Lorenz Hopfenmüller

Lorenz Hopfenmüller (born May 29, 1844 in Weismain , † August 20, 1890 in Shillong ) was a Catholic clergyman, press chaplain and missionary in India.

Life

After moving to a higher school, Lorenz Hopfenmüller lived in the Aufseesianum until he graduated from high school . After graduation, he studied philosophy at the Lyceum and entered the seminary . On October 6, 1866 he was awarded by the Archbishop of Bamberg Michael Deinlein the priesthood . Deinlein sent him to Würzburg for further studies . There he joined the neo-scholasticism and finished his studies with a doctorate in 1867.

After completing his studies, he was given a chaplaincy at the parish of St. Martin in Bamberg . As a result of the culture war that Otto von Bismarck had caused through the separation of church and state , opposing poles formed with the establishment of associations and newspapers. Hopfenmüller was the press chaplain of the Volksblatt in Bamberg, which was founded in 1871. His articles made him controversial even in his own circles and had to appear in court several times. A prison sentence of more than eight months was the result.

After his release from prison he received the Reichmannsdorf Curate . He countered the social misery there with unusual commitment. He kept the curate until 1882, when he was transferred to Seussling as pastor . There he initiated the establishment of a loan association for farmers and craftsmen. He was pastor of the Seussling parish until 1887.

To become a missionary , he traveled to Rome and entered the order of the Salvatorians there. In 1888 he took the religious vows and, in connection with the diocese of Bamberg, took the religious name Otto after the apostle of Pomerania, the holy bishop Otto I of Bamberg . In 1890 he traveled with others to northeast India in the Assam mission area assigned to them . There Hopfenmüller preached the gospel to the indigenous mountain people of the Khasi after he had learned the native Khasi .

Father Otto died without being able to reap the fruits of his labor on August 20, 1890 in Shillong (capital of today's Indian state Meghalaya ), where he was buried in the Anglican cemetery. A plaque commemorates him. After his death, relatives and friends joined the order of the Salvatorians and worked as missionaries in Assam. Father Otto's remains were exhumed and solemnly transferred to Shillong on July 1, 2001, where they were buried by Archbishop Dominik Jala SDB in a large monument next to the cathedral.

Publications

• Selected writings of Titus Flavius ​​Clemens, Doctor of the Church of Alexandria. Translated from the original text. With a brief preliminary report on Clemens' life and writings by Dr. Lorenz Hopfenmüller Kempten, Kösel, 1875

literature

• Christoph Becker: P. Otto Hopfenmüller from the Society of the Divine Savior. A German pioneer on an Indian mission . (= Pioneers of World Mission , No. 4), Xaverius Verlag, Aachen / Immensee 1923
• Scott Jones: Father Otto Hopfenmüller. Missionary of the Divine Savior . (= Salvatorians Worth Knowing , No. 4), Curia Generalizia dei Salvatoriani, Rome 2012
• Anton Kiebele: P. Otto (Lorenz) Hopfenmüller (1844–1890) . In the S. (Ed.): The Salvatorians in the past and present 1881-1981 . Salvatorian Generalate, Rome 1981, pp. 131–135
• Michael Kleiner: Lorenz Hopfenmüller: From culture fighter to India missionary . In: Michael Kleiner, Ludwig Unger (ed.): Under the stars. 1000 years of the Bamberg diocese. The story in pictures of life . Heinrichs-Verlag, Bamberg 2007, pp. 212-237
• Hubert Patzelt: Dr. Lorenz Hopfenmüller (1844–1890). A Bamberg culture fighter, pastoral worker, social reformer and missionary . Hirschaid 1987
• Josef Urban: The India missionary from Weismain. Dr. Lorenz (P. Otto) Hopfenmüller SDS . In: Günter Dippold (ed.): Weismain. A Franconian town in the northern Jura . Vol. 2, Weismain 1996, pp. 431-448