Otmar Kunz

Emperor Maximilian II gives Otmar Kunz the imperial regalia

Otmar Kunz (* approx. 1530 in Wil ; † January 27, 1577 ibid) was abbot of the St. Gallen monastery from 1564 to 1577 .

Life

Otmar, son of a baker, made his profession on May 18, 1547 and was elected abbot of St. Gallen on December 20, 1564. The papal confirmation of the election took place after initial difficulties through efforts by Melchior Lussi on July 13, 1565. It was consecrated on October 16, 1565 by Auxiliary Bishop Jakob Eliner of Constance with the assistance of the abbots of Einsiedeln and Ottobeuren .

Act

Under Abbot Otmar, the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen renewed its alliance with France on July 21, 1565 . His term of office was mainly characterized by a sharper demarcation between the monastery and the Protestant city. The Rorschach Treaty of September 13, 1566 and the Wiler Spruch of September 20, 1566 decided to build a 31 foot high wall between the monastery district and the city. In October 1567 the enclosures were completed for the time being. In 1570 the southern gate, the so-called Karlstor , was completed, through which one could enter the monastery district without ever having set foot on urban territory. The Milanese reform bishop Carlo Borromeo , who visited St. Gallen on August 26th and 27th, 1570, may also have entered the monastery through this entrance.

Abbot Otmar repeatedly appeared as the client. In 1568 he had the St. Johann monastery, which had been destroyed by arson, rebuilt. In addition, he tried to build infirmaries in Bruggen and Rorschach . Another focus of his tenure was Catholic reform . Following the Diocesan Synod of Constance in 1567, he set up the Reformatio Sancti Galli . With decrees he exhorted his subjects to confess and to communion and began to recatholicize Toggenburg , which ultimately failed. He had some of his conventuals trained with the Jesuits in Paris . He enriched the monastery library with several hundred books bought in Paris and with newly made liturgical manuscripts.

Web links

Commons : Otmar Kunz - Collection of Images

Otmar Kunz on the website of the St. Gallen Abbey Archives .
Otmar Kunz in the city dictionary Wil; According to Johannes Duft : The Abbey of St. Gallen .
Werner Vogler: Kunz, Otmar. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Werner Vogler: St. Gallen - Abbots: Otmar Kunz, 1564–1577. In: Helvetia Sacra. Dept. III: The orders with Benedictine rule. 2/1: Early monasteries, the Benedictines in Switzerland. Francke Verlag, Bern 1986, p. 1328 f.
^ Henggeler, P. Rudolf, "Book of professions of the princely Benedictine abbey of St. Gallus and Otmar in St. Gallen", Zug 1929, p. 141 f.

predecessor	Office	successor
Diethelm Blarer from Wartensee	Abbot of St. Gallen 1564–1577	Joachim Opser

personal data
SURNAME	Kunz, Otmar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Abbot of the St. Gallen Monastery
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1530
PLACE OF BIRTH	Wil SG
DATE OF DEATH	January 27, 1577
Place of death	Wil SG

[:0-1] Werner Vogler: St. Gallen - Abbots: Otmar Kunz, 1564–1577. In: Helvetia Sacra. Dept. III: The orders with Benedictine rule. 2/1: Early monasteries, the Benedictines in Switzerland. Francke Verlag, Bern 1986, p. 1328 f.

[:1-2] Henggeler, P. Rudolf, "Book of professions of the princely Benedictine abbey of St. Gallus and Otmar in St. Gallen", Zug 1929, p. 141 f.