Peter Koser

Peter Koser (born December 14, 1834 in Lampertheim , † September 13, 1891 in Darmstadt ) was a Catholic priest and pastor in Gau-Algesheim from 1869 to 1889 .

Life

After Koser had finished his school education and started to study theology , he was ordained a priest on August 12, 1859 . He spent his years as a chaplain in Gau-Bickelheim and Darmstadt. In 1866 he was appointed parish administrator of the Wald-Michelbach parish and was then for a short time pastor in Ober-Ingelheim . On October 1, 1869, the Mainz bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler Koser transferred the leadership of the parish Gau-Algesheim, which had been looked after by a parish administrator for a longer period and which Koser held until 1889. From Gau-Algesheim he was transferred to the parish of St. Ludwig in Darmstadt , where he died on September 13, 1891. His body was transferred to Gau-Algesheim and buried in the parish church in the presence of the Mainz bishop. In 1894 a street following the city center was named "Koserstraße".

Services

The church and social life of the city of Gau-Algesheim has been shaped by Koser since 1869. The following institutions owe their existence to his initiative and persistent support:

• The newspaper “Rheinischer Volksbote” appeared twice a week and, especially during the time of the Kulturkampf, firmly represented the positions of the Catholic Church and the Center Party founded in 1870 . On September 15, 1869, the newspaper's test sheet appeared, which lasted until 1923. During his time in Gau-Algesheim Koser wrote the majority of the leading articles. In 1870 the publishers Franz Kirchheim, Mainz and Reidel, Gau-Algesheim published Koser's lecture "The Clerus and its role in the daily press. Conference lecture by a priest of the Diocese of Mainz".
• A Catholic higher education institution (preperandy), which began operations on October 23, 1871 with three year-old classes and existed until 1884.
• The “Aid Committee for War Victims” in the area in which the Rheinisches Volksbote was distributed during the Franco-German War of 1870/71.
• The "Catholic sociable association" founded in 1871, whose lecture program covered topics from society, economics and politics and which maintained a reading circle with an association library.
• A "Sickness Association" (1872) and a "Death Association" (1873), which later merged and were active until the First World War .
• The "Credit and Savings Association Gau-Algesheim" (1878).
• A joint-stock company for the establishment of a “small children's custody”, with the help of which this educational facility and a year later a “sewing school for girls” could be established on July 7, 1881.
• The “poor association”, which already had over 200 members in the founding year 1882, who paid in between one and forty marks annually.
• The “Bauernverein Gau-Algesheim”, connected with a “Consumverein” (1884).
• The Church Music Association (1888).
• The new building of the Catholic Parish Church of St. Cosmas and St. Damian (1887/1889).

literature

• City of Gau-Algesheim: Gau-Algesheim. Historical reader, contributions to the history of the Gau-Algesheim area, Volume 41, Ingelheim 1999, pp. 119–127.