Jakob Rohrmeister

Rohrmeister's birthplace in Eberndorf

Main parish church in Klagenfurt

Jakob Rohrmeister (* 1631 in Eberndorf , Carinthia ; † February 17, 1716 in Klagenfurt ) was an Austrian Catholic priest.

The Catholic clergyman, who was born in Lower Carinthia, was the builder of today's main parish church of St. Egid in Klagenfurt. Jakob Rohrmeister looked after the parish from 1678 to 1705. The priest's place of birth is Eberndorf im Jauntal .

After studying at the University of Graz, the young pastor initially worked in his closer home. For 17 years he held the office of vicar general for the Jauntal. He was 47 when the bishop gave him the city parish in Klagenfurt . He may not have been very enthusiastic about the double-towered church, because the state of its construction was not a pleasant one. The earthquake of October 1680 caused additional damage to the sacred building. In 1688 the towers were in so bad shape that they threatened to collapse. The quake of December 4, 1690 finally forced the pastor to act: The dilapidated church was demolished and a completely new building started. The Eucharistic celebrations were moved to the Holy Spirit Church for the duration of the construction work. Several neighboring properties had to be purchased and also demolished in order to have enough space for the new building. In particular, the huge foundation walls for the planned mighty bell tower required a corresponding area.

The excavation work began on July 8, 1692, and on the 30th of the month the foundation stone was laid by the Burgrave of Klagenfurt . He was given precedence because the estates not only bought the buildings that stood in the way, but also wanted to bear a large part of the costs of building the church. When the new church was consecrated five years later on September 8, 1697 by the Bishop of Lavant, the tower was only just beginning to be seen above the ground. Its further construction was extremely slow. The almost 92 m high structure was not completed until the end of 1709. Since then it has been one of the city's landmarks.

The city pastor was an educated man and a contemporary of history. He also liked to use pen; so he wrote an almost 1000-page ledger for the city parish, which contained a summary of important documents and contained numerous historical notes. The pastor made a chronicle for the Ursuline monastery. Jakob Rohrmeister resigned as pastor of St. Egid on July 13, 1705. He was now 74 years old. Jakob Rohrmeister died on February 17, 1716 at the age of 85.

literature

• Anton Kreuzer: Carinthian. Biographical Sketches, Volume 5 . Kärntner Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Klagenfurt 1998, pp. 60–61. ISBN 3-85391-151-X .