Klaus Hemmerle

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Memorial stone for Klaus Hemmerle in the All Saints Chapel of Aachen Cathedral (2014)
Klaus Hemmerle. Signature 1993
Episcopal coat of arms

Klaus Hemmerle (born April 3, 1929 in Freiburg im Breisgau ; † January 23, 1994 in Aachen ) was a German Catholic theologian. In 1975 he was elected, appointed and consecrated Bishop of Aachen .

Life

Hemmerle was born on April 3, 1929 in Freiburg, the only child of his parents Franz-Valentin and Maria Hemmerle. His father was a painter, his mother's brother the composer and church musician Franz Philipp .

From 1939 Hemmerle attended the humanistic old-language Berthold-Gymnasium in Freiburg. After graduating from high school in 1947, he studied philosophy and theology at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and at the St. Peter seminary in the Black Forest . In Freiburg he became a member of the Catholic Student Association Bavaria in the Cartel Association of Catholic German Student Associations (KV). He remained connected to this connection and the entire KV throughout his life and published frequently in the KV's academic monthly newspapers. He was ordained a priest on May 25, 1952. In 1957 he received his doctorate in theology and completed his habilitation in 1967 with a thesis on Schelling 's late philosophy.

From 1956 to 1961 Hemmerle was the founding director of the Catholic Academy of the Archdiocese of Freiburg .

In 1969 Hemmerle was initially a private lecturer in Bonn and from 1970 to 1973 professor of fundamental theology at the University of Bochum . From 1973 to 1975 he was Professor of Christian Philosophy of Religion at the University of Freiburg and after his ordination as Bishop of Aachen by Johannes Pohlschneider on November 8, 1975 in Freiburg, he was an honorary professor at this university. His motto was: Omnes unum ut mundus credat (Joh. 17, 21).

Hemmerle, clerical director of the Central Committee of German Catholics from 1968 to 1974 , played a key role in organizing the Catholic Days in Essen (1968) , Trier (1970) and Mönchengladbach (1974) as well as the Ecumenical Whitsun Meeting in Augsburg .

Hemmerle wrote numerous articles and books.

As a young priest in the 1950s he got to know the Focolare Movement , to which he was close throughout his life. He gave Chiara Lubich the impetus to found a theological school within the Focolare Movement in which spirituality enters into a relationship with theology, philosophy and other sciences, the Scuola Abbà . He also organized cross-denominational meetings of bishops who were close to the movement, thus creating a place where he could live his ecumenical variation of the Golden Rule: “Love the other's church as your own!” He was close friendship with the Aachen Greek -orthodox congregation, which he last visited a week before his death in the service, where his friend Evmenios Tamiokakis was ordained vicar bishop of the Greek-Orthodox metropolis of Germany .

According to Cardinal Lehmann , Hemmerle was “not the man of big words, but his quiet voice had an unusual power of preaching”.

Chapel above the bishop's crypt of Aachen Cathedral, Hemmerle's memorial stone in the picture on the far left

Hemmerle was popular in the Aachen diocese. He was buried on January 29, 1994 with the large participation of the population and the participation of 5 cardinals and more than 60 bishops in the bishop's crypt of Aachen Cathedral , the All Saints Chapel. The former chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Karl Lehmann, said in his sermon that “perhaps a holy priest and bishop is buried on this day without our realizing it”.

Hemmerle's successor as Bishop of Aachen was Heinrich Mussinghoff .

honors and awards

In 1982 Hemmerle received the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher , in 1984 the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, and in 1988 an honorary doctorate from RWTH Aachen University .

The Focolare Movement Germany awards the Klaus Hemmerle Prize every two years in his memory. The city of Aachen named a street in the Steinebrück district of Bischof-Hemmerle-Weg in his honor . The hospice group of the Malteser Relief Service in Grefrath is named after him. Hemmerle is also the namesake of the Bischof Klaus Hemmerle Foundation for the promotion of pastoral services in the diocese of Aachen .

Klaus Hemmerle Prize

The undoped Klaus Hemmerle Prize was donated by the Focolare Movement in Germany in 2004, on the tenth anniversary of the death of Bishop Klaus Hemmerle . Every two years, it honors people who, in the spirit of Hemmerle, are committed to dialogue and understanding between the different churches, religions and worldviews.

Previous winners

  • 2004: Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich , German-Swiss Judaist
  • 2006: Christian Krause , former regional bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
  • 2008: Bartholomeos I , Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
  • 2010: Alfons Nossol , retired Archbishop of Opole / Poland
  • 2012: Hans Maier , former Bavarian minister of education and long-time president of the Central Committee of German Catholics
  • 2014: Ruth Pfau , leprosy doctor in Pakistan
  • 2016: Noorjehan Abdul Majid , Mozambican doctor for the AIDS treatment program DREAM
  • 2018: Henry G. Brandt , community rabbi of the Jewish Community of Swabia-Augsburg
  • 2020: Anastasios Yannoulatos , Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania and Head of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania

Hemmerle professorship

An endowed professorship named after Klaus Hemmerle has been awarded at RWTH Aachen every year since 2008 . The aim is to address interdisciplinary and cross-faculty issues.

Holders of the Hemmerle Professorship

year Owner Subject
2008 Alberto da Silva Moreira Theology of Liberation
Religion in the face of globalization and global warming scenarios
Spirituality of the conflict and social movements today
2009 Ansgar Vössing
2010 Norbert Blüm Ethical questions about work
2011 Herta Däubler-Gmelin Human dignity and human rights
2013 Helmut Reuter The soul from a religious, psychological, depth psychological and neuropsychological point of view
Attachment - a basic human need from Seneca to the age of the Internet
Creative freedom: How can our life succeed?
2014 Hans Fahr The world in the view of cosmology: can the whole be understood?
2015 Carl Möller Anthropology and depth psychology
2017 Hans-Dieter Mutschler Dialogue between science and theology,
philosophy of nature and philosophy of technology
2018 Axel Siegemund Borderline questions of theology, science and technology

Publications (selection)

  • Franz von Baader's philosophical thought of creation . SYMPOSION 13, Verlag Karl Alber, Freiburg / Munich 1963
  • God's time, our time, annual reading book , Ed. Erich Schick, Verlag Neue Stadt, Oberpframmern near Munich, 4th edition, 2004. ISBN 978-3-87996-608-0
  • Your word to God's ear. Practice in prayer , Neue Stadt Verlag, Oberpframmern near Munich, revised new edition 2004. ISBN 978-3-7346-1008-0
  • Lines of life. Meditation impulses on the Gospel of John , Verlag Neue Stadt, Oberpframmern near Munich, 2012. ISBN 978-3-87996-938-8
  • On the subject of the church , edited by Wolfgang Bader, Neue Stadt Verlag, Oberpframmern near Munich, 2nd edition 2012. ISBN 978-3-87996-929-6
  • Letters to children and young people. A bishop answers questions from pupils , Ed. Dorothee Mattes, Verlag Stadt, Oberpframmern near Munich, 2000. ISBN 978-3-87996-518-2
  • To the crib through the back door. Christmas , Verlag Neue Stadt, Oberpframmern near Munich, 2012. ISBN 978-3-87996-957-9
  • In God's ear. Dr. Karl H. Salesny, Vienna 2019.

literature

Web links

Wikiquote: Klaus Hemmerle  - Quotes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Schütz, Oliver M .: Encounter of Church and World. The founding of Catholic academies in the Federal Republic of Germany 1945-1975. Paderborn. 2004. p. 227.
  2. ^ Wolfgang Löhr: Klaus Hemmerle (1929-1994), Bishop of Aachen (1975-1994). In: Portal Rhenish History. Landschaftsverband Rheinland, accessed on January 27, 2015 .
  3. ^ Lehmann: Bartholomew I is a bridge builder between religions. Klaus Hemmerle Prize of the Focolare Movement for the Ecumenical Patriarch. In: Mainzer Bistumsnachrichten No. 24, June 18, 2008. Episcopal Press Office, June 18, 2008, accessed on January 27, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Foundation's website
  5. ↑ Klaus Hemmerle | Focolare Movement in Germany. Retrieved January 26, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Augsburg Rabbi Brandt receives the Klaus Hemmerle Prize | epd. Retrieved January 26, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Chronicle of the City of Aachen - Notable Events in 2004. aachen.de, July 20, 2005, accessed on January 26, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Peter Pauls: Religion - Bridge Builders of Church Unity. mz-web.de, January 22, 2006, accessed on January 26, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Tobias Blum: Lehmann: Bartholomaios I is a bridge builder between religions. Mainz Diocese News , June 18, 2008, accessed on January 26, 2018 .
  10. ^ Poland: Archbishop Nossol turns 85 . ( archive.org [accessed January 26, 2018]).
  11. ^ Hanna Sturm: Alfons Nossol awarded the Klaus Hemmerle Prize. aachener-zeitung.de, January 24, 2010, accessed on January 26, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Werner Breuer: So that Europe does not lose its soul. aachener-zeitung.de, January 22, 2012, accessed on January 26, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Ruth Pfau is 85: A life against leprosy - religion.ORF.at . In: religion.ORF.at . September 9, 2014 ( orf.at [accessed January 26, 2018]).
  14. ↑ Silvia Möller: Building bridges with respect and empathy. aachener-zeitung.de, January 22, 2016, accessed on January 26, 2018 .
  15. ^ Central Council of Jews in Germany Kdö.R .: Klaus Hemmerle Prize: Rabbi Henry G. Brandt honored | Jewish general. January 26, 2018, accessed January 26, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Awarding of the Klaus Hemmerle Prize 2020 , February 14, 2020.
  17. ↑ a b c Hemmerle Professorship. Institute for Catholic Theology at RWTH Aachen University, accessed on January 27, 2015 .
  18. ↑ www.themenportal.de ( Memento from January 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Norbert Blüm takes over the Hemmerle professorship
  19. ^ Däubler-Gmelin takes over the Hemmerle professorship in Aachen , in: kathische-theologie.info .
predecessor Office successor
Johannes Pohlschneider Bishop of Aachen
1975–1994 		Heinrich Mussinghoff
personal data
SURNAME Hemmerle, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German professor of theology and Bishop of Aachen
DATE OF BIRTH April 3, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Freiburg in Breisgau
DATE OF DEATH January 23, 1994
Place of death Aachen