Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff

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Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff around 1870
Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff, alias Conrad von Bolanden, original photograph with signature, 1894
Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff in old age, ca.1919

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.

Death card Conrad von Bolanden, 1920

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? "

- Dr. Anselm Salzer, History of German Literature, 1927
Conrad von Bolanden, "The Child of Bethlehem" Art Nouveau cover

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. "

- Conrad von Bolanden, Eine Brautfahrt, 1857
Conrad von Bolanden "Urdeutsch", around 1900, first edition published in 1875

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? "

- Conrad von Bolanden, original German

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

Web links

Commons : Joseph Eduard Konrad Bischoff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Josef Eduard Konrad Bischoff  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 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