Leopold Schmidt (theologian)

Leopold Schmidt OCist (born December 5, 1884 in Mistelbach , Lower Austria as Sylvester Schmidt ; † June 24, 1935 in Vienna ) was an Austrian clergyman and the 63rd abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Zwettl .

Life

Leopold Schmidt was born on December 5, 1884 in the Lower Austrian town of Mistelbach as a farmer's son and was subsequently baptized with the name Sylvester . As a child he came to Zwettl Abbey as a choir boy , where he subsequently attended the Boys Choir Convict for a year and then continued his schooling. In 1903 Schmidt graduated from the Stiftsgymnasium Seitenstetten and immediately afterwards - on August 3, 1903 - entered the Zwettl Monastery as a novice . In 1904 he made simple profession ; Perpetual profession followed in 1907. After his novitiate , Baumann studied theology from 1904 in the Philosophical-Theological Home School of the Heiligenkreuz Abbey and was ordained a priest on July 12, 1908 after completing his studies . With a dissertation on St. Ivo von Chartres received his doctorate in theology on March 13, 1910 , with the Benedictine Cölestin Wolfsgruber appearing as his doctoral supervisor . He then deepened his studies in Innsbruck , where he stayed from 1911 to 1913, and then taught the Old and New Testaments there in Heiligenkreuz. According to the Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 , he studied in Vienna in 1909/10, in Innsbruck in 1911/12 and again in Vienna in 1912/13, and only received his doctorate in 1913.

During his studies he already worked as a collegiate cooperator and catechist in St. Pölten . In Heiligenkreuz, where he taught from 1913, he was, according to the ÖBL, from 1914 professor of Bible studies of the old covenant. He was last here in 1921/22 and worked on a directory of the Heiligenkreuz manuscripts during his time in Heiligenkreuz . On July 17, 1922, Stephan Rössler - abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Zwettl since 1878 - called him back to Zwettl as prior and librarian . After Rössler's death on March 16, 1923, Schmidt was entrusted with the administration of the monastery until a new abbot was elected, and was assisted by the administrators appointed by the convent, the woodruff master Franz Prinz and the treasurer Edmund Hammerschmied. After he had been elected by the chapter as the new abbot of the monastery at the beginning of May 1923, Schmidt was appointed 63rd abbot of Zwettl on May 2, 1923 by vicar general Gregor Pöck , who had been abbot of the Heiligenkreuz monastery since 1902.

Also in 1923 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Austrian Order of Merit. Above all, the Catholic youth movement was promoted under Abbot Leopold , but a retreat house was also set up in 1924 , in which he himself held courses. Due to the global economic crisis at the end of the 1920s and in the course of the 1930s, however, he was also forced to sell monastic property, such as the Zwettlerhof (also Zwettler Hof or Zwettlhof) in Vienna-Nussdorf in 1933 , and various art objects. Schmidt died on June 24, 1935 at the age of 50 after a serious illness in the General Hospital of the City of Vienna ; Schmidt's body was consecrated on June 26th in the laying out hall of the hospital by Cardinal Innitzer , and on June 27th it was transferred to Zwettl Abbey, where the burial took place on the same day. Bertrand Koppensteiner succeeded him as Abbot of Zwettl .

Web links

• Leopold Schmidt (theologian) in the Biographia Cisterciensis
• Schmidt, Leopold. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 10, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1994,ISBN 3-7001-2186-5, p. 284 f. (Direct links on p. 284 , p. 285 ).
• Picture of Leopold Schmidt in the coffin ( Mühlviertler Nachrichten , July 5, 1935, p. 19)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Abtbegräbnis in Zwettl pins .. In:  Empire Post , March 21, 1923 page 7 (Online at ANNO ). , accessed on February 11, 2020
2. ^ Abbot election in Zwettl Abbey. In:  Kleine Volks-Zeitung , May 4, 1923, p. 6 (online at ANNO ). , accessed on February 11, 2020
3. ^ Abbot election in Zwettl Abbey. In:  Linzer Volksblatt , May 4, 1923, p. 6 (online at ANNO ). , accessed on February 11, 2020
4. ^ Church news - The abbot of Zwettl died. In:  Salzburger Chronik für Stadt und Land / Salzburger Chronik / Salzburger Chronik. Tagblatt with the illustrated supplement “Die Woche im Bild” / Die Woche im Bild. Illustrated entertainment supplement to the “Salzburger Chronik” / Salzburger Chronik. Daily newspaper with the illustrated supplement “Oesterreichische / Österreichische Woche” / Österreichische Woche / Salzburger Zeitung. Tagblatt with the illustrated supplement “Austrian Week” / Salzburger Zeitung , June 25, 1935, p. 6 (online at ANNO ). , accessed on February 11, 2020
5. ^ Church news - The abbot of Zwettl died. In:  Salzburger Chronik für Stadt und Land / Salzburger Chronik / Salzburger Chronik. Tagblatt with the illustrated supplement “Die Woche im Bild” / Die Woche im Bild. Illustrated entertainment supplement to the “Salzburger Chronik” / Salzburger Chronik. Daily newspaper with the illustrated supplement “Oesterreichische / Österreichische Woche” / Österreichische Woche / Salzburger Zeitung. Tagblatt with the illustrated supplement “Austrian Week” / Salzburger Zeitung , June 25, 1935, p. 7 (online at ANNO ). , accessed on February 11, 2020
6. ↑ ^{a b} Abbot Leopold Schmidt von Zwettl † .. In:  Kleine Volks-Zeitung , June 26, 1935, p. 4 (online at ANNO ). , accessed on February 11, 2020

predecessor	Office	successor
Stephan Rössler	Abbot of Zwettl Monastery 1923–1935	Bertrand Koppensteiner