Sigmund Joseph rooms
Sigmund Joseph Zimmer (born June 11, 1838 in Mannheim ; † March 27, 1914 in Speyer ) was a Catholic priest , cathedral vicar and cathedral capitular of the diocese of Speyer , Summus Custos (guardian) of the Speyer cathedral, papal house prelate and member of the Bavarian state parliament . As a Jewish convert, he is one of the most interesting figures in the Speyer cathedral chapter.
Life
Sigmund Zimmer was born in Mannheim on June 11, 1838 to Jewish parents. The family later moved to Ludwigshafen- Mundenheim , the Bavarian Palatinate and the Diocese of Speyer. All children of the family (apart from the boy, 2 girls) had a tendency towards Christianity, especially the Catholic religion, from a very early age. Long before anyone in the family thought of a conversion, Sigmund served as an altar boy in processions and devotions under Pastor Krebs in Mundenheim. The mother died early and the father emigrated to America without the children, leaving them with the inheritance due to them. All three children of the Zimmer family converted to Catholicism. The oldest daughter raised her two younger siblings, actively supported by Pastor Josef Anton Krebs and a Capuchin priest from Oggersheim . Sigmund came to the Episcopal Konvikt St. Ludwig in Speyer, the younger girl to nuns in Speyer; the oldest sister took up a position to earn a living. Years later she also emigrated to America to look for the missing father.
The boy had already attended secondary school in Mannheim, and now he went to grammar school in Speyer. After graduating there, he studied at the University of Munich and was ordained a priest on August 24, 1862 from Bishop Nikolaus von Weis in Speyer. Then he went to Rome to continue his studies, finally to Munich again, where he did his doctorate in theology.
On December 10, 1863, Zimmer received a position as professor of religious studies, history and the Hebrew language at the Speyer grammar school. On June 21, 1865, Bishop Weis appointed him cathedral vicar and on November 1 of the same year he also took on a professorship for homiletics and ecclesiastical art history at the seminary of the episcopal city. He carried out this activity until his election as cathedral chapter on June 13, 1891. As early as 1890 Leo XIII had him . appointed papal honorary prelate, which he received with humor and pride, as can be seen in a letter dated August 9, 1890 to his long-time friend, prelate Anton de Waal in Rome:
“ Recently, on my 25th anniversary as professor at the seminary, I was surprised by my appointment as papal secret chamberlain. I am quite ashamed of this honor, especially since I now belong to the Roman monsignors who are so badly written on me. You alone know that I am only referring to certain diplomatic monsignors. But now, as a thank you, my work for the Holy See should be increased if it is possible. To be honored by the Holy Father is worth more than anything. We Palatinate don't think much about titles, but those of the Holy Father apply most of all. I have been showered with congratulations. Even the Protestant mayor and the Protestant police superintendent have congratulated me; also some Jews from the local city. My Jewish relatives in Paris, Brussels, Mainz, Stuttgart, Frankfurt etc. are very proud of their monsignor cousin ... "
He was finally entrusted with the honorary office of Summus Custos (guardian) of the Speyer Cathedral. Sigmund Zimmer died on March 27, 1914 in Speyer and was buried there. The State Ministry in Munich gave written condolences; Provost Joseph Dahl thanked him and replied in a letter to the government:
" Dr. Zimmer was a widely respected priest, a very talented, amiable, very pleasant, undemanding colleague, tirelessly active in the field of the Catholic and conservative press. A fortnight ago nobody thought that they were so close to death. At a funeral he - who was never seriously ill in his life - caught a cold and with it the influenza, which caused severe bronchitis and its resolution in a few days. "
Special
Sigmund Zimmer was politically active as a member of the center and represented the party for the constituency of Speyer between 1899 and 1904 in the Bavarian state parliament .
The priest was also active as a journalist. He headed the editorial office of the Catholic newspaper “Die Rheinpfalz”, founded in Speyer in 1868 (it has only its name in common with today's newspaper ). He also wrote zealously for other magazines, such as the “ Pilger ” in Speyer or the “Augsburger Postzeitung” , where his articles are usually identified by a small scale as a personal correspondence mark. He made many trips abroad and repeatedly wrote reports about it, also in book form.
In the Heimatblatt " Palatina " , a supplement to the " Pfälzer-Zeitung " published in Speyer, the cathedral capitular wrote excellent treatises in the series "Die Baudenkmale der Pfalz" about his protected object, the Speyer Cathedral. He also wrote the entries relating to Speyer and his diocese in the 2nd edition of the multi-volume standard work "Kirchenlexikon" (Herder Verlag), edited by Heinrich Joseph Wetzer and Benedict Welte. As custodian of the cathedral (Summos Custos), Sigmund Zimmer gave tours of great historical expertise for many eminent personalities and scholars. He gave lectures on the opening of the imperial tombs in Speyer Cathedral, one of which - held in 1900 before the "Kaufmännischer Verein Speyer" - appeared in print. The drafting of the text for the metal plates, which were placed in the coffins with the emperors when they were reburied, was done by Zimmer with Professors Grauert and Praun.
When a systematic inventory and documentation of the art monuments were planned in all of Bavaria, even more detailed as it had already begun in the administrative district of Upper Bavaria, a commission of capacities was put together, which was set up in Munich in October 1903, under the chairmanship of Minister of State Anton von Wehner , first met for advice. In addition to the director of the Bavarian Reich Archives in Munich, Franz Ludwig von Baumann, the director of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg, Gustav Bezold, the director of the Bavarian National Museum Hugo Graf, the professors Hermann von Grauert , Karl Theodor von Heigel , Sigmund von Riezler , Gabriel von Seidl , Berthold Riehl and Rudolf von Seitz also belonged to the Cathedral Chapter Sigmund Zimmer from Speyer. The deliberations culminated in the publication of a 112-volume, all-Bavarian art treasure and monument topography, which is exemplary and an indispensable source to this day. It appeared under the title: " Die Kunstdenkmäler von Bayern " .
Zimmer also worked as an activist in Catholic associations. Apart from his work in the Palatinate Center, he served for years as a board member of the Catholic reading society and as chairman of the supervisory board of the stock corporation of the Catholic club house Speyer; he was also a member of the board of the parament association.
Contemporaries praised the great kindness and philanthropy of the prelate, who is also said to have been very charitable. The obituary in the Oberhirtlicher Verordnungsblatt Speyer says in this regard: “His inexhaustible mercy should not be left unmentioned. No poor man, no one in distress who knocked on his door, went away without consolation. The rallies after his death testify to his great popularity. Because of his mercy, we hope that he found mercy. "
literature
- "Obituary" : Oberhirtliches Verordnungsblatt (OVB) of the Diocese of Speyer, No. 7, of April 22, 1914
- Foreword to: “ Die Kunstdenkmäler von Bayern ” , Niederbayern Volume 1., District Office Dingolfing, published in Munich, 1914.
- Jakob Bisson : “Seven Speyer bishops and their time. 1870 to 1950. Contributions to local church history. ” Pilger-Verlag, January 1956
- Alfons Hoffmann: "Dr. Joseph Sigismund Zimmer, Domkapitular in Speyer “ , Archive for Middle Rhine Church History , Annual Volume 1978, pp. 257–274
- “The canons since the re-establishment of the Speyer diocese, in 1817” , Guido Nonn, Diözesan-Archiv Speyer, 1981, p. 39
- "Lexicon of Palatinate Personalities" , Viktor Carl, Hennig Verlag Edenkoben, 1998, p. 792
Web links
- Sigmund Joseph Zimmer in the parliamentary database at the House of Bavarian History
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zimmer, Sigmund Joseph |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Zimmer, Sigismund |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bavarian priest, canon and member of the state parliament |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 11, 1838 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mannheim |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 27, 1914 |
| Place of death | Speyer |