Joseph Resch (historian)

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Joseph Resch (born September 3, 1716 in Hall in Tirol ; † February 15, 1782 in Brixen ) was a Tyrolean priest, professor and historian. He is one of the most important intellectuals in the County of Tyrol in the 18th century .

Life

Joseph Resch was born on September 3, 1716 in Hall in Tirol. He came from the simplest of circumstances, his father worked as a salt washer in the Haller Saline. When he was ten, the talented boy came to the cathedral school in Brixen as a choir boy . After graduating from the five-class grammar school located there (at that time the classes of poetics and rhetoric were still missing in Brixen, which he probably did at the Innsbruck Jesuit grammar school ), Resch initially devoted himself to the University of Innsbruck (1733/34 to 1739), then on Seminary in Brixen (1739 to 1741) studying philosophy and theology.

Ordained a priest in Brixen in 1741, he first came to the small mountain village of Stilfes near Sterzing as a cooperator . After only one year, at the instigation of the canon and later archbishop of Vienna Christoph Anton Migazzi of the Brixen cathedral chapter , Resch was recalled from his pastoral care and brought back to the episcopal city, where he was given the prefecture and teaching post for a class at his old school.

Resch was to remain active at this institute for around twenty years (1742–1761). With the reforms he initiated, the old cathedral school was expanded into a complete grammar school based on the Jesuit study regulations.In 1748 and 1750, for example, the two humanity classes of poetics and rhetoric were introduced, and geography and mathematics were included in the new subjects to be taught. In addition, the young priest made a name for himself in enhancing the theater. Evidence for theatrical performances at the Brixen grammar school can be cited as early as the 18th century, while Resch's activity at this institute saw the Latin school theater flourish considerably, albeit late, with regular and lively theater . When in 1756 the seminary in Bressanone was relocated to the Hl. Kreuz hospital on the island and a new building complex was erected there, Resch was able to have the old seminar building on the cloister given to the cathedral school. A real student convict (the so-called Cassianeum ) could now be set up, which offered the pupils communal accommodation, meals and lessons under one roof.

Title page of the Annales ecclesiae Curiensis (Johann Cassian Krapf: Brixen 1770).

The new building of the Brixen Cathedral , which was started in 1745 under Prince Bishop Kaspar Ignaz von Künigl and completed under his successor Leopold von Spaur, was to prove of decisive importance for the further development of Resch . With the impending loss of the numerous monuments and gravestones in mind, Resch undertook to collect these priceless historical monuments and thus save them from destruction. It was this that made him dedicate himself intensively to researching the history of the diocese of Säben and Brixen . With his main historiographical work Annales ecclesiae Sabionensis nunc Brixinensis (3 volumes, Augsburg 1755–1767) he created the first history of the diocese of Säben (Brixen) in particular, and thus of Tyrol in general, in late antiquity and the Middle Ages , based on a thorough source criticism . During these years, Resch mastered a huge workload: In addition to the activities in administration and teaching at the Brixen grammar school, he undertook extensive trips to various parts of his Tyrolean homeland and northern Italy in search of old manuscripts and documents in the country's large libraries and archives. In 1771/75, as canon of the San Candido collegiate chapter, he organized its important archive. At the same time he frequented the learned societies of Munich ( Bavarian Academy of Sciences ), Innsbruck ( Accademia Taxiana ) and Rovereto ( Accademia Roveretana degli Agiati ) and maintained a lively correspondence with numerous intellectuals and ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries in Germany and Italy. Resch's importance for Tyrolean historical research is not limited to the finished and printed works, but is also based primarily on the preparatory work that he has done in the field of source recording and criticism. Without recourse to the extensive collections of material that the tireless researcher has compiled from all over Tyrol, the work of his successors in Tyrolean regional and church historiography - the so-called "Brixner Historikerschule" - would be like that of Stefan von Mayrhofen (1751–1848) , Ignaz Paprion , Johannes Rosbichler (1750–1804) or Franz Anton Sinnacher (1772–1836), was probably not possible.

In October 1759, Resch underwent the examination and disputation at the University of Padua in order to obtain a doctorate in theology. Shortly thereafter, the prospect of appointments to the chairs of polemical theology and church history at the University of Innsbruck failed twice at the last moment (December 1760 and July 1761).

In 1762, Prince-Bishop Leopold von Spaur appointed Resch court chaplain and director of the court archives. As such, he drafted a new archive order and created a four-volume repertory , the last major inventory before the archive was divided and dispersed in the course of the secularization of the clerical monastery in Brixen in 1803. In 1766, Resch was appointed professor of Holy Scripture at the Brixen seminary and in 1768 Pope Clement XIII awarded him . a canon at the collegiate church in San Candido . In 1771 Resch was appointed a real clergyman by Leopold von Spaur , and in 1775 he was appointed librarian at the prince-bishop's court.

At the beginning of February 1782, Resch was asked to give a pulpit speech in Klausen on the occasion of the forty-hour prayer . There he fell ill with severe pneumonia and died on February 15 in Brixen. He found his final resting place in the church of the Capuchins in Brixen .

Works

school

historiography

  • Gloria filiorum patres eorum (Prov. 17.6), Brixen 1748 MDZ Munich
  • Annales ecclesiae Sabionensis nunc Brixinensis
  • Monumenta veteris ecclesiae Brixinensis , Brixen 1765 MDZ Munich
  • Annales ecclesiae Curiensis , Brixen 1770 MDZ Munich
  • Aetas millenaria ecclesiae Aguntinae , Brixen 1772 MDZ Munich
  • Supplementum ad monumenta , Brixen 1776 MDZ Munich

theology

  • Sermo habitus et peroratus in festo annuntiationis BV Mariae , o.O. 1770 MDZ Munich
  • Harmonia sanctorum evangeliorum , Brixen 1771 MDZ Munich

literature

  • Hartmann Ammann: History of the Imperial and Royal High School in Brixen a. E. Band 1 . Brixen 1901, p. 23-26 ( tessmann.it ).
  • Martin Bitschnau, Hannes Obermair: Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Department: The documents on the history of the Inn, Eisack and Pustertal valleys. Volume 1: By the year 1140 . Universitätsverlag Wagner, Innsbruck 2009, p. XIX – XXV .
  • Johannes Freiseisen: Review of the three hundred year history of the seminary in Brixen with consideration of the bishop's and town history . Brixen 1908, p. 41-47 .
  • Josef Gelmi: Pietas et Scientia. 400 years of the Brixen seminary (1606–2007) . Brixen 2007, p. 138-140 .
  • Josef Gelmi: Life and work of Joseph Resch. A pioneer in Tyrolean church history . In: The Sciliar . tape 93 , 2019, p. 67-73 .
  • Franz Grass: The Brixen historical researcher Joseph Resch and his Innsbruck inaugural lecture from 1761. A contribution to the intellectual history of Tyrol . In: Franz Grass (Hrsg.): Festschrift Hans Gamper on the completion of his 65th year of life . tape 3 . Innsbruck 1962, p. 167-194 .
  • Hans Heiss: Catholic Enlightenment in Brixen . In: Georg Mühlberger, Mercedes Blaas (ed.): Grafschaft Tirol - Terra Venusta. Studies on the history of Tyrol, especially the Vinschgau . Innsbruck 2007, p. 331-351 .
  • Hans Hochenegg: Gleanings on Joseph Resch . In: The Sciliar . tape 42 , 1968, pp. 205-207 .
  • Wolfgang Kofler, Simon Wirthensohn, Stefan Zathammer (eds.): Joseph Resch and the Latin school theater of the 18th century (=  NeoLatina ). Tübingen 2020.
  • Martin Korenjak, Florian Schaffenrath, Lav Šubarić, Karlheinz Töchterle (eds.): Tyrolis Latina. History of Latin Literature in Tyrol . Vienna / Cologne / Weimar, p. 682-688, 714, 756-761, 799-780 ( oapen.org ).
  • Egon Kühebacher: Joseph Resch. On the 200th anniversary of the death of the great Tyrolean historian . In: The Sciliar . tape 56 , 1982, pp. 435-440 .
  • Johannes Chrysostomos Mitterrutzner: A sheet of memory of Dr. Joseph Resch, grammar school prefect in Bressanone and historian . In: Program of the Kaiser. royal High school in Brixen . tape 32 . Brixen 1882, p. 24-32 ( tessmann.it ).
  • Karl Mutschlechner: The Jesuit Theater in Brixen in the 18th century . Dissertation: Università degli studi di Padova, Padua 1975/1976.
  • Josef Nössing: The beginnings of modern Tyrolean historiography or the problem with historical truth . In: The Sciliar . tape 71 , 1997, pp. 363-371 .
  • Johann Rosbichler: Joseph Resch. Mostly from messages sent in by Pf. Joh. Rosbichler Choir Beneficiaten in Brixen . In: The collector for history and statistics of Tyrol . tape 3 , 1808, pp. 39-58 ( google.at ).
  • Ekkart Sauser:  Resch, Joseph. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 8, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-053-0 , Sp. 56-57.
  • Franz Anton Sinnacher: Contributions to the history of the episcopal church in Säben and Brixen in Tyrol . tape 1 . Brixen 1821, p. III – XXXII, XLVI – LXIV ( google.at ).
  • Anton Weis:  Resch, Joseph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 28, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1889, pp. 237-239.
  • Stefan Zathammer: Joseph Resch: Life and Work. An overview. In: Brixen school theater in the 18th century (University of Innsbruck). February 8, 2020, accessed May 28, 2020 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The small village Heiligkreuz (formerly Gampas) near Hall in Tirol is often incorrectly named in the secondary literature (also Sauser 1994, column 56 and most recently Gelmi 2019, p. 67) as the place of birth. In truth, however, Resch was a native of Hall, as can be seen from the books of the local parish (cf. Hochenegg 1968, p. 205).
  2. ↑ Bitschnau / Obermair 2009, pp. XXVI – XXVIII (with reprint).
  3. ↑ See Grass 1962, p. 179.
  4. ↑ See Gelmi 2007, p. 138; Bitschnau / Obermair 2009, pp. XIX – XXV (with an imprint of the archive division designed by Resch).

Web links

Wikisource: Joseph Resch (historian)  - sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Resch, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Tyrolean priest, professor and historian
DATE OF BIRTH September 3, 1716
PLACE OF BIRTH Hall in Tirol
DATE OF DEATH February 15, 1782
Place of death Brixen