Simon Aichner

Prince-Bishop Simon Aichner

Simon Aichner (born October 19, 1816 in Terenten , Tyrol; † November 1, 1910 in Neustift (Vahrn) ) was Prince-Bishop of Brixen .

Life

Origin and early work

Simon Aichner was born as the eldest of eleven boys in Terenten at Schmied am Bach, the son of Georg Aichner, master blacksmith, and Theresia Mayramgraben (therefore also called "Schmied-Simmile"). He attended in Bolzano , the high school and studied at the seminary in Brixen theology . On August 2, 1840, he was ordained a priest in Brixen . From 1840 to 1851 he worked as an assistant priest in Stilfes near Sterzing , where, in addition to his work, he had to read mass every day in the pilgrimage church in Trens. Aichner served as pastor of Luttach for one year, and in 1852 he was appointed prefect of studies to the seminary in Brixen, where in 1854 he also took over the professorship of canon law. From 1861 he advanced to rain and headed the seminar for 21 years. Here Simon Aichner published a textbook on canon law in Latin, which caused a sensation not only in Austria but also abroad and contributed much to his later appointment to the episcopal see. The University of Vienna appointed him doctor of theology for this work in 1865 . In 1879, Simon Aichner received from Pope Leo XIII. In view of his 25 years of service as educator of the clergy of the diocese, the title of Pontifical House Prelate , addressed "Monsignor".

Prince-Bishop and Archbishop

The prince-bishop among his co-workers

In 1882 Aichner was appointed vicar general of Vorarlberg and auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Bressanone and titular bishop of Sebaste in Cilicia , and was ordained bishop on October 15, 1882 in the cathedral in Bressanone . The Brixen prince-bishop Johann von Leiß acted as the main consecrator. In 1884 he succeeded him as Prince-Bishop of the Diocese of Brixen , which he directed until 1904. He then retired as emeritus and titular archbishop of Theodoropolis to the Neustift monastery , where he died on November 1, 1910.

Lectures about the apostle Paul, which he had given in the seminary between 1856 and 1860, were published posthumously in 1911 under the book title “Der Heidenlehrer”.

Honors

• 1882: Honorary citizenship of Brixen
• 1904: Honorary citizenship of Neustift

literature

• Franz Huter:  Aichner, Simon. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1953, ISBN 3-428-00182-6 , p. 117 ( digitized version ).
• Aichner Simon. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 10.
• Ekkart Sauser :  AICHNER, Simon. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 16, Bautz, Herzberg 1999, ISBN 3-88309-079-4 , Sp. 14-16.

Web links

• Literature by and about Simon Aichner in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry to Simon Aichner on catholic-hierarchy.org

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Nepomuk Amberg	Vicar General of Feldkirch 1882–1884	Johann Zobl
Johann von Leiß	Bishop of Brixen 1884-1904	Joseph Altenweisel