Siegfried Schneider (Franciscan)

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Siegfried Schneider OFM (born March 21, 1894 in Mettingen as Josef Schneider ; † January 5, 1935 in Ostercappeln ) was a German Franciscan and author of Christian literature. The Roman Catholic priest did a great job of renewing and maintaining religious nativity art and the emergence of the modern nativity movement. Because of its importance for the crib apostolate in the German-speaking area, he is also known as the " crib father".

Life

Origin and youth

The residential and commercial building of the Schneider family on the market square of Mettingen approx. 1895 to 1900 (the building on the right in the photo) The Schneider family can be seen in front of the house.

The son of the Mettinger merchant Leo Schneider was baptized with the name Josef (after another spelling Joseph) and was the last person to be baptized in the old Catholic church of the village before the first child was baptized on April 8, 1894 in the newly built St. Agatha Church has been. Josef had 13 siblings, with whom he grew up in a Christian home that was directly opposite the parish church. The father was the sexton in the parish .

Entry into the Franciscan order

Impressed and shaped by the life of St. Francis of Assisi at an early age , Josef Schneider attended the St. Ludwig College of the Saxon Franciscan Province ( Saxonia ) in Vlodrop , Netherlands , entered the Franciscan Order on October 4, 1914 and was given the name Siegfried . But soon afterwards he had to go to the First World War as a soldier , where he rose to become an air sergeant . After the end of the war, he continued his novitiate , studied theology and philosophy and took solemn religious vows on December 8, 1922 in the religious province of Saxonia . On April 12, 1924, he was appointed to the Paderborn Cathedral by Auxiliary Bishop Dr. Heinrich von Haehling for ordained priests . He was the first Franciscan priest from Mettingen, where he also celebrated his home primacy on April 22, 1924 .

During his student years he created a number of literary works, of which the festival knight Franzens Brautfahrt. The mystical marriage of St. Francis of Assisi with Mistress Poverty was a stage success.

Creator of the modern nativity movement

Father Siegfried Schneider worked as pilgrimage director at the pilgrimage basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Werl

In the following ten years of his priestly activity, Father Siegfried Schneider developed into a great religious organizer - especially the crib movement - and developed a lively activity as a writer and church journalist. In the first year after his ordination he took over the publication of the monthly Franziskus -immen , the communication organ of the Franciscans, which he edited until shortly before his death. He was also provincial commissioner of the Third Order and worked as a pilgrimage director at the pilgrimage basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Werl .

"Krippenpater" Siegfried Schneider shaped the modern nativity movement in the German-speaking world.

Father Siegfried put his special focus on the cultivation of the nativity scene , for which he had a deep understanding and a great love. He took particular inspiration from the famous Greccio crib by Francis of Assisi. He brought out several papers on the topic of "Christmas crib", of which Let's hurry to the child! Appreciations and prayers for the Little Child of Bethlehem for the whole of Christmas time (1926) was particularly successful, wrote nativity plays and preached nativity scenes , which he also published in several anthologies . With And this should be your sign! In 1930 he also presented the symbolism of the nativity scene with an important fundamental analysis of the nativity scene. The yearbook he founded, The Christmas Crib , which he edited from 1924 until his death, also served this purpose.

With his publications and lecture tours, Father Siegfried Schneider stimulated countless handicrafts and crib exhibitions - the well-known annual Telgter crib exhibition can also be traced back to him. At his suggestion, the Westphalian state community of crib friends was founded in 1924. Thanks to his commercial and organizational skills, in the following years, step by step, an association of crèche friends finally encompassing all of Germany, but also Austria and the Netherlands . Father Siegfried stood by these associations with a large number of members as a spiritual advisor and deputy chairman. It is largely thanks to him that the nativity scene, which has been increasingly displaced and secularized compared to the Christmas tree , regained a foothold and also found its place in families. The religious penetration of the crib apostolate was his life's work. The Franciscan Pater thus innovated the religious art of the nativity scene and shaped the modern nativity movement in the German-speaking world, which earned him the nickname of the nativity scene .

The board of the regional association of crib friends in Rhineland and Westphalia and the board of the cartel association of German crib friends wrote in their obituary in 1935 for their co-founder:

“The one who died too early was the shaper and one of the modern nativity scene. He brought together the brother associations in Austria, Tyrol, Bavaria, Rhineland, Westphalia and Holland as a united defense so that no one could rob Christmas of its Christian core and reduce the Holy Night to the pagan status of a solstice festival or turn it into a childish fairy tale. "

The militant tone is to be seen against the background of the beginning attempts of the National Socialists to replace the Christian Christmas with a National Socialist interpretation of the "old Germanic" Yule Festival .

Further work and death

In addition to his writings on the art of the nativity scene, Father Siegfried Schneider published articles on St. Elisabeth of Thuringia and the Franciscan Lino of Parma and acted as editor of the posthumous work Fifty Golden Rules of Life for the Journey into Eternity by Kaspar Heymer . Most of his writings were published at the same time by Franziskus-Druckerei, Werl, and by Verlag Carl Fr. Fleischer, Leipzig .

Closely connected to his place of birth Mettingen throughout his life, the father was active there in the homeland, worked intensively on the publication Memories from the Catholic Church Mettingen 1777–1927 published in 1927 and published Mettinger Heimatbriefe from 1931 onwards .

Father Siegfried Schneider died unexpectedly early at the age of 40 of an old bronchial disease on January 5, 1935 in the St.-Raphael-Stift sanatorium in Ostercappeln. He was buried with military honors .

Fonts

  • Knight Franzens bridal trip. The mystical marriage of St. Francis of Assisi with the mistress of poverty. Dramatic festival poem in 3 parts. Hildesheim 1921
  • as editor: Praise be to you, sir. Songs from the life and spirit of the Saint of Assisi , with pictures by Gregor Hexges, Mönchengladbach 1926
  • Let us hurry to the child! Appreciations and prayers to the child of Bethlehem for the whole of Christmas time. Werl 1926 (3rd edition Werl and Leipzig 1928/1929)
  • Let us love the child! Reflections on the Little Child of Bethlehem for the whole of Christmas. Werl and Leipzig 1927
  • as co-author and editor: Memories from the Catholic parish of Mettingen 1777–1927. Mettingen 1927
  • Saint Elisabeth , our role model. Suggestions for practical charity work in the third order . Werl and Leipzig 1930
  • The King Child of Bethlehem. Nativity Sermons. Werl and Leipzig 1930
  • And this should be a sign for you! Symbolism of the Christmas crib. Werl and Leipzig 1930
  • Out of love alone. Nativity play in 3 pictures. Werl and Leipzig 1930/1931
  • The most beautiful of human children. Guided through the holy Advent and Christmas season. Werl 1932/1933
  • News from the crib movement in: Vita Seraphica 13 (1932), pp. 62–65
  • Report on the popular education work of the Landesgemeinschaft der Krippenfreunde in Rheinland und Westfalen eV Cologne (1924–1931) in: Vita Seraphica 13 (1932), pp. 253–255
  • His life was love. An urgent wake-up call for practical charity. From the life of the Franciscan Fra Lino of Parma [Lino Maupas]. Werl 1933
  • From the Werler pilgrimage chronicle ... in: Vita Seraphica 14 (1933), pp. 136–140
  • Kaspar Heymer : Fifty golden rules of life for a journey into eternity , from the estate published by Siegfried Schneider, Werl 1935

literature

  • Autbert Stroick : P. Siegfried Schneider. Nekrolog in: Vita Seraphica 16 (1935), pp. 119-130.
  • Father Siegfried . In: Hubert Rickelmann : Mettingen through the ages. Second improved edition, Schöningh, Paderborn 1978, ISBN 3-506-77222-8 , pp. 102-103.
  • NN: innovator of the religious nativity scene. Crib father Siegfried Schneider came from Mettingen - pioneering, successful activity - rich literary work. In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung. Volume 53, No. 293 from December 19, 1951.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ He is not to be confused with the Capuchin of the same name Siegfried Schneider, the "Indian lawyer from Panguipulli"
  2. ↑ a b c d e section Father Siegfried . In: Hubert Rickelmann: Mettingen through the ages . Second improved edition. Schöningh, Paderborn 1978, ISBN 3-506-77222-8 , p. 102
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i N.N .: innovator of the religious nativity scene. Crib father Siegfried Schneider came from Mettingen - pioneering, successful activity - rich literary work . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung. Volume 53, No. 293 from December 19, 1951
  4. ↑ Henry Ding Tree: architectural history from 1893 . In: Josef Bühner, Heinrich Dingbaum, Johannes Sandhofe: 100 years of St. Agatha Church in Mettingen . Ibbenbürener Vereindruckerei, Ibbenbüren 1995, ISBN 3-921290-79-1 , p. 88
  5. ^ Section church matters in the Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung of April 14, 1924
  6. ^ Column local and provincial in the Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from April 23, 1924
  7. ↑ Dietmar Sauermann : From Advent to Epiphany. Christmas in Westphalia. Contributions to folk culture in Northwest Germany, Volume 93.Waxmann, Münster, New York, Munich and Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89325-477-3 , p. 134
  8. ↑ Excerpt from the obituary, quoted from NN: Renewers of religious nativity art. Crib father Siegfried Schneider came from Mettingen - pioneering, successful activity - rich literary work . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung. Volume 53, No. 293 from December 19, 1951
  9. ↑ The Mettinger local history researcher Hubert Rickelmann wrote about the funeral: "Three volleys of rifles crashed over his grave, the flags were lowered and an airplane crossing over the cemetery greeted the dead air sergeant" . (Quoted from Father Siegfried . In: Hubert Rickelmann: Mettingen im Wandel der Zeiten . Second improved edition. Schöningh, Paderborn 1978, ISBN 3-506-77222-8 , p. 103)
personal data
SURNAME Schneider, Siegfried
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schneider, Josef (baptismal name); Schneider, Joseph (baptismal name); Father Siegfried
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Franciscan priest and author of Christian literature; Former of the crib movement in German-speaking countries
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Mettingen
DATE OF DEATH January 5, 1935
Place of death Ostercappeln