Joseph Schwind
Joseph Schwind (born November 28, 1851 in Schifferstadt ; † September 17, 1927 in Speyer ) was a Catholic priest , cathedral capitular and vicar general of the diocese of Speyer , papal house prelate , advisor and spiritual leader to Saint Edith Stein during her time in Speyer.
Origin and career
Joseph Schwind, born on November 28, 1851 in Schifferstadt near Speyer, studied theology at the Canisianum in Innsbruck and was ordained priest on August 13, 1876, in Mainz from the hand of Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler - due to the temporary vacancy of the Speyer bishop's chair. Immediately after he was ordained a priest, he was appointed prefect, and three years later director of the Episcopal Konviktes St. Joseph in Speyer. Here Schwind proved himself for 21 years in the education of young people until he was finally entrusted with the difficult city parish of Kaiserslautern St. Martin in 1897 , before the Speyer Bishop Konrad von Busch appointed him cathedral capitular on March 3, 1909 and appointed him pastor. In 1912 he was appointed cathedral custodian, custodian of the cathedral church , through which he acquired profound knowledge about his care object. After the death of the prelate and founder of the order, Jakob Friedrich Bussereau, the canon also worked as episcopal commissioner for the houses of the Paulus sisters in Herxheim near Landau and Queichheim . As a special honor, Pope Benedict XV bestowed him . 1916 the title of papal house prelate . On March 1, 1924, Bishop Ludwig Sebastian transferred the office of Vicar General of the Diocese of Speyer to the cathedral capitular Joseph Schwind, making him the second most important man in the diocese after the pastor. He held this high position until his sudden death, which overtook him on September 17, 1927, during his tireless pastoral work, namely listening to confessions in the cathedral.
Joseph Schwind was a polymath in priestly garb. Throughout his life he impressed with his extensive knowledge of theology and philosophy . As an activist of the Historical Association of the Palatinate, he wrote several publications and fascinated his audience with lectures on church history. In his function as vicar general, he was described as a “tough worker, clever, conscientious and energetic, benevolent, understanding, deep inside, with a fine, restrained piety” .
He wrote u. a. a biography of Wilhelm Molitor and got a new edition of his cathedral songs. The canon was the owner of the Luitpold Cross and the King Ludwig Cross ; In 1904 he took part in the 1st Bavarian People's Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Soul guide and confidante of St. Edith Stein
Edith Stein ( beatification 1987, canonization 1998) was an originally Jewish, then atheist philosopher who converted to the Roman Catholic faith, entered the Carmelite order as a nun and was finally murdered in Auschwitz in 1942 . She was baptized on New Year's 1922 in Bad Bergzabern by the local pastor Eugen Breitling, who initially looked after her in pastoral care. When the experienced pastor Breitling noticed that the convert's theological and philosophical knowledge far surpassed his own, he sent her to Speyer to his friend and former classmate, Cathedral Chapter Joseph Schwind. He wrote about this in a letter to Schwind:
“ Joseph, I have a convert here who stands far above me and who puts me ashamed of theological knowledge. You have to help me, I recommend it to you. I can't come here, I have to leave that to someone bigger. This is your job. Be so good and take this lady in your hat. "
Joseph Schwind dedicated himself to his new task as the soul guide of a Jewish convert with the usual zeal. Nevertheless, the profound woman repeatedly put him to the test. From the files of her beatification process, the significant statement by Schwind has come down to us:
“ Oh this philosopher! She can ask more questions than 10 learned theologians can answer! "
When Schwind's niece Anna noticed the burden Edith Stein's frequent visits were to her elderly uncle, she asked him to take it easy, but was rejected by him. The dutiful clergyman took his task so seriously that Edith Stein regarded him as her spiritual father and finally no longer made any important decisions without first seeking his advice. However, Schwind not only endeavored to improve his protégé's scientific and religious development, but also got her a job as a teacher at the Dominican girls' school in Speyer. The convert took her apartment in the gate house of the monastery of St. Magdalena , in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral and the apartment of Prelate Schwind. Since she hardly has any relations with her own family, she grows more and more into the Joseph Schwinds. A special relationship developed with his two single nieces Anna and Lisette Schwind, who ran the household for him, and with his nephew Konrad Schwind (1898–1976), who was also ordained priest in 1923. In 1926 Edith Stein wrote a loving poem for the golden jubilee of Vicar General Schwind and, upon his death in 1927, an obituary in the correspondence sheet of the Canisianum Innsbruck . a .:
“ His trust in the guidance of Divine Providence and in the power of prayer was unshakable; to this end he knew how to educate and thus to give comfort and calm in situations where all human advice failed. Example to all of us, but now a faithful advocate with the Father. "
The then cathedral chaplain, Philipp Weindel, reports on the sudden death of Joseph Schwind as follows:
“ He had his confessional in the cathedral near mine. Suddenly I heard a rumble and when I looked out of the confessional, Prelate Schwind had fallen out of the confessional. He had suffered a stroke. My fellow chaplain in the other aisle of the cathedral also heard the noise, came over and we carried the seriously ill prelate to a bank, where he died after a few minutes. Soon afterwards, Miss Dr. Stein, who had meanwhile heard of her confessor's stroke, to the cathedral. My fellow chaplain and I carried the now deceased to his apartment, where Miss Dr. Stone accompanied. "
Even after the death of Joseph Schwind, Edith Stein's contact with the family of her soul guide did not break off. She left Speyer in 1931 and took up a position at the German Institute for Scientific Education in Münster from 1932 to 1933 . But until her long-awaited entry into the Carmelite monastery in Cologne-Lindenthal , she often visited the priest Konrad Schwind and his sisters Anna and Lisette, who now serve him as housekeepers (nephews and nieces of their deceased soul guide) in Schweix and Frankenthal-Mörsch , where the priest is now acted as local pastor. Admission to the Cologne Carmel took place on October 15, 1933 and Edith Stein requested the attendance of a member of the (- her -) family Schwind for the dressing ceremony, which is why Lisette Schwind took part. In view of the increasing threat in National Socialist Germany, the Jewess Edith Stein - now Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce - fled to Echt on New Year's Eve 1938 in Holland . After the German occupation of the Netherlands , the situation there also deteriorated dramatically. An attempt to move to Switzerland failed. When the persecution of Jews in Holland took on ever worse traits, the bishops there denounced in express coordination with Pope Pius XII. , the injustice on July 26, 1942 in a sharp pastoral letter. In anger, the brown rulers ordered the deportation of the Jews who had been spared up to this point and who had converted to the Christian faith. As a result of this reaction - incidentally, the reason for the Pope's later so strongly criticized renunciation of his planned public statement on this problem - the SS arrested Edith Stein on August 2, 1942 in the Real Carmelite Monastery. The nun was deported to the East a. murdered there (presumably on August 9, 1942 in Auschwitz). Her last way to the extermination camp led her from Holland, by train across Germany. It so happened that Schifferstadt and the Schwind family again played a role here. The prison train stopped at the Schifferstadt station on August 7, 1942 , and Edith Stein managed to get in touch with various people there. Among other things, she asked the station Valentin Fouquet if he knew the family of the priest Konrad Schwind, brought him greetings to him and the whole family and let them align: "Sister Benedicta of the Cross is in heaven - her way of the cross is completed!" From This scene has an impressive, modern depiction by the late Grünstadt artist Karl Unverzagt . She was able to pass a note to the priest Ferdinand Meckes from Ludwigshafen am Rhein , who happened to be waiting on the platform, with the words: “Greetings from Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce. On the way to the Orient (= to the East) ” .
Fonts
- The St. Martin's Church in Kaiserslautern - a look at its history . Self-published by Joseph Schwind, Kaiserslautern 1902.
- Senior Teacher Dr. W. v. Markhauser as a high school professor and director of studies in Speyer (1871–1887) . Jäger'sche Buchdruckerei, Speyer 1910.
- Damian Hugo Philipp Graf von und zu Lehrbach (1738–1815) the benefactor of the Speyer cathedral. Lecture on the centenary of his death, held in the assembly of the cath. Reading society in Speyer on November 7, 1915 . Jäger'sche Buchdruckerei, Speyer 1915.
- Dr. Wilhelm Molitor (1819–1880) in his life and work. After a lecture on his 100th birthday . Pfälzer Volksbote, Kaiserslautern 1920.
literature
- "To the Holy Land from the Isarstrand - memorial book of the 1st Bavarian People's Pilgrimage to the Hl. Land, 1904" , Bavarian Pilgrims' Association from the Hl. Land, Munich 1905 (Photo Joseph Schwinds on page 128).
- "Edith Stein's Speyer Years" , Sr. Maria Adele Herrmann OP, Pilger-Verlag, Speyer 1990
- "Edith Stein and Schifferstadt" , Joachim Feldes, Geier Verlag Schifferstadt, 1998
- "I can't go with you here, I have to leave that to someone bigger - two priests from Böhl and Schifferstadt stood at the beginning of Edith Stein's Christian life" , Joachim Specht, Heimatjahrbuch Landkreis Ludwigshafen / Rhein, No. 19, 2002, p. 93– 96
Web links
- Article by Joachim Feldes on Edith Stein and Joseph Schwind, with numerous other sources on the subject. ( MS Word ; 71 kB)
- Parish archive of St. Martin Kaiserslautern with eBook Schwind, Joseph, The St. Martinskirche in Kaiserslautern. A look into their history. Kaiserslautern 1902.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schwind, Joseph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Schwind, Josef |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Catholic priest, cathedral capitular, soul guide of Saint Edith Stein |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 28, 1851 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Schifferstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 17, 1927 |
| Place of death | Speyer |