Matthias Wißhofer

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Matthias Wißhofer, portrait of Maria Anna Moser

Matthias Wißhofer (also Matthias Wieshofer , Matthias Wießhofer , Matthias Wishofer and Matthias Wisshofer ; * 1752 in Kössen ; † 23 September 1819 in St. Johann in Tirol ) was an Austrian local freedom fighter , real clergyman , dean and pastor of St. Johann in Tyrol (then the Diocese of Chiemsee ), first school inspector for the Tiroler Unterland , inventor of the electric shotgun and universal scholar who, among other things, dealt with scientific studies in the field of experimental electricity and physical-technical knowledge and promoted the concerns of young people .

Origin, education and church career

Matthias Wieshofer, portrait of Joseph Schöpf in the deanery parish of St. Johann in Tirol

Wißhofer was born in Kössen as one of twelve children of the carriage smith Matthias Wisshofer. As a seminarist at the Domus Gregoriana, he graduated from the Jesuit high school in Munich (today: Wilhelmsgymnasium Munich ) as Primus in 1771 . After studying theology in Herrenchiemsee , Munich and Trent he was with the Jesuits in Freiburg  in the ancient languages and foreign trained. As dortiger monk since 1772, he went to dissolution of the monastery in 1773, among others, to Salzburg , where he participation of Siegmund Christoph von Waldburg-Zeil in the Loreto Church , the ordination received.

In addition to his work from 1781 as coadjutor in Hopfgarten im Brixental , he was kuk school visitator for Rattenberg , Kufstein and Kitzbühel and from December 23, 1783 worked as dean in St. Johann.

Resistance and willingness to make sacrifices

In the course of the Tyrolean struggle for freedom there were, according to tradition, on May 11, 1809 fighting on the Strub pass and as a reaction to the losses of units of the Bavarian and French troops to the condemnation of Wißhofer by General Wrede to " death by the strand " and the Pardon by François-Joseph Lefebvre on May 12, 1809. Pleading for mercy, he offered his life to the Field Marshal in order to save the life of the resistance and to prevent the destruction of St. Johann.

In poetry

In the volume of poems Bilder und Sagen published by Wagner Commissionsverlag, Innsbruck 1889, a poem dedicated to "Decan Mathias Wieshofer" by Bartolo Del Pero Wißhofer was published.

monument

Monument to Matthias Wieshofer in St. Johann in Tirol

To mark the centenary of the Tyrolean struggle for freedom, a monument to Dean Wieshofer was erected on St. Johann's main square in 1908. It was cast in bronze based on a design by Norbert Pfretzschner and stands on a marble plinth designed as an ornamental fountain. On the base is the writing “Savior from Enemy Need” and on the unrolled scroll of the figure his life motto “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord”.

literature

  • Hannes Hofinger (ed.): Mathias Wishofer - the loyal shepherd of St. Johann. New edition of a brochure from 1908, St. Johann in Tirol 2003.
  • August Scherer: Geography and history of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Arranged by Alois Menghin, 6th edition, Innsbruck 1903.
  • Hans Wirtenberger: The Unusual Hero of 1809. Between Emperor, Limestone and Horn, Local History Contributions of the Museum and Culture Association Sankt Johann in Tirol, No. 13, 2009 ( PDF; 1 MB ).
  • Georg Christoph Hamberger , Johann Georg Meusel : The learned Teutschland or Lexicon of the German writers now living. Eighth volume. Fifth, increased and improved edition, Lemgo 1800, p. 567 ( book in Google book search).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Instance scheme for Tyrol and Vorarlberg 1805 with a calendar and post stations through Tyrol. Wagner'schen Hofdruckerei, Innsbruck 1805: As dean and pastor at St. Johann in Tirol - digitized , p. 237.
  2. ↑ Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf : Magazine of the book and art trade, which gives news of the related news for the best of the sciences and the arts. Seventh piece. Leipzig 1780, p. 776 ( book in Google book search).
  3. ↑ Riflemen and Freedom Fighters , accessed January 11, 2014.
  4. ^ Max Leitschuh: The matriculations of the upper classes of the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich , 4 vol., Munich 1970–1976; Vol. 3, p. 134.
personal data
SURNAME Wisshofer, Matthias
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wieshofer, Matthias; Wießhofer, Matthias; Wishofer, Matthias; Wisshofer Matthias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Freedom fighter, universal genius, inventor and school inspector
DATE OF BIRTH 1752
PLACE OF BIRTH Kössen
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1819
Place of death St. Johann