Maurus Bächl
Maurus Bächl OSB, baptismal name: Daniel Bächl (born April 14, 1668 in Rötz ; † April 20, 1749 in Weltenburg ) was a German Benedictine from the Frauenzell monastery in Upper Palatinate and abbot of the Weltenburg Benedictine monastery in Lower Bavaria .
Life
Daniel Bächl apparently received his school education from the Augustinian hermits in Schöntal Abbey near Rötz in the Upper Palatinate and then studied philosophy at the University of Prague . He then entered the Frauenzell Benedictine monastery, where, after the novitiate , he made his profession on January 15, 1690 and was given the religious name Maurus. After studying theology, he was ordained a priest in 1693 and later took over the office of prior in Frauenzell . In 1710 he was appointed prior and vice administrator for the Benedictine monastery Ensdorf near Amberg . He should rehabilitate the economy and finances of the monastery and advance the construction of the monastery and church.
In 1713 he was postulated as abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Weltenburg. His successful work in Ensdorf had recommended him for the office. The complete structural renovation of the dilapidated monastery falls during his term of office. The first thing he did was to renew the nearby Frauenberg chapel in 1714 in order to make it usable for the convent's services after the old monastery church was demolished. This was followed by the construction of the new convent building in 1714–1716. Subsequently, in 1714, the new construction of the monastery church began. Maurus Bächl from Munich had won the famous Cosmas Damian Asam as architect , who also created frescoes and altarpieces for the church. His brother Egid Quirin Asam was won over for the altars and stucco work . Maurus Bächl had already come into contact with the Asam brothers in Ensdorf when they were furnishing the monastery church there. The work on the monastery church in Weltenburg was largely completed by 1735; Remaining work dragged on until 1751. The financing of these huge building projects was only possible for the small and not very wealthy monastery due to the clever and careful management of Abbot Maurus Bächl. A sustainable improvement in the economic and financial basis of the monastery was achieved.
With the term of office of Abbot Maurus Bächl, Weltenburg began a brilliant phase of cultural and intellectual prosperity, which lasted until the abolition of the monastery in the course of the secularization of 1803. Maurus Bächl resigned as Abbot of Weltenburg in 1743. In addition to age, the reason for this was the painful experience of the War of the Austrian Succession , which brought severe financial setbacks, billeting and deaths for the monastery.
literature
- Lothar Altmann / Wolfgang Thürmer, Weltenburg Benedictine Abbey on the Danube. History and Art , 2nd edition, Munich / Zurich 1986, 8f.
- Wolfgang Rappel: Bächl, Maurus (Christian name Daniel). In: Karl Bosl (ed.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 38 ( digitized version ).
- Bächl, Maurus in the German biography
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Augustin Mair |
Abbot of Weltenburg Abbey 1713–1743 |
Maurus II Kammermair |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bächl, Maurus |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bächel, Maurus; Bächl, Daniel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Benedictine monastery and abbot of the Weltenburg Benedictine monastery in Lower Bavaria |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1668 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rötz |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 20, 1749 |
| Place of death | Weltenburg |