Klemens Neumann
Klemens Neumann (born November 26, 1873 in Tütz , Deutsch Krone / West Prussia district; † July 5, 1928 in Neisse / Upper Silesia) was a Catholic pastor , high school professor , co-founder of the Quickborn movement and editor of the songbook Der Spielmann .
Life
youth
Klemens Neumann grew up with three siblings in Tütz as the son of an innkeeper and a half-Italian woman, music was a not insignificant place in the family. In 1887, at the age of 14, he entered the mixed German-French high school boarding school of the Mission Society of the Sacred Heart in Antwerp (Belgium), in 1890 he moved to Chezal Benoît in Issoudun in France. In 1893 he entered the primary school of Deutsch Krone and finished his school years in 1895 with the Abitur. From an early age he wanted to become a priest, but the departure from the boarding school of the mission society was necessary because he had decided not to go to the missionary service.
Education
In 1895 he began studying Catholic theology at the Theological Convict in Breslau . As a member of the Catholic student association Unitas in the KV , he was in good contact with students from other faculties. On June 21, 1899, he was ordained a priest in Breslau , and he took up his first position as chaplain that same year in Liegnitz, Silesia . At the same time he passed the higher education exams for religion , Hebrew and French . He had set himself the maxim of his teaching profession: “We teach and learn for life and not for school. Learning thrives better under the sun of love than under the cold of the outside drill . "
First years
In 1903 the cosmopolitan and sociable Neumann received his first job first as a senior teacher at the municipal grammar school in Neisse, on 11 December 1912 he became a school teacher named. In Neisse he got to know the pastor Bernhard Strehler , also from West Prussia, who was in charge of the Konvikt of the Catholic high school Carolinum for boys and who gave him the opportunity to make music there with the boys. Soon Neumann joined the local group of the Catholic Cross Alliance founded by Strehler , one of several of the abstinence movements that were budding for socio-ethical reasons . Oriented towards the budding Wandervogel movement, they began to go on trips together with the young people, and girls were also included in these activities - a beacon for the times. The group soon called itself the Quickborn Movement. It had the ideal goal to make the youth independent and to educate them to be responsible and to inspire them for a happy, sociable life without alcohol.
The Heimgarten plant
Due to the constant growth of this group, Neumann and his colleagues Bernhard Strehler and Hermann Hoffmann soon faced the question of suitable rooms that should also be open to the common people as an educational and meeting place. In 1913/14 the construction of a house in Neisse, called the "Heimgarten", took place. a. with a large stage hall, 10,000 m² outdoor area with a glass hall, open-air stage and playground. Completion was celebrated in the spring of 1914; The outbreak of the First World War came to an abrupt end, the Heimgarten complex became a military hospital and was only able to resume its role as a meeting place and folk high school after 1918 . The lively popularity led to an extension being built in 1926.
The Quickborn Movement
The Quickborn movement quickly spread across Germany. The “Vereinigung der Quickbornfreunde” was founded as a registered association with legal capacity. In 1916, at a conference in Frankfurt am Main , the members decided to create a German Quickborn headquarters. In 1919, Rothenfels Castle in the Spessart was acquired as a central home and hiking hostel for the Quickborn movement.
The minstrel
In 1914 Neumann published the songbook Der Spielmann for the first time only for the Quickborn Movement , a collection of folk, hiking and church hymns, which soon enjoyed great popularity not only among Catholic youth and numerous follow-ups up until the 1960s. and experienced new editions. Neumann saw the minstrel as his very personal testament to the youth. The proceeds from the sale of this songbook went to Rothenfels Castle.
The years after the First World War
In 1924, Klemens Neumann gave up school service entirely in order to devote himself only to popular education. He founded u. a. In the Heimgarten in Neiss, an amateur play group, who moved across the country with their performances, to Holland in 1925 and to France in 1926 . In addition, he initiated the annual University Weeks at Rothenfels Castle, in which high-ranking scientists and artists met, such as B. Romano Guardini .
Marked by Erb's disease ( myasthenia gravis ) and several strokes , and almost blind, Klemens Neumann died in his adopted home Neisse.
literature
- Meinulf Barbers: Quickborn working group. In: Günter Biemer, Werner Tzschaetzsch (eds.): Handbook of Church Youth Work , Volume 4. Herder, Freiburg 1988.
- Hermann Hoffmann: Prof. Klemens Neumann - the minstrel of God. Franke, Breslau 1939.
- Siegfried Koß: Klemens Neumann . In: Siegfried Koß, Wolfgang Löhr (Hrsg.): Biographisches Lexikon des KV. 2nd part (= Revocatio historiae. Volume 3). SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 1993, ISBN 3-923621-98-1 , p. 97 ff.
- Hans Maier: Neumann, Klemens Andreas. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 157 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Neumann, Klemens |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Catholic pastor, high school teacher and editor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 26, 1873 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tütz , German Crown , West Prussia |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 5, 1928 |
| Place of death | Neisse , Upper Silesia |