Ignaz Aurelius Feßler

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Ignaz Aurelius Feßler

Ignaz Aurelius Feßler, Hungarian Fessler Ignácz Aurél (born May 18, 1756 in Zurndorf (Hungarian Zurány ), Wieselburg county ; †  December 15, 1839 in Saint Petersburg ) was a Catholic clergyman, orientalist , Capuchin and Freemason as well as a Lutheran general superintendent .

Life

Ignaz Aurelius Feßler attended schools in Preßburg and Raab , entered the order of the Capuchins in the Moor monastery near Stuhlweissenburg in 1773 and was ordained a priest in 1779 .

In 1784 he was transferred to the Mödling monastery near Vienna . In Vienna, the death of a monk locked in an underground monastery dungeon for 52 years made a deep impression on him. The monk was imprisoned for a juvenile rush. Feßler wrote a letter to the Emperor Joseph II , in which he described the case to him. This resulted in an embarrassing investigation of the Capuchin monasteries by imperial commissions and the elimination of all monastery prisons in the monarchy.

As a result, Feßler became personally acquainted with the Kaiser; as a result he was appointed full professor of the oriental languages ​​and the Old Testament at the University of Lemberg in 1783 and was the first Capuchin to receive the theological doctorate. Shortly before his departure he narrowly escaped an attack by the fanatical friar Father Sergius.

In Lemberg he was released from the Capuchin order by Father Chrysologus at his own request and in 1783 was accepted into the Masonic Lodge Phönix for the round table .

In 1787, because of his anti-Jesuit tragedy Sidney, he felt compelled to resign and flee to Breslau. He was accepted by the Freemason and Prince Schönaich-Carolath on his estate Carolath on the Oder , not far from Glogau .

Feßler was chosen by Joseph von Zerboni di Sposetti as leader for the establishment of a new secret society within Freemasonry; this should continue the ideas of the 1785 repealed Illuminati order . After some hesitation Feßler accepted the position, but endeavored to keep the new federation, which was founded at Carolath Castle and was named the "Gutesthuer" (Bund der Evergeten), away from politics, while Zerboni and his new one Freund, the romantic writer Christian Jakob Salice-Contessa (like Zerboni a Silesian of Italian origin) had completely different goals in mind, namely the preparation of a revolution in Prussia.

In 1791 Feßler converted to the Lutheran faith and married in 1792, but the marriage was separated again in 1802. From 1796 he lived in Berlin and worked as a literary artist there.

In the Prussian capital he was commissioned by the members of the local Freemason Lodge Royal York together with Johann Gottlieb Fichte to reform the statutes and the ritual of this lodge. In his excellent work, among other things, he unsuccessfully pushed for the abolition of high degrees . His Fessler system was often hostile, and the master of the Grand State Lodge, Gustav Friedrich von Castillon, accused him of recommending a Jew who had just been baptized to Hamburg after he had not been accepted by the Royal York Lodge . For these reasons, he left the Royal York in 1802 and then joined the Lodge at the Three Mountains in Freiberg , which could not be forbidden from accepting it. In 1809 he was appointed professor of oriental languages ​​and philosophy at the Alexander Nevsky Academy in Saint Petersburg . There he was involved in Freemasonry and, together with Minister of Education, Count Rasumowsky, the Minister of Police Balashev and the liberal-minded State Secretary Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky, prepared an expert report on the activities of the Masonic lodges commissioned by Emperor Alexander I , as a result of which Freemasonry in Russia was approved.

Feßler also soon lost his position at the Alexander Newski Academy because one suspected Kantianism and atheism in his philosophical lectures ; later he worked as Mitvorsteher an educational institution in Volsk , 1820 Superintendent and Konsistorialpräsident the Protestant churches in Saratov and in 1833 general superintendent and church council of the Lutheran church in St. Petersburg, where he died on 15 December. 1839 His grave is in the Lutheran part of the Volkovo Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

Works (selection)

  • Eleusinian nineteenth century. Or results of united thinkers on the philosophy and history of Freemasonry. 2 vols. Frölich, Berlin 1802/1803.
  • The box to Z .: An excerpt from d. Travel journal of a trained mason; Copy from d. Eleusinien d. 19th century or results of united thinkers on philosophy a. Story d. Freemasonry . Berlin 1803 with Heinrich Fröhlich. Reissued u. introduced by Alfred Unger. Berlin: A. Unger 1927.
  • Paintings from the old times of the Hungarn . Korn, Breslau 1808
  • The old and the new Spaniards . Berlin 1810. Microfiche edition: Saur, Munich [u. a.] 1990-1994, ISBN 3-598-50715-1 .
  • Christian speeches . Riga 1822, 2 vols. Microfiche edition: Saur, Munich [u. a.] 1990-1994, ISBN 3-598-50715-1 .
  • Liturgical attempts to edify the faithful, both spiritual and secular . Hartmann, Riga 1823
  • Liturgical manual for any use by Protestant liturgists and parishes . Hartmann, Riga 1823
  • The stories of the Hungarians and their compatriots in ten volumes by Ignaz Aurelius Fessler . Brockhaus, Leipzig 19XX
  • History of Hungary. From Ignaz Aurelius Fessler; With a foreword by Michael Horváth . 2. presumably u. verb. Edited by Ernst Klein. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1867–1883
  • [All Freemasonry Writings] Fessler's All Freemasonry Writings: Really as Ms. for Brothers . Gerlach, Freyberg 19XX
  • Fessler's retrospectives on his seventy years of pilgrimage: a legacy 2nd edition Geibel, Leipzig 1851
  • Fessler's results of his thinking and experience: as an appendix to his retrospectives . Breslau, 1826. Microfiche edition: Saur, Munich [u. a.] 1994, ISBN 3-598-50715-1 , ISBN 3-598-50017-3 (partial edition classical / romantic); ISBN 3-598-50095-5

Historical novels (selection)

  • Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungarn . Carlsruhe undated
  • The night watchman Benedict . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35015-8
  • Lotario or the jester . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35017-4
  • Alexander the Conqueror . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35016-6
  • Bonaventura's mystical nights . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35018-2
  • Alonso or the hiker to Montserrat . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35013-1
  • Theresia or Mysteries of Life and Love . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35014-X
  • Marc Aurel . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Edition Corvey) ISBN 3-628-35012-3
  • Aristides and Themistocles . Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35011-5
  • Abelard and Heloisa (fictional autobiography ). Carlsruhe 1810. Microfiche edition: Belser Wiss. Dienst, Wildberg 1989–1990. (Corvey edition). ISBN 3-628-35010-7

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Ignaz Aurelius Feßler  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A detailed description of the investigation of the Capuchin monasteries in the Gutenberg project
  2. ↑ a b c Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner, Dieter A. Binder: Internationales Freemaurer Lexikon . Herbig Verlag, 5th edition, ISBN 978-3-7766-2478-6 .
personal data
SURNAME Feßler, Ignaz Aurelius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fessler, Ignaz Aurel; Fessler, Ignácz Aurél
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Writer, clergyman and freemason
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1756
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurndorf , Wieselburg County
DATE OF DEATH December 15, 1839
Place of death St. Petersburg