Martin from Cochem

Portrait drawing, attributed to Eduard von Steinle ; including the signature of Father Martinus a Cochem

Martin von Cochem (also Pater Martinus von Kochem , Latinized also Martinus Linius Cochemensis ), maiden name Martin Linius (born  December 13, 1634 in Cochem on the Moselle ; † September 10, 1712 in Waghäusel ) was a German Catholic priest , Capuchin (member of a Franciscan mendicant order), people's missionary and, as a "people's writer", author of numerous religious books that were distributed worldwide.

Live and act

Martin Linius was the son of the merchant and hat maker Matthias Linius (* around 1599) from Bernkastel and resident in Cochem and his second wife Margaretha nee. Geimer (around * 1614, † after 1663). Martin had a sister named Anna Maria Linius (1658–1729), whom Martin called “Anna Mariele” and who married the chemist Johann Franz Gerhardi (1645–1729) from Cochem.

Even at school, the young man was distinguished by his talent, especially his knowledge of Latin, Greek and French. He entered the Capuchin Order in his hometown and was allowed to keep his baptismal name Martin when he was dressed in Aschaffenburg on March 2, 1653 . According to the Capuchin custom, he added his place of birth Cochem to this, so that from now on he was called Martin von Cochem . In 1657 he was ordained a priest. From 1658 Father Martin stayed in the Capuchin Monastery of Aschaffenburg , where his reading master and scholastic teacher Richard von Mainz was. In 1663 he completed his theological studies.

From 1664, Martin von Cochem worked as a reading master in “world science” (that is, the non-theological subjects) of his order in Mainz. In the year of the plague in 1666, his first book , Kinder-Büchlein , was published here, a small catechism edition tailored to children . The publisher Wilhelm Friessem (1600–1668) in Cologne was so enthusiastic about it that he advised the order to release the author for religious writing. The Elector of Mainz, Anselm Franz von Ingelheim, was also impressed by Martin's “Kinderlehrbüchlein”. In the course of the Catholic reform he had it introduced in the parishes and schools of his archbishopric. In addition, the Archbishop entrusted Father Martin with the editing of the hymn book ("Cantuale") for the Mainzer Sprengel.

From 1668 Father Martin lived in Bensheim Monastery and worked there as a parish preacher, catechist and confessor. Together with Father Barnabas von Aschaffenburg, he had also been commissioned to work out a ceremonial for the Capuchin Province . In 1670 it is recorded in the pilgrimage monastery Nothgottes near Rüdesheim or Bingen, from 1675 to 1678 in the Konvent von Königstein , where the inhabitants were initially devoted to Protestantism and he u. a. also looked after the soldiers of the Kurmainzer fortress there . He also worked as a "Baptist" in Reichenberg im Taunus .

In 1677 he published his well-known work The Life of Christ in Königstein . This book, dedicated to Empress Eleonore Magdalene von der Pfalz , is designed as a house book . It was printed 40 times during Martin von Cochem's lifetime, but it was also criticized by some academic theologians. They criticized the fact that the life of Jesus is presented to the reader as a "book of edification", that is, to strengthen his piety, and they criticized the popular scientific way of presenting it.

In 1678 Martin von Cochem was transferred to the Dieburg monastery . There the Archbishop of Mainz, Anselm Franz von Ingelheim, entrusted him shortly after the completion of the new version of the Mainz hymn book ("Cantuale") on September 4, 1682 with the task of a diocesan visitor to the Aschaffenburg Commissariat, one of the commissariats into which the Archdiocese of Mainz was divided. He was mainly responsible for the parishes in the Spessart. At the same time, he also performed pastoral care from Dieburg in the Umstadt condominium , where the situation was difficult. Rule was divided into three parts under Protestant governments, but the Catholic Count zu Löwenstein had lower jurisdiction and therefore had the Dieburg Capuchins - including Martin von Cochem - hold Catholic services in his Habitzheim Castle . Here Father Martin worked closely with Count Maximilian Karl zu Löwenstein , who was also the captain of Empress Eleonore's bodyguard and who became the first Prince of Löwenstein in 1711. In 1687 and 1688 Martin von Cochem lived in the Capuchin Convent Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein , where the “First History Book” and in 1690 the “Other History Book” appeared. In 1689 he stayed in Bernkastel on the Moselle.

In 1689, at the behest of the Provincial, he left the Rhenish Capuchin Province, which was sacked by Louis XIV, and went to the Günzburg Monastery , which belonged to the Tyrolean Capuchin Province. After a stopover in Mariahilf Monastery , he arrived in Prague in early 1693 and settled in the Loreto Monastery there . The time in Prague was very fruitful for his writing. Here he wrote his Prager Lauretten booklet and his Mass explanation ; the latter saw numerous editions and translations by 1957.

From 1696 or 1697 Martin von Cochem worked again at home, now in Walldürn in the Odenwald, where his order supervised the pilgrimage of the Holy Blood and Martin mainly worked on his "Meeßerklärung". In 1698 the Speyer bishop and elector of Trier, Johann Hugo von Orsbeck , appointed him as his agent and visitor for the archbishopric or diocese of Trier, which was pacified after the death of Louis XIV . As such, he issued ordinances for the city of Kamberg in the Westerwald, for example with regard to the timing and implementation of trade fairs, holiday regulations or buying and selling bans for Jews.

On August 27, 1700, the provincial chapter transferred Martin von Cochem back to the Rhenish province in Waghäusel monastery near Speyer as preacher and confessor . With interruptions in Bernkastel (1701), Aschaffenburg (1705) and Mainz (1708 to 1709), he spent his old age there, continued to write a chronicle and wrote his last book. Most recently he was hard of hearing and had to use an ear trumpet , especially in the confessional . A fall on the stairs to the library tied him to the bed. Soon after, he died.

He was buried in the monastery crypt under the Waghäusel pilgrimage church. The bones of the Capuchins buried there were later transferred to the adjacent cemetery. The remains of Father Martin are presumably also resting there; the exact location is unknown.

Afterlife

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his death, a memorial plaque with his portrait was installed in the church in 1912, designed by the Karlsruhe sculptor Jakob Blaser , later a Benedictine in Münsterschwarzach .

The literary historian Wilhelm Kahle wrote about Martin von Cochem: “This Capuchin really has people in him. All the tones of the heart are given to him. He can shake and be carried away, he can paint idylls and create tragic scenes. He knows what the people want: clarity and tangibility, even with distant and abstract things. So he knows how to paint landscapes and how to draw locations, to add round people with all the little features of life. That would roughly mark him as a man of letters. But it owes its tremendous impact to its intimate depth with its religious core and authenticity, far removed from the fleeting sentimentality and aesthetic verbiage that is so often found in religious literature. He only writes folk works: legends, folk books, such as the life of Jesus, the life of Mary, the life of the saints, the declaration of the sacrifice, myrrh garden, tree garden . Parts of his works are still alive with the people today in a new arrangement ”.

Martin von Cochem's writings enjoyed great popularity for a good 300 years and were repeatedly reissued, linguistically modernized or edited in other ways. In particular since the profound change in religious practice after the Second Vatican Council , they have largely disappeared from religious practice and are more of historical and linguistic interest. His writings are only read today in conservative groups that reject the liturgical reform, for example the Sarto-Verlag, which belongs to the Pius Brotherhood, published a new edition of the Declaration of the Holy Mass (2011 and 2019).

Varia

In his birthplace Cochem there is a memorial plaque on the house where he was born on Liniusstrasse. The Martin-von-Cochem-Gymnasium and the parish hall in Waghäusel are also named after him.

The text of the Marienlied A beautiful rose from holy land blooms in the paradise comes from Martin von Cochem. It is contained in various diocesan appendices to the Catholic praise of God hymn book. a. in the diocese of Speyer (song No. 888).

Fonts (selection)

• Larger sick book, to which the healthy as well as the sick are very useful and necessary. Johann Melchior Boncard, Frankfurt 1686.
• Gulden heavenly key. 1689 (prayer book).
• The big tree garden, abbreviated in large print. In it ... morning and evening ... prayers, as well as to the most venerable sacrament of the altar and the most holy trinity . Häffner, Frankfurt am Main 1763 ( digitized version )
• New indulgence booklet. It explains in detail what the indulgences are, how many torments of the Fegfeur it erode ; Bencard, Dillingen, 1693; (Digitized version)
• The great life of Christ or Detailed, devout and agile, very perfect description of the most holy life and bitter suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ and his most glorious dear mother Mary […]. (First published in Frankfurt am Main, printed by Zubrodt in 1677, last edition obtained by Martin von Cochem: 1707) Represented by Father Martinus von Kochem, Capuchin. (Bernkastel 1689) With a useful appendix to the great life of Christ. Of the four ultimate things of man, namely: Of death, judgment, hell and heaven. (P. 942–1103) Newly published by Father Gaudentius Koch, of the same order, under the title The Book from Creation to the Kingdom of Heaven […]. Sankt Augustinus Verlag, Franz W. Drees, Cologne am Rhein / Munich 1912 (with biographical information on Father Martin von Kochem , pp. LI – LVIII).
• Declaration of measurement about Höhnig sweet. Cologne 1700
• Declaration of the holy mass offering, together with a prayer appendix mostly from other edification writings. Edited in a contemporary way by a priest from the Diocese of Hildesheim . Steffen, Limburg / Lahn 1955. Reprints: Sarto Verlag, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-932691-87-4 and Sarto Verlag, Bobingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-96406-013-6 .

literature

• Konradin Roth OFM: Father Martin von Cochem - Festschrift for the celebration of his 350th birthday , Catholic parish St. Martin, Cochem, 1984
• Franz Xaver Kraus :  Martin of Cochem . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, p. 480 f.
• Alfons Friderichs: Personalities of the Cochem-Zell district. Trier 2004, 215/7.
• Bonaventure von Mehr:  Martin (Linius) von Cochem (Cochemius, Cochemensis, Cochheim). In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 278 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Martin Persch :  Martin of Cochem. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 947-948.
• Martin Persch: The Trier diocesan song book from 1846 to 1975. A contribution to the history of the Trier diocese liturgy. In: Trier theological studies. Vol. 44, Trier 1987
• Konradin Roth: Father Martin von Cochem 1634–1712. Attempt a bibliography. Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein 1980
• Wolfgang Lambertz: Wonderful pictures in the garden . On the 300th anniversary of the death of Father Martin von Cochem. In: Yearbook for the Cochem-Zell district 2012, pages 138–142 (2 figs.).
• Gaudentius Koch: Father Martin von Kochem. In: Gaudentius Koch (ed.): Pater Martinus von Kochem: The book from creation to the kingdom of heaven […]. The great life of Christ or Detailed, devout and agile, very perfect description of the most holy life and bitter suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ and his most glorious dear mother Mary […]. Sankt Augustinus Verlag, Franz W. Drees, Cologne am Rhein / Munich 1912, SS LI – LVIII.

Web links

• Illustrated website of the local museum Waghäusel-Wiesental on Martin von Cochem
• Article by Gregor Brand about the Capuchin and religious folk writer Martin von Cochem in the Eifel newspaper on February 28, 2017
• Literature by and about Martin von Cochem in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Martin von Cochem  in the German Digital Library
• Publications by and about Martin von Cochem in VD 17 .
• Entry on Martin von Cochem in the Rhineland-Palatinate personal database
• derstandard.at: Steffen Arora: Catholic edification literature: Early bestsellers in the farmhouse parlor. The Tyrolean historian Michael Span examines reading habits in the Catholic-dominated Alpine region of the 18th century (accessed on June 11, 2017)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ DNB website on Wilhelm Friessem
2. ↑ Martin von Cochem: The great life of Christ. Or: Detailed, devout and flexible, completely perfect description of the most holy life and bitter suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his most glorious dear mother Mariae ( digital copy of the Humboldt University in Berlin of the edition published by Johann Mayer, Mainz and Frankfurt am Main in 1737) .
3. ↑ On the Aschaffenburg commissariat at the time of Martin von Cochem see Georg May : The organization of jurisdiction and administration in the Archdiocese of Mainz from the High Middle Ages to the end of the Reich Church , Volume 2: The commissariats . Society for Middle Rhine Church History, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-929135-44-2 , pp. 898–954, here pp. 926–938.
4. ^ Wilhelm Kahle: History of German poetry . 3rd, enlarged and improved edition. Regensberg Verlag, Münster 1958, p. 129.