Hippolytus Bohlen

Hippolytus Böhlen (born August 21, 1878 in Dössel near Warburg / Westphalia as Johannes Bartholomäus Böhlen ; † August 7, 1950 in Fulda) was a Franciscan priest and playwright, editor and representative of youth literature.

Life

Johannes Böhlen was the eldest son of the farmer and blacksmith Antonius Böhlen and his wife Cäcilia Ashauer in the Warburger Börde . After schooling in the school abroad in Harreveld near Lichtenvoorde in Holland, which the Franciscans of the Province of St. Kreuz ( Saxonia ) had founded in the Kulturkampf , he entered the novitiate of the Thuringian Franciscan Province of St. Elisabeth ( Thuringia ) in Fulda and received the religious name Hippolyt . After the simple profession in 1897, the study of humaniora began in Ottbergen near Hildesheim . In 1900 Fr. Hippolytus studied philosophy in the religious colleges in Sigmaringen and Salmünster . In 1900 the solemn profession before Father Felix Schulze-Bokum followed, in 1902 in Beuron the tonsure and minor consecration by the Rottenburg bishop Paul Wilhelm von Keppler . In 1903 Fr. Hippolytus completed her theology studies in Fulda . In 1903 he was ordained a subdeacon , in 1904 a deacon and in 1905 a priest .

He began his professional career in 1906–1916 as a lecturer and principal in the school abroad of the Thuringian Franciscans in Watersleyde near Sittard (Holland), who had taken them over in 1895 from Saxonia . He taught history, Latin literature and geography. It was here that Fr. Hippolytus developed his talent as a director and writer of "room dramas" which soon grew out of the field of religious schools as they were performed by Catholic associations. In 1911 Father Hippolytus studied the history of the Franciscan missions in Eastern Europe and Japan in Munich. Five plays and two missionaries have been published by various publishers.

In 1916, due to the closure of the school abroad due to the war, he took on the role of guardian in Kelkheim (Taunus) and a definitor of the order province. He edited the journals for the members of the Third Order and the apostolic writings "Your Savior, Your Teacher" and "Towards the Lord", which were published in bound form in 1925 and 1929. In 1921 he took over the publication of the "St. Antonius Calendar", which he oversaw until it was banned by the National Socialists in 1941.

From 1921 to 1928 Fr. Hippolytus worked as rector in Hadamar , where he looked after high school students and candidates for the order. He used the time to build up associations to promote youth (theater groups and rhetoric studies in the circle of "Chrysologus"). He reached the high point of his career as a playwright and director with the Hadamar town history "Johann Ludwig, des Volkes und des Friedens Hort", the performance of which was tantamount to a folk festival with public scenes and parades. The great Franziskusspiel, which took the author to numerous stages in the Rhineland and Westphalia and even to Erl in Tyrol, was also shown in Hadamar on the Mönchsberg (in front of the former Franciscan monastery, the later Jesuit monastery and today's memorial for the gassing of disabled people in the "Third Reich") ) listed. Two other venues were available for the city game and the game about the missionary work of the Lahn valley “Am Kreuz von Habuch” (Hadamar). "The Herald of the Great King" was performed in more than 30 German cities, in Austria, Czechoslovakia and in Japan (Franciscan mission).

The author also became known through his autobiography "A Youth Full of Sun", which appeared in three editions and was reprinted in 1946/47. 1928–1934 P. Hippolytus was editor in Fulda in a branch of the monastery on the Frauenberg . Here he became the spiritual father of the Fulda Homeland Games on the natural stage on the nearby Kalvarienberg. The play "Herrin der Wartburg", which he wrote, and the "Storm Game" in five acts were performed with great success: "The Cross on the Eichloh".

1934–1938 he headed the editorial office in Kelkheim again. Here he learned the harassment of the National Socialists , who wanted to put him on trial because he was wrongly called "editor". That charge was dropped in 1936. But in 1938, when the Father was working in Fulda again, threats followed because of the inclusion of advertisements for banned magazines in the “St. Antonius Calendar”. In 1938, when Matthias Grünewald Verlag was brought into line, his works were crushed or the author was able to buy them back.

On 20 December 1940 the Franciscans under the Nazi were monastery storm driven from Frauenberg, the monastery Ottbergen the father could still seven months to work until he was expelled from here on 11 August 1942nd He was able to avoid imprisonment - for distributing prohibited literature - because he had already been evicted. After a year of pastoral work in the Incognito in the Warburger Börde, he was transferred to Weggental near Rottenburg in 1942 by the provincial chapter of Thuringia , which met in the Ulm convent . Father Hippolytus was installed there as Magister of the lay brothers , librarian and vicar, i.e. deputy head of the house. After returning to the monastery in Fulda, the author worked as a chronicler and pastor until he died in Fulda in 1950.

Works

Literary works

• Fight and victory. St.Ludwig von Toulouse , Bonn 1908;
• St. John a Capistrano. The two-time winner. The Liberation of Belgrade in 1456 , Gesch. Play in five acts, Munich 1909;
• The king's fall. From Münster's dreary time , drama in five acts, Warendorf in W. 1911;
• Thangmar , manuscript 1911;
• About the legacy of the great Constantine , Munich 1913;
• A youth full of sun, story of a youth , Wiesbaden 1919, 192, 1922, Mainz 1947;
• Sunday votes , Wiesbaden 1921;
• Kelkheim's rescue , 1921, excerpts from typewritten, PA Fulda;
• Johann Ludwig of the People and the Peace Hort , Gesch. Drama, on behalf of the festival committee, Wiesbaden 1924, in: From Hadamar's Past - Festival book for the six = centenary of the city of Hadamar 1924;
• A city anniversary. A look back at Hadamar's sixth century celebration , Wiesbaden 1925;
• Um den Liebenstein , A Bornhoferspiel in 3 acts, in: Festschrift in memory of the solemn coronation of the miraculous image of the Sorrowful Mother in Bornhofen, 1925;
• The Herald of the Great King , Franziskusspiel in five acts and a sequel, Wiesbaden 1925;
• Sunward . A girl's book, Wiesbaden 1925;
• Calls of Life , A Young Men Book, Wiesbaden 1927;
• Kaspar = Uncle and I, based on the Low German novel "Kaspar-Ohm un ick" by John Brinckmann, Wiesbaden 1927;
• Am Kreuz von Habuch , A Lubentiusspiel for the open-air theater, Wiesbaden 1928
• The Mistress of the Wartburg , Elisabethspiel for the 700th anniversary of the death, Wiesbaden 1930;
• The cross in Eichloh , game about St. Sturmius, Fulda 1931;
• St. Francis. A wreath of legends , Fulda 1938.

Apostolic writings

• Eucharistic apostolate for children, suggestions from the practice of contemporary Catholic youth care, Wiesbaden 1929;
• Your Savior, your teacher. Journal of the Young Men Apostolate;
• Towards the Lord. Sheet for communion children;
• Eucharistic monthly sheets for female youth 1919;
• The devout young man 1919;
• St. Anthony Calendar. At the same time the yearbook for the Terziaren of St.Francis, the members of the prayer club in honor of St. Antonius and Crusaders = Fulda Association (1919);
• Saint Anthony = calendar. Missions = calendar. Yearbook for the Terziaren of St. Franziskus u. the members of the prayer club of St. Antonius Fulda (1919-41);
• Saint Anthony. Monthly for the Third Order and the Franciscan. Mission Association Wiesbaden (1938);
• Allgemeine Deutsche Terziarenzeitung, journal of the Third Order;
• The German terziar. Monthly for the Third Order, Wiesbaden (1926);
• At St. Francis. Mission writings
• The European Franciscan Missions, from the founding of the Order to our day, in: Watersley, the annual report 1910–11, 3–35;
• The Franciscans in Japan then and now, in: From all zones, 13th vol., Trier 1912.

family

Father: Antonius Böhlen (born March 9, 1853, † January 5, 1923 in Dössel near Warburg); Married on November 10, 1877 in Dössel to Cäcilia Ashauer (born January 26, 1853, † December 5, 1918)

• Children :
• Johannes Bartolomeus (Franciscan Father Hippolytus Böhlen) (born August 21, 1878 in Dössel, † September 7, 1950 in Fulda )
• Maria Anna (born February 10, 1880 in Dössel, † January 22, 1956 in Bad Driburg )
• Anton Joseph (born December 4, 1881 in Dössel, † January 24, 1945 near Willebadessen )
• Therese (* 1885 in Dössel, † ??)
• Josef (born March 17, 1888 in Dössel, † November 17, 1968 ibid)
• Cäcilia (born February 28, 1890 in Dössel, † April 21, 1975 ibid)
• Elisabeth (* June 28, 1893 Dössel † May 31, 1965 in Erwitzen bei Nieheim )
• Mathilde (born March 7, 1899 in Dössel, † February 24, 1990 ibid)

Honors

• 1928 Honorary Citizenship in Hadamar

literature

• Keiter's Catholic Literature Calendar , Essen 1911, p. 563
• P. Ansgar Pöllmann: A playwright in the guise of St. Franziskus , in: BM 1925, p. 453
• Festschrift in memory of the celebratory Coronation of the miraculous image of the Sorrowful Mother in Bornhofen 1925, pp. 225, 478
• Festschrift for the Franziskusspiel in Erl, M. Gladbach 1926
• Kürschner's German Literature Calendar , Berlin 1939, p. 79
• Official bulletin of the city of Hadamar , September 16, 1950
• Festschrift from Frauenberg Fulda Monastery and Church 1963, p. 238
• Festschrift Watersleyde: 70 Jahre Kolleg W. , pp. 35, 73, 79–81
• Ottokar Bonmann:  Böhlen, Johannes Hippolytus. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 377 ( digitized version ).
• O. Bonmann in LThK II 558 (1958; 1986)
• Michael Werner: The Franciscan monastery Frauenberg in the "Third Reich" . Rhön V. n.d., p. 74
• The Diocese of Hildesheim 1933-1945 . 1971, pp. 73, 431-434
• Karl Josef Stahl: Hadamar, City and Castle . Hadamar 1974, pp. 185, 187, 216, 313
• 75 years church u. St. Franziskus Monastery, Kelkheim . Kelkheim 1984, pp. 25-28, 52
• Harald Focke: Everyday life of those in line . Reinbek 1985, pp. 181, 349, 352
• B. Sacrifice man: The diocese of Fulda in the Third Reich . Fulda 1987, pp. 89f.
• Erler Heimatbuch . Oberaudorf 1988, pp. 250, 261, 273
• Michael Mott : Where once Fulda citizens sought the abbot Sturmi's life / Fulda open-air theater on the Kalvarienberg: "The Mistress of the Wartburg" / Performances again soon ?, in: Fuldaer Zeitung , July 18, 1991, p. 10 (Series: DENK -times!).
• Provincialate d. Thür. Franciscan Province: 100 years of re-establishment of the Thuringia . Fulda 1994, pp. 157, 250, 259, 315
• Ulrich v. Hehl: Priest under Hitler's Terror , Series A: Qu. 37. Paderborn 1998, p. 665
• Irmgard Gehle:  Hippolytus Bohlen. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 25, Bautz, Nordhausen 2005, ISBN 3-88309-332-7 , Sp. 89-93.
• Irmgard Gehle: Literature in the mirror of the Catholic inferiority with special consideration of the popular drama. Renaissance of Catholic Poetry . Publishing house Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen 2006
• Irmgard Gehle: National and Religious Poetry. Search for identity after founding an empire, Kulturkampf and anti-modernism . Publishing house Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen 2007
• Irmgard Gehle (ed.): A playwright in the garb of St. Francis. P. Hippolytus Böhlen / Ordens- und Volksschauspiele . New edition in 2 volumes. Publishing house Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen 2008

Web links

• Literature by and about Hippolytus Böhlen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Virtual exhibition Dössel ( Memento from August 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive )