Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff
Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff (born August 9, 1828 in Niedergailbach , Saarpfalz , † May 30, 1920 in Speyer ) was a priest of the Diocese of Speyer and a well-known German writer under the pseudonym Conrad von Bolanden .
Life
He was born on August 9, 1828 in Niedergailbach, Saar-Palatinate, as the son of the wealthy trader Gerhard Bischoff and his wife Clara, née Clara. Lonquet born. The boy attended the Latin school in Blieskastel . The family moved to Fischbach bei Dahn and Pastor Peter Zimmermann von Schönau gave him his first Latin lessons. From 1841 Bischoff went to high school in Speyer and finally studied in Munich from 1849 on. On August 20, 1852 he received the Speyer Cathedral , the priestly ordination from the hands of Bishop Nicholas of Weis . Initially cathedral chaplain in Speyer, the clergyman then officiated as parish administrator in Kirchheimbolanden , as pastor in Börrstadt in northern Palatinate and from 1859 as pastor of Berghausen near Speyer.
He began to deal with writing at an early age and wrote under the pseudonym "Conrad von Bolanden" (after the castle and town of Bolanden ) historical novels and stories that took a decidedly Catholic point of view. The priest also repeatedly intervened with his works in the Kulturkampf and daily political events, which triggered violent campaigns against him.
His books were banned from time to time in Prussia , and Bishop von Weis was not very happy with his priestly writer, who was famous but also heavily attacked by public opinion, and who targeted the entire diocese. He finally presented him with the alternative of giving up writing and devoting himself only to his priestly duties, or of being retired and just living as a writer.
Joseph Eduard Bischoff felt obliged to preserve the "sharp and feared sword" of his pen for Catholicism in Germany, and in 1869 he chose the latter. Swords and feathers are also often stamped on the covers of Bischoff's books in the form of a coat of arms.
As a retiree and writer, he was exempt from wearing clerical clothing, which is why he is depicted in his books again and again so as not to make them appear unnecessarily clerical. Pope Pius IX awarded him the honorary title of papal secret chamberlain.
He wrote more than 60 novels and short stories, mostly on local church history, which had an immense circulation and were translated into up to 14 languages. At the end of the 19th century it was an event that was lively discussed and commented on by “Freund und Feind” when a “new Bolanden” appeared again. The death picture even describes him as "the most celebrated novelist in the Catholic world" . Bischoff - also the diocese's first spiritual driver - died very old on May 30, 1920, in Speyer. He saw the lost First World War as a well-deserved criminal court for the inflated nationalism of the Hohenzollern State. He is buried in the Speyer cemetery, a street in his birthplace is named after him.
plant
Meyers Konversationslexikon, 4th edition, from 1888–1890, states: “In a short time, Bischoff has developed tremendous fertility and caused a sensation in Catholic circles in Europe.” However, the further evaluation takes place in the somewhat one-sided language jargon, which is still clearly influenced by the Kulturkampf of the time: "His works, some of them published many times, some historical, some social content, have strongly pronounced ultramontane tendencies and are directed sharply against Protestantism and generally against any liberal and rational development in church and state, life and science."
40 years later, Dr. Anselm Salzer in his history of German literature (Volume III, p. 1461, edition from 1927):
“ … Bolanden set other goals; his muse joined the belligerent muses, the number of whom were legion in the 70s and 80s (19th century). What was sung and said from the village poet, up to the literary tone-setter, against Rome and for Germania, of German style and German blood, how many rhymes and inconsistencies sounded on the German stages, what chisels, pens, brushes and grave markers created, what went out to fight in light novels and wrinkled fictional clothing or the strings of the lyre sounded out of the way - who could still see it all these days? And all of this was applauded and - if it only half corresponded to the laws of art - was praised as a masterpiece. And should one resent Bolanden and simply reject his works as "tendency writings" just because he dared to fight for Rome in the same way and called the muses to help? "
Bischoff's works are not all of the same quality, but always have well-founded sources and are always entertaining to read. Naturally, as a decidedly Catholic writer who wanted to fight against the overpowering zeitgeist with his works, he mainly selected sources that supported his cause; he left others out of account. Nevertheless, he has always tried to give truthful descriptions. Joseph Eduard Bischoff - alias Conrad von Bolanden - formulates his intentions in his own words in the preface to his first novel "Eine Brautfahrt":
" Not as the imagination creates them, arbitrarily, nebulously, enthusiastically, at all fictitious, facts and figures of the past may be brought before our view in historical novels. Only in the way they really were and lived, according to the certificates and documents, repainted and re-poised in a pure and clear color, in the spirit of the writer permeated by their spirit, in their peculiar nature and powers completely revived and, as it were, come to life - only in this way should they Things and people from days gone by come before our souls. The poet's word, like the history painter's brush and the historical researcher's proof - however different the form of the presentation may be - nevertheless present one and the same event in unison, the faithful picture of those events and conditions. "
Bischoff's stories are often characterized by a striking foresight. In his novel "Urdeutsch" z. B. he fights the glorification of Germanism from the pan-German and German national side. Hero of the novel is St. Martin , a missionary on the Rhine and on the basis of the Germania of Tacitus , he leaves all described there - are pagan "typically German" alive - often quite shocking customs. The novel, written two generations before the idolatry of Germanism in the Nazi state , has almost prophetic passages. Joseph Eduard Bischoff et al. a. in the epilogue:
“ If you can say: 'Better not to have schools than those of school sisters and school brothers', then you can also say: 'Better to go back to barbarism than the morality and virtue of Christianity'. And the barbarian-friendly philosophers of unbelief are really as convinced of the imminent return of man-eating idols as of the imminent decline of Christianity. The ancient heathen gods, they say, who overthrew the child of Bethlehem from their thrones and banished them, stir and lift their heads. They reclaim the rule and shake the rock that the gates of hell are not supposed to overwhelm. They fight up from the depths and their battle cry echoes through the science, poetry and art of our day. Who would like to deny this? "
In his novel Die Schwarzen und die Rothen (1868), Bischoff describes the (victorious) struggle of the Catholics against the “forces of progress and the lodge ”. In it he designs u. a. in an anti-Semitic way a caricature of Jews as a danger and as the bearer of the processes he is fighting against, because in his portrayal they try to openly and covertly harm the Catholic Church. This time-related view is particularly due to the Baden Kulturkampf , in which the main actors on the other side almost all belonged to the Freemason movement and their supporters were often Jewish. Nevertheless, it must be said that a certain anti-Semitic attitude - openly or covertly - runs through many of Bischoff's works. In the book Die Schwarzen und die Rothen the writer also describes the so-called Mannheim Casino Tower (1865), as a typical event of the Baden culture war.
Although he was not on the best of terms with his bishop Nikolaus von Weis , who had sent him into retirement, he nonetheless set a small literary monument for him. Eduard Bischoff gives the prelate in his novel “The Enlightened” , 1864, clearly recognizable the features of his real shepherd Nikolaus von Weis and, because of his proverbial hospitality and charity, describes him as the “innkeeper of the Golden Cross, whom the poor call their father. “ ( Franz Xaver Remling , biography of Nikolaus von Weis, Volume I, 1871).
In the “Lexicon of Palatinate Personalities” , the editor, school rector Viktor Carl, sums up Bischoff in 1998: “His work did not receive the due appreciation by the government and his pastor.” An (incomplete) overview of Bischoff's novels (some with a brief description) finds in the database project historical novel of the University of Innsbruck.
literature
- Jakob Bisson : Seven Speyer bishops and their time . Pilger Verlag, Speyer 1956, pp. 123-125.
- Volker Busch: Konrad von Bolanden , in: Walther Killy (ed.): Literaturlexikon , Vol. 2, pp. 96–97.
- Viktor Carl: Lexicon of Palatinate personalities . Hennig Verlag, Edenkoben 1998. p. 61.
- Anselm Salzer : History of German literature. Volume III, p. 1461. 1927.
- Lorenz Wingerter: Bolanden, Konrad von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 429 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Wolfgang Degott: In memory of a child in Niedergailbach (on his 190th birthday), Saarbrücker Zeitung, August 8, 2018; (Digital view)
Web links
- Literature by and about Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff in the catalog of the German National Library
- Biography in the portal Literaturland Saar
- Prelate Bischoff, alias Conrad von Bolanden, in Saarland biographies
- Overview of his historical novels
- Entry in the Catholic Encyclopedia
- Website about the author Conrad von Bolanden
- Conrad von Bolanden, complete scan of the entire book Historical Novellas about Friedrich II of Prussia and his time , 1865
- Conrad von Bolanden, complete scan of the entire book Queen Bertha , 1866
- Conrad von Bolanden, complete scan of the entire book Angela , 1866
- Works by Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff in the Gutenberg-DE project
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kurt Habitzel, Günter Mühlberger, Gregor Retti: Project historical novel: Josef Eduard Konrad Bischoff . University of Innsbruck. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Bischoff, Joseph Eduard Konrad |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bolanden, Conrad von (pseudonym); Bischoff, Josef Eduard Conrad |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Catholic pastor and writer |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 9, 1828 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Niedergailbach , Saarpfalz |
DATE OF DEATH | May 30, 1920 |
Place of death | Speyer |