Michael Braig
Michael Braig (Mathias is the baptismal name, Michael the religious name) (* in Altbierlingen on February 1, 1774 ; † in Illerrieden on March 15, 1832 ) was a father and monk of the Benedictine monastery in Wiblingen , vicar in Unterkirchberg and pastor in Illerrieden; he wrote the only comprehensive survey of the history of the Wiblingen Monastery to date.
Origin and education
Mathias Braig was born as the son of the tailor Bernhard Braig (1728-1810) and his third wife Ursula nee. Kolb (* 1730, † 1776 at the age of 46) was born in Altbierlingen on February 1, 1774 and was baptized on the same day in Kirchbierlingen . His mother died when Mathias was two years old, and his father soon remarried ‒‒ in view of the large number of children and for the fourth time Adelheid nee. Auer (1740-1788).
After primary school, Braig attended grammar school in Ehingen a. D. , which he left with the best certificates. His parents were too unable to pay him a university course. However, through the mediation of a relative, Augustin Braig from Rississen , he was accepted as a novice in the Benedictine monastery in Wiblingen in autumn 1794 . There the order name "Michael" was added to him. He made his profession there on October 28, 1795 and was ordained a priest on December 20, 1800. In the monastery he was initially a catechist and overseer of the manorial trivial schools in the monastery area. In 1802 he was appointed professor of the preparatory classes at the grammar school. From November 4, 1803 to October 30, 1804 he was custos, and thus responsible for the organization of the service in the monastery church.
Vicar in Unterkirchberg
On November 4, 1804, Father Michael Braig began his service as vicar in Unterkirchberg . This was a large monastery parish with 1500 inhabitants, nine branches and three schools. His job was to support the incumbent pastor, Father Amandus Storr.
During this time the monastery secularization of 1806 in Württemberg falls . Wiblingen Abbey also succumbed to this fate.
The assistant priest position in Unterkirchberg was very poorly endowed with 400 guilders (fl) per year, and so Father Michael Braig applied for the neighboring parish of Dorndorf in May 1809 , but was rejected. When the parish of Stetten near Laupheim became vacant in 1816 , he also applied for this position, reflecting his increasing age, but was again not given a chance.
When Father Amandus Storr died on March 8, 1818 in Unterkirchberg, the large parish could be divided up and the employment of an assistant priest was omitted. Since Illerrieden also needed a pastor, this time the church authorities had some understanding.
Pastor in Illerrieden
Father Michael Braig was therefore promoted on March 13, 1818 from the parish of Unterkirchberg to the parish of Illerrieden . This became Braig's decisive and formative place of activity. The church was not equipped with religious furnishings, and so Braig acquired altars, pictures, sculptures, and relics of saints and liturgical vestments, which were plentifully available due to the secularization of many monasteries.
He arranged the parish registry, set up a parish archive and wrote a parish chronicle. He made duplicates of the church registers and designed genealogical tables for the local families. In the last years of his life he devoted himself to the history of the Wiblingen monastery (see works), which he was able to submit to the printer while he was still alive, but which he did not live to see completed. He died in Illerrieden on March 15, 1832 at the age of 58. The story of the Wiblingen Monastery was published by Joseph Rauch in Isny two years after his death.
Printed works
- Brief history of the former Lower Austrian Benedictine Abbey in Wiblingen in Swabia . Joseph Rauch, Isny 1834; New edition: Konrad, Weißenhorn 2001, ISBN 3-87437-456-4
Images (selection)
- Colored pen drawing of the Wiblingen Monastery as it was in 1803 from a bird's eye view, drawn in 1813
literature
- Stefan J. Dietrich (2002), P. Michael Mathias Braig OSB: A biographical sketch. In: Michael Braig, Wiblingen: Brief history of the former Lower Austrian Benedictine Abbey in Swabia . Reprint of the original edition by Joseph Rauch, Isny 1834, ed. by Wolfgang Schürle. Weißenhorn: Anton H. Konrad, pp. 259-276.
Individual evidence
- ^ Matthias Erzberger, The secularization in Württemberg from 1802-1810: its course and its aftermath . Stuttgart: Deutsches Volksblatt, 1902.
- ↑ Dietrich 2002 p. 274.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Braig, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Braig, Mathias (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Father and Monk of the Benedictine Order (OSB) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1774 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Altbierlingen |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 15, 1832 |
| Place of death | Illerrieden |