Johann Michael Speicher

Tomb of Johann Michael Speicher in Mosbach

Johann Michael Speicher (born April 28, 1649 in Heitersheim ; † December 13, 1724 in Mosbach ) was official schultheiß in the Palatinate city ​​of Mosbach (today in the Neckar-Odenwald district in northern Baden-Württemberg ) from 1699 . He was the first Catholic on the city council since the city's Reformation. The settlement of the Mosbach Franciscan monastery in the city in 1686 and the upswing of the Catholic community around 1700 go back to his efforts .

Life

He probably received his education from the Heitersheim Minorites and then learned the trade of stocking and carpet knitter. In 1668 he traveled to Mosbach, where he applied for membership in the civic class in 1672. In the same year he married the widow of the late knitting master Häfele, who had two small children. On January 8, 1673, he took the citizenship oath in Mosbach.

Over the years, Speicher rose to join the Mosbach upper class. As a wealthy Catholic, he was particularly committed to his co-religionists and in 1685 purchased land outside the city for a Catholic cemetery and a Catholic church. In 1686, Speicher was able to convince the Tauberbischofsheimer Franziskaner-Guardian to found a Franciscan monastery in Mosbach . Speicher transferred the site to the Franciscans and worked to ensure that they could take over pastoral care in Mosbach, which was only possible until 1688, while the actual monastery lasted longer. At the same time he ran the establishment of a Catholic school. As the first Catholic since the Reformation, he was appointed to the city council in 1690, appointed a councilor for life in 1692 and sworn in as official school in 1699.

After the death of his first wife, he married again in 1694, the second marriage had two sons and two daughters. There were also close family connections through mutual sponsorships to Johann Philipp Sohler (1660–1732), the miller of the Lower Bachmühle, who offered accommodation to the Mosbach Franciscans in the period before the monastery buildings were completed.

After the abolition of the Simultaneum in the Electoral Palatinate in 1705, Speicher campaigned for the collegiate church of St. Juliana to be divided between the denominations. Originally it was supposed to be awarded entirely to the Protestant community, since the Franciscan Church would also remain for the Catholics.

After a short illness, Speicher died on December 13, 1724 and was buried two days later in Mosbach. His tomb has been preserved in the Mosbach cemetery on the outer wall of the Gutleut chapel .

literature

• St. Cäcilia in Mosbach 1935–1985. Church life in the past and present , Verlag Laub, Elztal-Dallau 1985