Stephan Krismer

Stephan Krismer

Stephan Krismer (colloquial: Karrer Stöffele , born December 25, 1777 in Karres , Tyrol ; † November 8, 1869 in Kronburg bei Zams ) was a Catholic priest and founder of three monasteries in Tyrol. With the founding of monasteries in Ried, Imst and Kronburg, he left a lasting mark on the religious landscape of the Tyrolean Oberland. During the 4th Bergisel Battle , he was one of Andreas Hofer's closest advisers .

Life

Krismer was born in 1777 into a large family in Karres. He was orphaned at an early age. Despite the poorest conditions, he attended grammar school in Bruneck. Then the young man decided to enter the Brixen seminary. After he was ordained a priest in 1804, several years followed as a "surplus priest" in his home parish Karres and as a cooperator in Arzl im Pitztal . Soon he was popular as a hard-working and passionate pastor among the faithful. As a convinced patriot and critical spirit, he opposed the Bavarian authorities several times . He openly expressed his rejection of all ordinances that prevented him from exercising his priestly duties and that arbitrarily curtailed the religious freedom of the believing people. Famous in this context is his “Schrofe-Loch-Sermon”, which he gave in 1808 in the parish church of Arzl i. Pitztal held.

In 1809 he found himself in the midst of the turmoil of the struggle for freedom . As field curate and advisor to Andreas Hofer, Krismer never succumbed to blind fanaticism; on the contrary, he tried to avert greater evil with wisdom and intelligence. He prudently tried to achieve a ceasefire, the free withdrawal of the Oberland riflemen and merciful treatment of captured Bavarian soldiers .

Memorial plaque parish church Karres

After the fight for freedom, Krismer worked at several pastoral care offices ( Strengen , Prutz , Mils bei Imst , Fiss, Kronburg, Brennbichl ). It was to this fact that he owed the name "Wanderkurat".

With the founding of monasteries in Ried, Imst and Kronburg, he left a lasting mark on the religious landscape of the Tyrolean Oberland. During the 4th Bergisel Battle, he was one of Andreas Hofer's closest advisers.

It may be understood as a sign of his humility that his life was plagued by feelings of guilt because of his participation in the struggle for freedom in 1809. Up until old age he tried, together with the religious sisters in the three monasteries he founded, Ried, Imst and Kronburg, to alleviate the great hardship of the rural population and to proclaim the Christian faith.

Stephan Krismer died in Kronburg near Zams in 1869 at the age of 91 and was buried there.

There are memorial plaques on the facades of the parish churches in Karres, See, Strengen and Ried i. Upper Inn Valley.

literature

• Closer:  Krismer, Stefan. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 4, Publishing House of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1969, p. 276 f. (Direct links on p. 276 , p. 277 ).
• Johannes Laichner: Stephan Krismer. Karrer Stöffele. A faith pioneer in turbulent times. Karres 2016.
• Arthur Achleitner: Stöffele. Life picture of a Tyrolean hero priest. Regensburg-Vienna 1918.
• Johannes Laichner - A religious pioneer in turbulent times (1777–1869). Priest in the Tyrolean struggle for freedom and founder of a monastery. Studies on Church History, Vol. 31, Hamburg 2017 ( ISBN 978-3-8300-9793-8 ).

Web links

• Biography on the website of the municipality of Karres
• Krismer, Stephan , in the history database ofthe association "fontes historiae - sources of history"
• Biography on the website of the parish Karres, the birthplace of Krismers