Study seminar St. Michael (Traunstein)

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Study seminar St. Michael
Seat Traunstein / Bavaria / Germany
carrier Archdiocese of Munich and Freising
year 1929
Art Episcopal boys' seminary
founder Michael von Faulhaber
ladder Wolfgang Dinglreiter
Homepage www.seminar-traunstein.de

The St. Michael study seminar is a boarding school of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising . It is located in Traunstein im Chiemgau and covers an area of ​​44,000 m². The seminarians can choose from three types of school (Gymnasium, Realschule, Fachoberschule). The best-known student of the study seminary is Pope Benedict XVI.

History of the institution

The house was founded in 1929 as the Archbishop of St. Michael by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber from Munich in order to attract more boys from the Chiemgau to the profession of priest. In the first few years, around 120 students attended the seminar each school year. During the Second World War the house was confiscated and used for various purposes, including a. A military hospital and a camp for Bessarabian Germans were set up there. The seminar could only be maintained temporarily by accommodating the students in various church houses and private accommodations in the region. In 1941, despite many years of resistance, the management of the seminar was forced to register its students for the forced HJ ("General" Hitler Youth ); Up to this point in time, no seminarist had volunteered for this purpose (due to an ordinance on the HJ law, all so-called “Aryan” male youths had been “compulsory” since 1939.

After the war, the building could be moved into again. As a result, the number of seminarians rose until it reached a high of over 180 students in the early 1970s. This high occupancy rate was directly related to the closure of the boys' seminar in Freising , as this caused many students from Freising to move to Traunstein. Among other things, due to modernization of the house (e.g. elimination of dormitories in favor of group and single rooms) the number of seminarians then decreased and leveled off at around 90 in the 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, the number of seminarians hovered around 50. Today there are fewer than 50.

The study seminar today

Exterior view of the seminar

Since 2014, the seminar has been consistently realigning under the motto "Live well - Learn well". The offer is no longer aimed exclusively at high school students. Boys from the 5th grade can choose from three types of school (grammar school, secondary school, technical college). The boys are supported in learning with a learner type test, learning objective agreement, the introduction of individual learning methods and specific learning aids. In addition, certified additional qualifications have been offered since autumn 2015. IT & media skills, environmental management & creative garden as well as handicraft & art are three focal points that are taught in everyday boarding school as a counterbalance to the "mental work".

A contemporary, Christian education in beliefs and values ​​should promote the holistic cognitive, social and practical personal development of every individual. This is guaranteed by a comprehensive range of educational, musical, technical and sporting activities, as well as a structured daily routine with regular study times.

Since February 2017 the boarding school has been awarded the European " EMAS " environmental certificate . The orientation towards a sustainable boarding school operation is a central goal of St. Michael.

Today the seminar offers space for around 50 young people.

In November 2019, plans were announced according to which the archdiocese would like to transform the seminar into a St. Michael campus , an "innovative Christian educational campus with its own profile and national appeal".

Seminary church

In addition to the residential wing, the architect Georg Berlinger created an art-historically significant church in the Baroque style, which is consecrated to the eponymous St. Michael. In 2004 it was completely restored and reopened. In 2011 the seminary church fell victim to a fire in which the baroque high altar, originally from Hohenaschau , was damaged. The altarpiece was created by the Regensburg engraver Joachim von Sandrart . The altarpiece was destroyed in the fire. After his election as Pope, Benedict XVI founded for the tower of the chapel the so-called Pope-Benedict-Bell.

Interior of the church

people

Until 2015, the directors of the study seminary were exclusively Catholic priests. A layperson has been running the facility for the first time since 2015. Together with the director, several prefects are responsible for the education and pedagogical support of the seminarians. In addition, a music prefect is responsible for musical life (choir, wind ensemble and church music).

Seminar directors:

  • 1929–1958: Johann Ev. Mair
  • 1958–1970: Max Kolbeck
  • 1970–1975: Konrad Huber
  • 1975–1985: Engelbert Siebler (subsequently Auxiliary Bishop in Munich)
  • 1985–1997: Werner Eichinger
  • 1997-2006: Thomas Frauenlob
  • 2006–2015: Markus Moderegger
  • since 2015: Wolfgang Dinglreiter

Well-known former students of the seminar:

Others

In his memories , Josef Ratzinger also describes his time in the Traunstein seminar, when he was "inserted into a study room with about sixty other boys". This situation was "torture" for him, "in which learning that had previously been so easy for me seemed almost impossible."

The St. Michael study seminar is today the last boarding school of its kind in Germany to be run by the bishop. Contrary to popular belief, the St. Michael seminary is not a seminary , but a Catholic educational institution for boys, which should lead to the acquisition of the general university entrance qualification . The gymnasium and indoor swimming pool, which was renovated in 2012, are shared by the two high schools in the city of Traunstein and the DLRG .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Study seminar St. Michael: Annual report 1987/88
  2. ^ Studienseminar St. Michael: Annual reports 1997–2002
  3. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung: A campus made of clay , accessed on November 27, 2019.
  4. ↑ Joseph Ratzinger: From my life. Memories (1927–1977) . Stuttgart 1998, p. 28 ff.

literature

  • Volker Laube: The Archbishop's Study Seminar St. Michael in Traunstein and its archive. In: Writings of the archives of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising Volume 11. Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-7954-1915-8 .

Web links

Commons : Studienseminar St. Michael  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 47 ° 51 '49 "  N , 12 ° 38' 0.6"  E