Joseph Anton Helfrich

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Joseph Anton Helfrich, often also Helferich or Helfferich (born January 18, 1762 in Miltenberg , † March 26, 1837 in Bamberg ) was a Catholic priest , canon in Speyer and cathedral chapter in Bamberg ; 1814-1815 he served as a diplomat at the Congress of Vienna .

Live and act

Speyer time

Joseph Anton Helfrich was born in Miltenberg, Lower Franconia, in 1762. He came to Speyer as the secretary of Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Seelmann (1732–1789), who was also dean of the St. German and Moritz monastery . In 1789, shortly before his death, Seelmann founded Helfrich's own vicariate at this monastery, and later he was prebender at the Speyer Cathedral .

The priest remained in Speyer as a pastor until the end of the Napoleonic period. Due to the events of the time, the Prince Diocese of Speyer , like the other spiritual territories of the Holy Roman Empire, perished.

Diplomat in Vienna

When the political reorganization of Europe was being discussed at the Congress of Vienna, the former ecclesiastical princes of Germany had no representation there. Together with cathedral dean Franz Christoph Wambold zu Umstatt (1761-1832) from the neighboring Speyer diocese of Worms , Joseph Helfrich went to the congress in Vienna. Both were commissioned by most of the still living German bishops or by the other administrators of the spiritual bodies and referred to themselves at the congress as so-called "orators" of the German church. There they acted as the closest collaborator of the papal cardinal secretary of state Ercole Consalvi , with whom they tried to restore the old spiritual territories or to receive compensation for areas that could no longer be restored in order to put the German church on a solid financial basis and state intervention in to prevent church life.

Helfrich and Wambold belonged to the circle around St. Clement Maria Hofbauer in Vienna . With him and Cardinal Consalvi they discussed in detail the drafting of their political proposals, which they submitted to the Congress in several petitions and memoranda. The book "Contributions to the History of the Upper Rhine Church Province" by Ignaz von Longner, 1863, summarizes the main demands as follows:

  • 1. that the Catholic Church will be restored to its peculiar rights and in possession of its rights, with the epitome of the free election of the bishops by the chapters, preserved and secured against any interference;
  • 2. That accordingly the relationship between the Church and the State, as far as the exercise of Catholic rights is concerned, should be restored to the condition that previously existed in Germany, regardless of any innovations that were disadvantageous to them, and
  • 3. That the principle of the old German church freedom should be established and accepted as the basis for all provisions still to be made on this subject.

The German church claims:

  • 1. all of their ecclesiastical possessions which have not yet been sold;
  • 2. their sold possessions, insofar as they can be redeemed according to the existing legal principles and laws;
  • 3. With regard to the remainder of her property, she trusts the justice of the highest rulers, that the adequate compensation in immovable property will be made at least as far as the foundation of the dioceses, their chapters and seminaries, as well as their ecclesiastical properties and charitable institutions, according to the principle "to give to the emperor what is of the emperor, but also to God what is of God."

Despite the sustained commitment of the two orators and their personal, passionate appearance, together with Cardinal Consalvi, the Congress of Vienna ignored all of their demands and decided in favor of the secular sovereigns. No spiritual territory was restored or compensated in any way. Rather, the formerly free, now expropriated bishoprics remained in a disastrous political and financial dependence on the respective sovereign princes, which also largely determined the establishment of new dioceses and the occupation of the bishops' seats. As a result of this situation, a strict "state church" emerged , such as in Bavaria and Hesse, or a regular church or cultural struggle, such as B. in Baden and Prussia.

Later work

After the congress, Joseph Anton Helfrich first followed Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi to Rome, where he continued to campaign for the interests of German Catholics. In 1817, along with the Bavarian-Palatinate Bishop (later Cardinal) Johann Casimir Häffelin and Ercole Consalvi, he was involved in the creation of the Bavarian Concordate , through which the Catholic community was consolidated again to some extent, at least in Bavaria and the Rhine Palatinate .

Finally Helfrich returned to Germany and on October 28, 1821, was promoted to cathedral capitular of the Archdiocese of Bamberg. As such, he died there in 1837.

personality

Joseph Anton Helfrich was in personal contact with many great minds of his time. Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (1785–1858) described the priest as "a small, sedate figure with a lively temperament that reminds him of spruce " . Franz Bernhard von Bucholtz (1790–1838) described him as a “wonderful man, with a lot of knowledge, good dispositions and a vanity guided by virtue” . Even Friedrich Schlegel (1772-1829) and Friedrich Christoph Perthes (1772-1843) belonged to Helfrich acquaintances, as well as the Hungarian politician Ferenc Széchényi (1754-1820) he lived in his house in his time in Vienna. In addition, Adam von Müller (1779–1829), Josef von Penkler (1751–1830) and Joseph Anton von Pilat (1782–1865) were among the friends of the Speyer priest . The last three helped formulate the motions addressed to the Congress of Vienna.

Since 1814 Joseph Anton Helfrich was also one of the conservative circle around the Würzburg auxiliary bishop Gregor von Zirkel (1762–1817), who vehemently opposed the idea of ​​Konstanz auxiliary bishop Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg of a Catholic national church more or less independent of Rome.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Source on the date of birth
  2. ↑ Source on the date of death
  3. ^ To Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Seelmann
  4. ^ Source on the office of bishop secretary
  5. ↑ Source on the office as secretary of Auxiliary Bishop Seelmann
  6. ↑ To Domdean Wambold
  7. ^ Appearance at the Congress of Vienna
  8. ↑ The applications of orators Wambold and Helfrich in an overview
  9. ↑ Appointment as cathedral chapter
  10. ↑ Cf. Victor von Kraus:  Bucholtz, Franz Bernhard Ritter von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, p. 490 f.
  11. ↑ Source on the quotations from Varnhagen and Bucholtz
  12. ↑ On assessment by Karl August Varnhagen
  13. ^ Source on acquaintance with Schlegel and Perthes
  14. ^ Source on friendship with Ferenc Széchényi
  15. ↑ On Josef von Penkler (PDF; 157 kB)
  16. ↑ Cf. Franz Ilwof :  Pilat, Joseph Edler von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 53, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1907, pp. 59-61.
  17. ^ Source on friendship with Müller, Penkler and Pilat
  18. ↑ Source for connection with Gregor von Zirkel
  19. ^ The circle around Auxiliary Bishop von Zirkel
personal data
SURNAME Helfrich, Joseph Anton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Helfrich, Joseph Anton (full name); Helferich; Helfferich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Catholic priest, cathedral capitular in Bamberg
DATE OF BIRTH January 18, 1762
PLACE OF BIRTH Miltenberg
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1837
Place of death Bamberg