Martin Geiger

Martin Geiger (* around 1602 in Hainburg an der Donau ; † July 3, 1669 in Vienna ) was auxiliary bishop in Passau.

Life

Martin Geiger came from Hainburg an der Donau in Lower Austria (often read out as Hamburg). He enrolled at the University of Vienna on April 14, 1621 and was already registered as a Magister Artium in the theologians' registers in 1624 . On August 1, 1629, he defended his theses for the theological doctorate, took the exam on August 16, and was promoted to a doctorate in theology on September 6. In the same year he returned to his hometown, where he appeared until 1638 as a doctor of theology and dean . Probably in the second half of 1638 he was installed as the city pastor in Linz .

On June 26, 1646, he was appointed official and vicar general of the Bishop of Passau for the land under the Enns , with an official seat in the Passauer Hof near the Maria Stiegen church in Vienna, and held this office for twelve years. He resigned himself to the Linz parish in 1647 and probably took over the profitable Tulln parish in 1648 , into which the equally wealthy Abstetten parish had been incorporated in 1645 . In addition, he was a member of the Passau cathedral chapter and thus episcopal council, at the same time also canon in Olomouc (a benefice ).

On May 6, 1658, he was appointed auxiliary bishop for the land under the Enns as the successor to the late Ulrich Grappler and was ordained bishop of Lampsakos in Asia Minor on August 4, 1658 ( in Domo Professorum Societatis Jesu ). In June 1659 he resigned his post as Passau official, perhaps because the double burden was too great for him. The consecration of the Franciscan Church in Ybbs with three altars, that of the Church in Stockerau with its altars, the newly built Capuchin Church and the monastery in Linz in 1662 and the pilgrimage church in Frauenhofen near Tulln belonging to the Kartause Mauerbach in 1668 are known from his church and altar consecration actions. In the same year he consecrated the new high altar of his parish church in Tulln. With regard to the consecration of the holy oils , there were conflicts with the provost of Klosterneuburg Abbey , which continued under Geiger's successor, Jodok Höpffner . Again and again there were disputes over jurisdiction with the Tulln city administration over the repair of church buildings.

Martin Geiger died on July 3, 1669 in his house on Judenplatz in Vienna and was buried in Tulln according to his wishes. His grave slab is now walled into the outer wall of the parish church. His brother and universal heir Georg Geiger later lived as a member of the Inner Council in Bruck an der Leitha . Geiger's episcopal insignia were partly borrowed from the Passau cathedral coast (staff, miter) and were reclaimed a few days after his death. Geiger had bequeathed 300 guilders in his will for the repair of the Dreikönigskapelle in the cemetery in Tulln, which was also used for this (completion 1671). He also left 300 guilders to the Tulln parish church. 1000 guilders went to the Capuchin Province . His portrait in the bishop's robe hangs in the rectory in Tulln.

literature

• Hierarchia Catholica, Volume 4, pp. 214 and 379.
• Ludwig Rumpl: The Linz city pastors of the 17th century. In: Historisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Linz 1963. Linz 1964, pp. 96–98, online (PDF) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
• Walpurga Oppeker: "Our Bishop of Thulln" - The Bishop's Court of Tulln and its masters. In: Heidemarie Bachhofer (Ed.): New research on the history of the Tulln-St. Stephan. St. Pölten 2014, pp. 310-317.

Web links

• Entry on Martin Geiger on catholic-hierarchy.org