Johannes Wosnitza
Johannes Wosnitza (born September 20, 1908 in Kroschnitz (1936–1945 Auendorf, Upper Silesia ); † April 7, 1995 in Salzgitter-Gebhardshagen ) was a German Catholic priest and cathedral chapter of the Hildesheim diocese . Wosnitza was pastor of the Catholic parish in Salzgitter-Gebhardshagen for over four decades . In 1985 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon for his charitable work.
Youth and education
Johannes Wosnitza was one of eight children of the farmer Konstantin Wosnitza (* 1880, missing in the First World War at the end of 1914 and later declared dead) and his wife Franziska, née. Nowak (1873-1933). Patron saint was Saint John of Krakow , in whose name he was baptized in the parish church of Raschau .
From 1915 to 1922 Wosnitza attended elementary school. From 1925 he was preparing for admission to the upper prima in the priest training center in Bonn, the so-called Rosenburg , and in 1929 he graduated from the Beethoven High School in Bonn . He then studied theology and philosophy at the University of Bonn until 1933 . Wosnitza's wish was to become a pastor in a diaspora community , and so on October 1, 1933, he entered the Hildesheim seminary .
In January 1934 Wosnitza received by Bishop Nikolaus Bares the Subdiakonatsweihe . Bishop Joseph Godehard Machens ordained him diaconate on August 30, 1934 and ordained priestly on September 22, 1934 . In October 1934 Wosnitza took up his first position as a chaplain in the parish of St. Ludwig in Celle .
In October 1935 he was transferred from Celle to the St. Bonifatius Congregation in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg , where he also worked as a chaplain. As a native of Upper Silesia, Wosnitza spoke perfect Polish and thus became the new “Polish Pastor” of St. Bonifatius. In this context, he was summoned by the Secret State Police in November 1939 . Here he had to "take note of the fact that the sermon in Polish and own church services for Poles are forbidden in Germany by handwritten signature." In July 1940, the Hildesheim Vicar General Offenstein Wosnitza gave the task of providing pastoral care to the Polish population (Polish pastoral care) To take over and organize the Diocese of Hildesheim.
Pastor in Gebhardshagen
On March 24, 1941 Wosnitza was called to Gebhardshagen as pastor. In the course of the establishment of the Reichswerke Hermann Göring since July 1937, numerous workers had moved to the area of what is now the city of Salzgitter , with the result that the number of Catholics also rose sharply. Gebhardshagen initially belonged to the parish of Peter and Paul in Wolfenbüttel, due to the increasing number of Catholics, Gebhardshagen and the surrounding parishes were split off in March 1941 as an independent parish vicarie "Wolfenbüttel Land IV". Characteristic for the period up to 1945 were the constant reprisals by the state, such as B. frequent controls and summonses by the Gestapo , seizures and threats about a possible deportation to a concentration camp . Church services in public spaces were prohibited, so that Wosnitza held them in his apartment or in the private apartments of the parishioners for the first few years. At the beginning of 1943 the restrictive attitude of the Nazis changed and the community received verbal permission to use a room in the restaurant "Zur Deutsche Eiche". After this was destroyed by an air mine in November 1944, the evangelical community made the St. Nikolai Church available for church services.
From the summer of 1945 the community used various rooms in the school on the Sonnenberg. In spring 1953, the building was finally able to have their own church and begin on September 13, 1953, was St. Gabriel's Church solemnly as one of the first churches Salzgitter since the war by Bishop Joseph Godehard making benediziert . In the following years, the artistic equipment of the church was completed under the direction of Wosnitza, with many designs made according to his specifications. According to a long friendship between Wosnitza and the sculptor Joseph Krautwald , both the church and the Maria im Tann nursing home were furnished with works by this artist. Other artists with whom Wosnitza maintained close contacts and who had contributed to the decor were the Wolfsburg master goldsmith and sculptor Raimund Lange (1928–2006) and the enamel artist and graphic artist Wilhelm Keudel (1913–1974), under whose direction the chancel was redesigned in 1972 .
After the completion of the St. Gabriel Church, Wosnitza devoted herself increasingly to charitable tasks. As a visible result of his commitment, the Caritas center “Maria im Tann” with a kindergarten, old people's home and apartments for the elderly was built in Gebhardshagen from 1958. The house and the chapel were consecrated in February 1960 by Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen . The rebuilding of the church in 1972, which took into account the revised guidelines of the Second Vatican Council (1062-1065) for liturgical reform, is one of the other events of his tenure . Here were u. a. the altar barriers , the two side altars on the east wall and the mural in the chancel were removed. Altar , ambo , sideboard and tabernacle stele were designed in travertine (a limestone) according to the plans of Wilhelm Keudel. The church received an organ in 1975. The bell tower was not erected until 1982, as its construction had been postponed again and again for financial reasons.
On December 31, 1985, Wosnitza retired. He continued to live in Gebhardshagen and moved there into one of the old people's apartments of "Maria im Tann". He remained active, so the pastoral care for the elderly center was one of his tasks and he read mass there every day. Often he also took on representations in his and the surrounding communities. Johannes Wosnitza died on April 7, 1995 at the age of 86. A memorial stone erected in 1980 in the Caritas Center and a bronze bust created in 2016 by the Braunschweig sculptor Sabine Hoppe and on Gebhardshagen's “Historical Path” (on Weddemweg) reminds of him.
Honors
Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen awarded Wosnitza the title of Spiritual Councilor a (d) h (onorem) in 1966 and appointed him to the honorary cathedral chapter in 1981 . In 1985 Wosnitza was awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit. The city of Salzgitter awarded him the city medal in 1983 and made him an honorary citizen in May 1989. The reason for this said: “Johannes Wosnitza has looked after the people of our city as a pastor since 1941, initially under the most difficult of conditions. His tireless and benevolent commitment created care options for children, the handicapped and the elderly; he has played a key role in building up the social area of our communal community. ”A street in Gebhardshagen was also named after him.
literature
- Maria Kapp: Pastor Johannes Wosnitza (1908–1995). In: Yearbook for History and Art in the Diocese of Hildesheim. 75./76. Year 2007/2008, ISBN 978-3-7954-2207-3 , pp. 157-181.
- Ulrich Krieter: Appointed for people in difficult times: Karl-Andreas Krieter Pastor of the parish St. Bonifatius in Hbg.-Wilhelmsburg from 1934 to 1961. Disserta, Hamburg, 2014, ISBN 978-3-95425-728-7 , p. 93-160.
- Johannes Wosnitza: Parish Church of St. Gabriel in Gebhardshagen. In: Salzgitter Yearbook 1986 - Church Buildings in Salzgitter, pp. 73–74.
- Maria Kapp: The inventory of Catholic churches in Salzgitter. In: Salzgitter Yearbook 2005/2006 , pages 109–114 (St. Gabriel Church) and 114–116 (Maria im Tann nursing home)
Individual evidence
- ^ Maria Kapp: Pastor Johannes Wosnitza (1908-1995). P. 171
- ^ History of the Catholic parish of St. Bonifatius in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg
- ↑ Reinhard Försterling: Johannes Wosnitza. In: The historical path in Salzgitter-Gebhardshagen. Ed. Ortsrat West, Ortsheimatpflege Salzgitter-Gebhardshagen and Förderverein Wasserburg Gebhardshagen. 2016, pp. 21-25.
- ^ Maria Kapp: Pastor Johannes Wosnitza (1908-1995). Pp. 171-172
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wosnitza, Johannes |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German priest |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 20, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kroschnitz |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 7, 1995 |
| Place of death | Salzgitter-Gebhardshagen |