Heinrich von Hofstätter

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Heinrich von Hofstätter
Grave monument for Heinrich von Hofstätter in Passau Cathedral

Heinrich Hofstätter , from 1850 knight of Hofstätter , (born February 16, 1805 in Aindling , Bavaria , † May 12, 1875 in Passau ) was bishop in Passau from 1839 to 1875.

Life

He was the first of two children of the businessman Heinrich Hofstätter and his wife Katharina geb. Narrow. In 1809 the family moved to Munich , where he attended the (today's) Wilhelmsgymnasium from 1817 to 1824 .

He studied law in Landshut and Munich, where he joined the Corps Isaria . In 1829 he graduated as Dr. jur. utr. , but decided in 1831 to become a priest . After successfully studying theology at the University of Munich, where he was dispensed from attending the Freising pastoral seminar, he was ordained a priest on August 5, 1833 .

He was a cooperator provisional in Mammendorf for a short time and in 1834 became cathedral vicar and secretary of the General Spiritual Council in Munich as well as assessor at the archbishop's marriage court. In 1836 he was appointed to the cathedral chapter .

On July 6, 1839, at the age of only 34, he was nominated by King Ludwig I to Bishop of Passau, which he accepted only reluctantly and after being persuaded by the papal nuncio . The papal appointment followed on December 23, 1839, he received the episcopal ordination on February 25, 1840 by Archbishop Lothar Anselm von Gebsattel in Munich. On March 17, 1840, he took possession of his diocese. When he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown in 1850, he was raised to the Bavarian personal knighthood .

Hofstätter promoted the people's mission in his diocese and won over the Redemptorists in 1841 , who settled in Altötting and systematically visited all the parishes of the diocese and in some cases did missionary work several times. Apart from that, he called numerous other religious, for example in 1856 the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul into the diocese and founded some new parishes. In particular, he promoted the Maria Ward sisters .

Another major concern of the bishop was the generation of priests. In 1844 he founded the St. Valentin and St. Maximilian boys' seminars. There, and especially in the St. Stephan seminary, he promoted an ascetic lifestyle, which he also practiced himself. However, he gave up the plan to set up a seminar in Freudenhain Castle due to the far distance from the old town. During his tenure, the number of diocesan priests increased by about 100.

The churches were another concern of his. He particularly endeavored to build and equip churches in neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style, bought back secular churches (1842 the Salvatorkirche , 1857 the Franciscan Church) and had numerous church facilities renovated, such as Mariahilf , St. Severin , Heiliggeist or the Chapels of the former cathedral cloister . All of this was financed by special taxation for the priests and by donations. He collected medieval works of art and is therefore the actual founder of today's Diocesan Museum .

Hofstätter was an opponent of the independent lay movement and only tolerated those associations that were under his direction. He conducted all correspondence with church and state authorities personally. This led to the fact that over time the administration was completely concentrated in his own hands and more independent personalities were in fact kept away from his surroundings. He fought against liberalism , Protestantism and, most recently, Old Catholicism . He declined appointments to the position of Bishop of Regensburg and Archbishop of Munich-Freising. From 1869 he stayed away from the bishops' conferences and any other joint episcopal action.

Hofstätter received the Grand Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit from St. Michael in 1868

He is buried in the Passau Cathedral in front of the Johannes Altar.

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich von Hofstätter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Max Leitschuh: The matriculations of the upper classes of the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , 4 vols., Munich 1970-1976 .; Vol. 3, p. 265.
  2. Court and State Handbook of the Kingdom of Bavaria 1870, p. 19.
  3. a b Gatz, Bischöfe 1785 / 1803–1945, p. 319.