinrich Wismeyer in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)
• Works by and about Heinrich Wismeyer in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} Heinrich Wismeyer: From the wastebasket of my life. UNI-Druck, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-87821-146-5 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Josef Schmid	Organist of the Munich Frauenkirche 1945–1969	Franz Lehrndorfer