Ludwig von Hammerstein

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Book cover, Father Ludwig von Hammerstein SJ, 1903
Book cover 1928

Ludwig von Hammerstein (born September 1, 1832 at Gesmold Castle , Melle , Lower Saxony ; † August 15, 1905 in Trier ) was a baron from the von Hammerstein family , a convert to the Catholic faith, a Jesuit priest and spiritual writer.

Live and act

Origin and early years

He was born the son of Baron Ludwig Friedrich Ernst von Hammerstein († February 11, 1837) and lost his father at an early age. The half-orphan Ludwig von Hammerstein studied law in Heidelberg , Munich and Göttingen . He passed an excellent state examination and worked from 1854 to 1859 as a court auditor in Lüneburg , Hameln and Hanover . In 1855 he converted from the Lutheran to the Catholic Church in Mainz , prepared by Cathedral Chapter Johann Baptist Heinrich . Before Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler , he passed his profession of faith and was from that at Pentecost received Confirmation .

Jesuit and writer

In 1859 Hammerstein passed his examination as an assessor and entered the novitiate of the Jesuit order in Friedrichsburg near Münster in May of that year . From 1861 he completed the philosophy course in the Jesuit community in Aachen ; In 1863 the clergy moved to the former Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach , where a Jesuit college was established. Baron von Hammerstein studied theology here and was ordained a priest on September 13, 1868. In 1870 he took over the professorship of canon law there.

As part of the Kulturkampf , the order was expelled from Germany in 1872 due to the Jesuit law .

Ludwig von Hammerstein moved to the Jesuit branch Ditton Hall, near Liverpool (England), where he retained the professorship until 1874 and then gave up due to illness. In the autumn of 1875 he went to Tervuren , Belgium , as a member of the editorial board of the religious magazine “ Voices from Maria Laach ”, which was banned from Germany . Due to a collapse in health, he had to give up this activity in 1877. From 1880 Father von Hammerstein lived in the convent in Aalbeek / Holland. Here he wrote his memoirs “Memories of an Old Lutheran” and delved into apologetic writing. In March 1883 he retired to Trier, where he lived with the Barmherzigen Brothers of Maria Hilf and served as their chaplain until his death. There he became a close collaborator and confidante of Bishop Michael Felix Korum .

During his entire religious life, but especially in the last few years, Father von Hammerstein worked tirelessly as an apologetic author and published numerous books. His main works are the aforementioned autobiographical work “Memories of an old Lutheran” (1882), which was re-published in 2010, as well as the book “Edgar, or from atheism to full truth” , which is specially geared to the common issues of prospective converts .

Ludwig von Hammerstein died on the Assumption of Mary in 1905 in the Brothers Hospital in Trier .

The controversial Prussian politician Wilhelm Joachim von Hammerstein (1838–1904) was his cousin.

Works

(Selection)

  • “Memories of an old Lutheran” , Herder, Freiburg, 1882
  • “Church and State from the Standpoint of Law” , Herder, Freiburg, 1883
  • “Considerations for all days of the church year, with special consideration for religious cooperatives” , Herder Freiburg, 1888
  • "Edgar, or from atheism to full truth" , Paulinus Druckerei Trier 1888
  • "Sincerus; a Protestant theologian in the early church ” , Paulinus Druckerei Trier 1889
  • "Winfried or the social work of the church" , Paulinus Druckerei, Trier, 1889.
  • “Evidence of God and modern atheism” , Paulinus Druckerei Trier, 1891
  • “The Prussian school monopoly; with special consideration for high schools ” , Herder, Freiburg, 1893
  • “Das Christianenthum” , Paulinus Druckerei Trier, 1895
  • "Controversial Catechism: Brief Justification of the Catholic Faith and Refutation of the Most Common Objections" , Paulinus Druckerei Trier, 1896
  • "The luck to be Catholic" , Paulinus Druckerei Trier, 1897
  • “Character images from the life of the church, distributed over the Sundays of the church year” , Paulinus Druckerei Trier, 1897

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Justus Perthes: Gothaisches genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen Häuser , Volume 13, Gotha, 1863, Pages 348 and 349 Scan from the source
  2. ↑ David August Rosenthal: Convert images from the nineteenth century , Volume 1, Part 3, Manz, Regensburg, 1902, page 215 excerpt from the source, on the descent of Pater von Hammerstein
  3. ↑ Website on the former Jesuit monastery in Friedrichsburg ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.altenheim-friedrichsburg.de
  4. ^ Source on the Ditton Hall Jesuit College
  5. ↑ Roman quarterly for Christian antiquity and church history, volumes 72–74, page 197 excerpt from the source; Hammerstein as confidante of Bishop Korum
  6. ↑ To the book "Memories of an Old Lutheran" , with table of contents
  7. ↑ On the new edition of the book “Memories of an Old Lutheran”, 2010
  8. ^ Johann Ambrosius Barth: Theological Annual Report, Volume 25, Part 2, Page 203 Excerpt from the source on the place of death
personal data
SURNAME Hammerstein, Ludwig von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hammerstein, Baron Ludwig von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German nobleman, Jesuit, writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Gesmold Castle
DATE OF DEATH August 15, 1905
Place of death trier