Placidus Hieber from Greifenfels

Placidus Hieber von Greifenfels OSB (born October 22, 1615 in Füssen , † September 12, 1678 in Lambach ) was abbot of Lambach Abbey .

Live and act

He entered Lambach Abbey in 1631. He studied theology in Graz and Salzburg and became a deacon in 1638; in the same year he became prior of his monastery. Not until a year later, in December 1639, was he ordained a priest, and when he was elected abbot in May 1640, the unique case arose that he had become prior, priest and abbot in less than two years. Although he was not yet 25 years old, most of the votes fell on Fr. Placidus.

The importance of the abbot lies less in the spiritual field or in that of public work. His merits lay in the structural and political achievements for his pen. As it is often said by the Baroque prelates of medieval monasteries who are keen to build, he is considered the “second founding abbot” of the monastery.

Three times he was elected to the prelate order in 1653, 1666 and 1677. He was appointed Apostolic Nuncio by the Bishop of Vienna in 1664 ; This was a recognition of the church for the fact that Hieber had succeeded in reversing the provision according to which each pen should deliver a third of its income to cover the war costs against the Turks.

During his tenure, Lambach was known for brilliant, baroque hospitality and sparkling celebrations. Due to his social position and his friendship with the nobility, emperor and empress, other members of the ruling house and many clerical and secular dignitaries were guests of the abbot. The reception for Emperor Leopold on September 9, 1658, when he returned from the imperial coronation in Frankfurt, was particularly solemn . This influx of guests was favored by the location of the monastery on the main road through Upper Austria. If there was really no visitor on a weekday, the abbot invited two of his conventuals to the mensa abbatis , the abbot's table.

Poisoning and death

His lifestyle was probably judged critically by some confreres. On Friday, September 9, 1678, he dined with some conventuals and was poisoned. The rest of the sick (his table companions at the time) could be saved, but Abbot Placidus died on September 12, 1678 at the age of 63 at 11 a.m. Father Ernest Fischer, the monastery kitchen master, later confessed his guilt for the murder. He left the clergy and was executed by secular jurisdiction on November 29th.

literature

• Ralf Georg Bogner: murder among friars. The funeral sermon by Wolfgang Haas to the poisoned Lambach abbot Plazidus Hieber from 1678 , in: Birgit Boge and Ralf Bogner (eds.), Oratio funebris: The Catholic funeral sermon of the early modern period , Amsterdam 1999, ISBN 978-90-420-0748 -2 , pp. 171-185.
• Wolfgang Haas: Leich-, Ehren-Predig, which with three-day Besingnuß about Weyland ... Mr. Placidum ... , Freyschmid 1678, 32 pages.
• Hildebrand Dussler: The abbots Burkhard Furtenbach and Plazidus Hieber von Lambach , in: Lebensbilder aus dem Bayerischen Schwaben, 1962.

Web links

• Hertha Schober-Awecker: Plazidus Hieber Abbot of Lambach. In: Mühlviertler Heimatblätter (1967) Heft 5/6, pp. 88–98., Online (PDF; 4.6 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at