Erfurt seminary

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Erfurt seminary
Seminary Erfurt.jpg
Seminar type Regional seminar
address Holzheienstr. 15
99084 Erfurt
country Germany
carrier Archdiocese of Berlin , Diocese of Dresden-Meißen , Diocese of Erfurt , Diocese of Magdeburg and Diocese of Görlitz
founding year 1952
Rain Ansgar Paul Pohlmann
Sub-rain Egon Bierschenk
Spiritual P. Jacob OSA
Website URL http://www.priesterseminar-erfurt.de/

The Erfurt seminary is a training center for candidates for priesthood from the dioceses of Eastern Germany. This seminary is sponsored by the (arch) dioceses of Berlin , Dresden-Meißen , Erfurt , Görlitz and Magdeburg , in which around one million Catholics live today.

In the winter semester 2010/2011 there are 30 alumni, of which only 15 live in the seminar. These are trained and accompanied by a rain and a spiritual .

education

Until 1993, the Erfurt seminary united both the alumni and the philosophical-theological studies under one roof . In the post-reunification period, it received the status of a state-recognized academic university and on January 1, 2003, it was integrated into the newly founded University of Erfurt as the fourth faculty .

In addition to the scientific training of the prospective priests at the university, the seminar is responsible on the one hand for the spiritual shaping of the seminarians, on the other hand the practical preparation for the priestly profession. This takes place, among other things, through a spiritual weekly and semester order as well as through various internships and educational units.

Since the pastoral seminars on the Huysburg (1992) and in Neuzelle (1993) were closed, these training units have also taken place in Erfurt in blocks ; since 2008 the Erfurt, Fulda and Paderborn seminars have been a joint pastoral course. Here the candidates for priesthood are prepared for ordination after their diploma . The advanced educational events for chaplains and future pastors are also held in the pastoral seminar; only the Archdiocese of Berlin has had its own pastoral course since 2006. Nevertheless, the Erfurt seminary can be described as a full seminary ever since.

history

Due to the special ecclesiastical situation in Central Germany , the training of prospective clergymen from this area took place in various seminaries in Germany such as Paderborn or Breslau until the first half of the 20th century . The first problems arose with the division of Germany in the post-war period. These intensified when the government of the GDR prevented the return of the seminarians trained in West Germany on October 1, 1951, which increased the question of an own church training center in the GDR territory.

The idea of ​​founding a theological faculty was soon abandoned because of the risk of political influence when filling the chairs. For this reason, those responsible decided on December 4, 1951 to set up a regional seminar, i. H. a philosophical-theological educational institution in Konviktsform for the entire East German area. After difficult negotiations with the GDR government, Berlin-Biesdorf emerged as the place where the company was founded.

Just four days before the planned opening ceremony on May 6, 1952, the government of the GDR announced that it could not agree to the establishment of the theological college in Berlin-Biesdorf. As a justification, the state negotiating partners stated that they had always assumed that the seminary should be established on the territory of the GDR. Since the city of Berlin is not part of the GDR, such a training facility is not conceivable there. In the search for alternative accommodation that followed, it was imperative to hurry so that the planned start of training did not have to be postponed any further. After tough negotiations, it was finally achieved that Walter Ulbricht , the then Deputy Prime Minister of the GDR, signed a provisional permit on June 4, 1952, limited to June 30, 1952, to open a Catholic Theological Academy in Erfurt. So far, different location variants have been considered. Among other things, the monastery of Our Dear Women in Magdeburg was also in discussion .

Thus, just one day later, on June 5, 1952, the opening of the academy could be celebrated with a solemn pontifical office in Erfurt Cathedral by the Berlin bishop Wilhelm Weskamm . Even if nobody was able to say how things would go after June 30th, by the end of the month it was possible to win three lecturers for the 38 candidates for the priesthood who were already matriculated. In order to avoid the risk of the state exerting influence on the training of the Catholic Theological Academy, Bishop Wilhelm Weskamm renounced the status of a state recognized academy in favor of a purely ecclesiastical institution in July 1952. On August 13, 1952, Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl finally gave his final approval for the establishment of the Erfurt Catholic Seminary as a Philosophical and Theological Study in Erfurt.

Regents

Individual evidence

  1. ^ History of the Catholic Theological Faculty at uni-erfurt.de. Retrieved April 2, 2020.

Web links


Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 28.3 ″  N , 11 ° 1 ′ 16.3 ″  E