Casimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen
Casimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen (religious name Leodgar von Rathsamhausen ; born January 17, 1698 in Muttersholtz ; † January 1, 1786 in Guebwiller ) was the penultimate prince of the abbeys of Murbach and Lüders that were secularized on November 18, 1764 .
resume
Kasimir Friedrich came from the line of the noble family von Rathsamhausen-Wibolsheim, which had converted to Protestantism in 1576. The father Wolfgang Dietrich had reconverted a few years before the birth of Casimir Friedrich and had married the Catholic Friederike Dorothea von Schauenburg. The son Casimir was baptized on January 19, 1698 according to a baptismal transcript. He received his school education at the Jesuit college in Molsheim . This was followed by studies at the Louis Legrand royal seminary in Strasbourg . On February 1, 1717, at the age of 19, he entered the Benedictine Abbey of Murbach. He was ordained a priest on March 8, 1721 in Pruntrut . With the vow on April 24, 1724 he took the name Leodgar (Léger). On April 17, 1732 he was elected Dean of Murbach and shortly afterwards Grand Prior of Luders. Prince Abbot Zoelestin von Beroldingen abdicated on August 11 in favor of Prince Amandus de Rohan, Count of Ventadour . The Prince of Rohan received the abbey’s income of 40,000 livres, but visited it only three times for a short time before his death. Casimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen was assigned to him on October 1, 1737 as coadjutor with the right of succession. In fact, he continued to run the monastery, and from 1739 Prince Abbot Rohan had taken on other high offices, including the rectorate of the Sorbonne . The demolition of the nave of Murbach Abbey in 1738 with the aim of building a new one goes back to Kasimir Friederich von Rathsamhausen. On June 30, 1756, von Rathsamhausen officially succeeded his predecessor, who had died two days earlier, as prince abbot. One of the most important decisions by Rathsamhausen was to move the monastery seat to Guebwiller in 1759. The conventuals were obsolete and their number had fallen to 13 in 1759. The high demands on the family background and the secular zeitgeist caused a lack of demand. From 1760, Prince Abbot Casimir Friedrich had the abbey buildings built in Guebwiller by the engineer Quéret. Pope Clement XIII. did not approve the relocation until 1764 and on November 18, 1764 secularized the traditional Murbach Abbey, which was converted into a knight's monastery. Kasimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen headed the monastery as prince abbot until his death.
From 1765 to 1785, the architect Louis Beuque from Besançon built the Notre-Dame de Guebwiller cathedral on behalf of the abbot. However, the construction management was withdrawn from him in 1768 due to serious defects in the execution and transferred to Gabriel Ignaz Ritter.
Casimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen gained a reputation for holiness during his lifetime. Later historical research sees in Kasimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen more the representative and defender of the declining position of spiritual power in the empire. The knight's monastery in Guebwiller survived the death of Rathsamhausen for just four years. Successor and last abbot was Benedikt Anton Friedrich von Andlau-Homburg (1761–1839).
Representations
The Unterlinden Museum in Colmar has an oval, colored half-relief from 1782. In the Musée du Florival in Guebwiller, the death mask of the abbot is exhibited alongside portraits and personal remains. The grave slab with a relief portrait is in the Notre-Dame church in Guebwiller.
literature
- Life of Casimir von Rathsamhausen Prince-Abbot of the combined knight monasteries Murbach and Lüders: died on January 1st, 1786 in the call of holiness; a contribution to the ecclesiastical history of Alsace / translated from Latin and illuminated with annotations by Joseph Axinger Digitized version of the Bavarian State Library
- Jules Gava: Casimir Friedrich von Rathsamhausen 1698–1786 the last abbot of the princely Benedictine abbey of Murbach . Colmar, Societe ́Alsacienne d'Edition Alsatia, 1920. 119 pp.
- Andreas Gatrio: The Murbach Abbey in Alsace . Edition Le Roux, Strasbourg, 1894, Volume II
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Rathsamhausen, Casimir Friedrich von |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Rathsamhausen, Leodgar von (religious names) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Benedictine abbot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 17, 1698 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Muttersholtz |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 1, 1786 |
| Place of death | Guebwiller |