Joseph Guerber
Joseph Guerber (spoken: Gerber; born September 23, 1824 in Weissenburg (now Wissembourg ), Alsace ; † July 16, 1909 in Strasbourg ) was an Alsatian Catholic priest, Strasbourg canon , member of the German Reichstag from 1874 to 1903 , publicist and author .
Life
Joseph Guerber was born on April 23, 1824 in the Alsatian town of Weissenburg , close to the border with the Bavarian Rhine Palatinate . That is why he mastered both French and German with "the same ease and elegance in spoken and written", as it is said in his biography. His role models were two elderly brothers who had devoted themselves to the clergy. Joseph Guerber entered the minor seminary in Strasbourg and eventually switched to the major seminary . He was ordained a priest in Strasbourg in 1848 and then went to the University of Bonn for a year to complete his studies. In the eventful revolutionary year of 1849 , Guerber took up his first pastoral position as vicar of the parish of St. Georg zu Hagenau . As a chaplain, he moved to Strasbourg, St. Johann four years later, after which he officiated for a short time in Mutzig . In 1855 his older brother Viktor Guerber was promoted to pastor of Hagenau. Viktor Guerber was already a celebrity in the Alsatian clergy at that time. He wrote for the Catholic , the organ of the so-called Mainzer Kreis , for the Alsatian "Volksfreund" and for other papers. Joseph Guerber came to Hagenau as vicar to his brother in 1855. In Joseph Guerber's biography it says about it:
“ Both brothers complemented each other perfectly. The kindness of heart of one (Joseph Guerber) formed the counterbalance to the severity of the other and for many years the parishioners of St. Georg in Hagenau did not know what to admire more: the warm simplicity of the vicar or the bitter, masculine virtue of the pastor. "
In 1871 Joseph Guerber was appointed superior of the Small Seminary in Zillisheim , Upper Alsace, in 1873 he returned to Hagenau after its state-mandated dissolution and finally in 1881 became superior of the Sisters of Mercy in the All Saints Monastery in Strasbourg. He was also appointed canon and canon of honor in Strasbourg. He retained his position as spiritual father and superior of the Sisters of Mercy until his death in 1909. Joseph Guerber was a widely respected pulpit speaker and many of his sermons were later published. The Hagenau city archivist André Marcel Burg reports on this in his standard work on the Marienthal Abbey:
“ A few weeks later, after Alsace had been ceded to Germany by the Frankfurt peace treaty, Bishop Räß crowned the Madonna and Child on September 26, 1871 , surrounded by the Strasbourg Cathedral Chapter. Vicar General Marulla sang the high mass and Joseph Guerber, who later became a member of the Reichstag, at that time still vicar to his older brother in Haguenau, gave an excellent sermon that appeared in print. "
Pope Pius X gave his special blessing to Joseph Guerber shortly before his death from Rome and this was transmitted by telegram to the seriously ill, who gratefully accepted it. The priest died on July 16, 1909 in Strasbourg and was buried on July 18 in the local church of St. Charles. Bishop Adolf Fritzen and Auxiliary Bishop Franz Zorn von Bulach gave him last escort , as did Hugo Zorn von Bulach , brother of the latter and member of the Reichstag , on behalf of the government .
Political and journalistic work
From 1874 to 1903 Joseph Guerber was a member of the German Reichstag in Berlin for the constituency of Gebweiler, now Guebwiller . At first he was one of the so-called protesters, but later accepted the political realities and stood up for the self-government of the Reichslande Alsace-Lorraine and for the rights of the Catholic Church. He saw the parliamentary mandate as a duty and sacrifice that he brought to his Alsatian homeland. The stay in Berlin was no pleasure for him and he wrote to his Strasbourg sisters from there in a letter:
“ I ask God that our sisters keep the spirit of prayer and union with God amid their daily work. Then they lead a life a thousand times more noble and deserving than that of my esteemed colleagues from the Reichstag. If the sisters do not want to believe that, they may just come here for a few hours and listen to this talk. I am sure that you are forever converted. "
The priests Jacob Ignatius Simonis (1831–1903), Joseph Guerber and Landolin Winterer (1832–1911) were considered to be the leading figures of the Catholic-Alsatian faction in the German Reichstag in Berlin.
From 1846 Guerber was head of the “Kirchen- und Schulblatt” , from 1858 to 1873 editor of the Strasbourg “Volksfreundes” , from 1866 also editor of the “Volksbote” . He also wrote in the renowned "Elsässer" , in the Mainz "Katholik" , and in the "Münchner Gelben Blätter" . Because of his exposed political position, he usually published his newspaper articles under the pseudonym "Bernhard" or the abbreviation "br" derived from it .
In addition, he published several books on church and local history. His biography of the seminar rain and co-founder of the Mainz district , Bruno Franz Leopold Liebermann , suggested by the Mainz diocesan administrator Christoph Moufang , and his monograph on the Strasbourg bishop Andreas Räß , a student and confidante of Liebermann , became famous far beyond Alsace . His source-saturated biography of Liebermann is still a standard work on church history in 19th-century south-west Germany. In the foreword to this, the Reichstag member Joseph Guerber wrote with a clear swipe at those who had called the cultural war against the Catholic Church , which was still ongoing at the time of publication :
“ In our days, when the 'state god' threatened to carry out what the great revolution under Voltaire's company in France did in a different form, it is time to visualize the life and work of a man Witness and victim of a much harsher persecution, which experienced more gruesome destruction and at the end of it appeared as a rebuilder. Those who are determined by God's providence to fill in the gaps that have been torn in Sion's holy walls by the 'Kulturkampf' will have an easier task than Superior Liebermann from the Mainz seminary. This was given the difficult task of not only training those who had been called by God for the spiritual life, but also of setting up the correct doctrine in the midst of boundless disorder and of bowing the weaned to the correct discipline. The idea of writing Liebermann's history stems from the Mainz seminar, from the now worthy rain of the same, Dr. Moufang . When he saw the rooms of his seminar empty as a result of the May Laws , the memory of Liebermann rose in his soul, who in 1804 began his restoration work in these ghostly empty rooms. In this memory of the struggles and fighters of old times there was a promise for the future, a reminder to persevere in the present. In terms of Liebermann's energy and trust in God, it would seem, God's fighters would have to work their way up to perseverance in order to continue his work of God one day. Liebermann's life should be shown to them. But since Liebermann belonged to Alsace by virtue of his birth, his previous education, his first and last work, it naturally fell to an Alsatian to freshen up the half-blurred features of his life and to present them in a complete picture. "
The local history novellas remained more widespread in his Alsatian homeland: "Tales of the old Bäckerjörg" (1873), "Niklaus der Schütz" (1894), "Trust in God" (1895), "Um den Odilienberg" (1901), "Der Landsknecht" (1902), as well as "Aus düben Zeiten" (1903). Guerber had a long-standing friendship with Karl Marbach , who also came from his hometown of Weissenburg, and his correspondence with the later Strasbourg auxiliary bishop was published.
Afterlife
Abbé Heinrich (Henri) Cetty published a biography of Joseph Guerber just one year after his death in 1910.
In Strasbourg, the "Rue Joseph Guerber" is named after him.
Works (selection)
- Haguenau et la Réforme. 1861
- Sermon delivered in Marienthal on the occasion of the coronation of the miraculous image by Bishop Andreas Räß of Strasbourg on September 25, 1871. Strasbourg 1871
- Ceremonial sermon given on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Pastor Philippi in Molsheim on April 20, 1879. Publisher Paul Hoffmann, Mömpelgard (Montbéliard) 1879
- Mourning speech for Baron Peter Rielle von Schauenburg. 1882
- Andreas Räß , Bishop of Strasbourg. Herder-Verlag, Freiburg
- Bruno Franz Leopold Liebermann . Herder-Verlag, Freiburg 1880
- Tales of the old bakerjörg. 1873
- Niklaus the Schütz. 1894
- Trust in God. 1895
- Around Mount Odile. 1901
- The Landsknecht. F. Sutter & Comp., Rixheim 1902
- From dreary times. 1903
- Peasants and Sweden War in Alsace. 1929
literature
- Christian Baechler: Joseph Guerber . In: Nouveau dictionnaire de biographie alsacienne , vol. 14. Fédération des sociétés d'histoire et d'archéologie d'Alsace, Strasbourg 1989, p. 1319.
- Heinrich Cetty: Joseph Guerber . Upper Alsace Publishing House, Mulhouse 1910 (with a portrait).
- Article Guerber, Joseph . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon. Volume 8, Leipzig 1907, p. 495.
Footnotes
- ↑ Article Guerber, Joseph . In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon. Volume 8, Leipzig 1907, p. 495.
- ^ André Marcel Burg: Marienthal (Alsace). History of the monastery and the pilgrimage among the Wilhelmites, the Jesuits and the secular clergy . Imprimerie Franciscaine, Phalsbourg 1959 (= Alsatia Monastica, Vol. 3), there p. 205.
- ↑ Letters from Joseph Guerber to the young Carl Marbach, later Auxiliary Bishop of Strasbourg, from the years 1859 to 1871 , edited by Joseph Brauner. Strasbourg 1933.
Web links
- Web entry by the Berlin State Library about the Reichstag representative Joseph Guerber
- Entry on the author Joseph Guerber in the "Project Historical Novel" database
- Joseph Guerber in the database of members of the Reichstag
- Biography of Joseph Guerber . In: Heinrich Best : database of the members of the Reichstag of the Empire 1867/71 to 1918 (Biorab - Kaiserreich)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Guerber, Joseph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gürber, Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German clergyman and politician, MdR |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 23, 1824 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Weissenburg (now Wissembourg ), Alsace |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 16, 1909 |
| Place of death | Strasbourg |