Otto Curtius

Otto Curtius , actually Otto Kurtt (* July 20, 1653 in Golzheim (Wenauer Hof); † December 17, 1726 there ), was pastor of Golzheim and through his handwritten notes he left valuable information about his time to interested posterity.

biography

Introduction to the copy of the Golzheimer Weistums, Otto Curtius 1718

Otto Curtius was born on July 20, 1653 as the eldest of twelve children of the married couple Friderich Kurtt and Anna Pool on the Wenauer Hof in Golzheim, which his parents ran as Halfen . His godfather was the pastor Otto Molitoris, a distant relative of his mother. As is customary in many villages, he received his first school lessons from the local sexton . His further education took place in Cologne , first in the Laurentian Gymnasium there, and later probably in the theological faculty. In 1672 the vicarie of his hometown Golzheim was transferred to him, but he was unable to carry out the associated tasks during his four-year theology studies. Therefore, after obtaining the necessary dispensation from the Merzenich vicars, they were finally taken over by Pastor Molitoris himself. After Curtius had already been nominated for a teaching post at the Laurentianergymnasium as a Magister Artium in autumn 1676 , he was given the now vacant pastor's position in Golzheim on All Saints' Night of the same year (Pastor Molitoris had died on September 25, 1676). Since his studies continued for a few months, the pastoral office was administered by Nideggen monks until Passion Sunday of the following year (April 4, 1677) .

Memorial plaque for the deceased of the Kurtt / Curtius family in the tower of the old Golzheim parish church, made in 1720

In the same month Pastor Curtius began to document his official acts in a specially acquired volume. The first Golzheim register for baptisms, marriages and deaths was created. During the rest of his term in office, it was the pastor's particular concern to preserve traditions and to leave a picture of his time for future generations. His estate includes, among many other things, an extract from three court or inheritance books of the village of Golzheim (1572–1700), a copy of a wisdom from around 1600, a burial right, lists of Golzheim pastors and vicars as well as a genealogy of his family, the provides invaluable information for family history researchers in the Düren area. His entries in the baptism, marriage and death registers are exemplary because of their detail.

A wooden beam with the inscription OTTO CVRTIVS PASTOR POSVIT ANNO 1681 is located above the rear door of today's parish youth home in Golzheim . This beam, which was originally located in another building, suggests that Pastor Curtius may have had the rectory rebuilt in the year mentioned, or carried out extensive renovations.

In the tower of the old parish church there is a memorial plaque that Otto Curtius had installed in 1720 for the dead of his family. In the same year, on May 21 (the day after Whit Monday ), he achieved the royal dignity of the Marian Rifle Brotherhood, as a plaque on the old king's chain shows. Towards the end of 1724, age and illness forced him to have the parish books kept by the local vicar, his nephew Otto Curtius of the same name. On December 17, 1726, Pastor Otto Curtius, who had held office in Golzheim for 50 years, finally died.

literature

• Hans J. Domsta: The wisdom of the Jülich offices of Düren and Nörvenich and the Lords of Burgau and Gürzenich , Düsseldorf 1983
• Josef Janssen, FW Lohmann: The world clergy in the Cologne archdiocese protocols; a Necrologium Coloniense 1661-1825 in three volumes , Cologne 1935/36, reprint with a foreword by Reimund Haas, Munich 1983
• Janssen: St. Nikolaus Benefice in Golzheim , in: Heimatblätter - supplement to the Dürener Zeitung , 5th volume, number 30, Düren 1928
• Paul Leers: The ancestors of Pastor Otto Curtius von Golzheim and their descendants , in: Heimatblätter - Supplement to the Dürener Zeitung , 15th year, number 17 ff., Düren 1938
• Karl-Heinz Meurer: Golzheim legal relationships around 1600 , still unpublished
• Karl-Heinz Meurer: Small chronicle of the pastors of Golzheim , in: Festschrift for the district rifle festival 1989 , Marianische Schützenbruderschaft Golzheim, Golzheim 1989
• Josef Rubel: The Golzheim parish church burned down in 1895 , in: Festschrift for the district rifle festival 1989 , Marianische Schützenbruderschaft Golzheim, Golzheim 1989
• Armin Tille, Johannes Krudewig: Overview of the contents of the smaller archives of the Rhine Province I-IV , Bonn 1899-1915