Sigmund Benker

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Sigmund Benker (born December 8, 1927 in Nuremberg ; † September 16, 2018 in Munich ) was a German Roman Catholic priest and art historian .

Life

Benker studied Catholic theology and art history at the University of Munich . In 1955 he was charged with a thesis on the Weilheim artist Philipp Dirr and the beginning of the baroque in Bavaria with Hans Sedlmayr doctorate . In 1957 he was ordained a priest , from 1959 to 1965 he was sub-rain of the Freising seminary. From 1963 to 1970 he was a lecturer in art history at the Philosophical-Theological College in Freising and at the Catholic Faculty of the University of Munich. In 1965 he was appointed diocesan curator by Julius Cardinal Döpfner . From 1959 to 2008 he was director of the cathedral library in Freising , from 1974 to 1979 first director of the Diocesan Museum Freising and from 1980 to 1997 diocesan archivist of the diocese of Munich and Freising. He wrote numerous church guides and treatises primarily on Bavarian art history.

Services to Freising and monument protection

When Benker resigned from his half-century management of the Cathedral Library in Freising and was honored in 2008 , Günther Lehrmann paid tribute to one of Benker's important monument protection achievements, the preservation of the Philipps Castle on the Domberg :

“His battle for Philipp Castle on Domberg became legendary and successful in the seventies. The Toompea should 'do justice to modern urban planning aspects' and the key phrase from an expert report at the time was: Those who walk the north side of the Domberg from the boys' seminar to the forestry office today will find buildings that, with a few exceptions, are ripe for demolition. ”“ But now these demolition plans The seventies did not become a reality as they wanted to enforce a powerful alliance of state authorities that the Chancellor's arch and large areas of the so-called Philipp Castle that followed it - today's Domgymnasium - could be preserved, especially the south facade with its two striking gables and the Columned halls, is the merit of Dr. Sigmund Benker. He recognized the importance of the long neglected four-wing palace complex from the 16th century, which should be sacrificed without scruples as the main work of the northern development and he succeeded in saving the entire northern ensemble of Toompea with the Philippsbau from destruction. This castle tells today and future generations of the building and art passion of a Renaissance prince on the Freising Cathedral Hill and the cathedral high school integrated into the building is considered one of the most beautiful Bavarian schools. "

Honors

  • Papal Honorary Prelate (early 1980s)
  • Honorary Chairman of the Historical Association Freising (2000)
  • Golden Citizen Medal of the City of Freising (2004)

Publications (selection)

  • Philipp Dirr and the emergence of the baroque in Bavaria . Publisher Franz X. Seitz, Munich 1958
  • with Josef Maß : Freising in old views. From the late Middle Ages to the end of the Hochstift. Verlag des Historisches Verein Freising, Freising 1976
  • (Ed.): Book printing in the city and diocese of Freising: for the 300th anniversary of a permanent book printing company in Freising . Exhibition cat. Freising 2002
  • with Peter von Bomhard: Streichenkirche (= Little Art Guide 640). 11th edition, Verlag Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 1995
  • Scientia, Ars et Fides. Contributions and essays on the art, church and library history of Bavaria by Sigmund Benker. Published by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising for the 80th birthday. Schnell und Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7954-2021-5 (collection of his essays, with a foreword by Robert Simon and a list of publications).

literature

  • Klaus Kratzsch: HH Prelate Dr. Sigmund Benker passed away. In: Monument Preservation Information 170, 2019, p. 74 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ To this Sigmund Benker: The castle of Bishop Philip of the Palatinate on Domberg zu Freising . In: Amperland 5, 1971, pp. 169-171 ( digitized version ).
  2. ↑ Sigmund Benker has revitalized the Domberg cultural landscape. In: Freisinger “Fink-magazin”. April 12, 2008, accessed September 18, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Benker, Sigmund
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Roman Catholic priest and art historian
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH 16th September 2018
Place of death Munich