Theobald Schrems

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Bust of Theobald Schrems in Mitterteich

Theobald Schrems (born February 17, 1893 in Mitterteich , † November 15, 1963 in Regensburg ) was a German Catholic theologian and priest, cathedral music director and co-founder of the Regensburger Domspatzen music high school .

Life

Theobald Schrems attended the episcopal boys' seminar in Obermünster in Regensburg and, after graduating from high school, the philosophy-theological college . He then entered the seminary there and was ordained a priest on June 29, 1917. After three years as a cooperator, in 1920 he held the position of prefect and music teacher at the boys' seminar in Regensburg, where he built up a choir. From 1924 until his death in 1963 he was the cathedral music director at Regensburg Cathedral . From 1925 to 1928 he passed the state examination for church and school music with Carl Thiel . By creating a new organizational structure that united high school, boarding school and choir under one roof, he created a choir consisting of boys and young men with the Regensburger Domspatzen .

During the time of National Socialism, the cathedral choir became famous under Theobald Schrems, who was under the protection of Chancellor Adolf Hitler from the beginning. As early as June 1933 he appeared at the NSDAP Gautag in Regensburg and in October of the same year before Hitler. This appearance went back to the initiative of choir director Schrems, five more followed. Like Carl Thiel, Schrems also took on a management role in the Reichsmusikkammer in 1933 , the local leadership of the Bavarian state cartel of musicians . Nothing came of the construction of the music high school under the direction of Schrems, which was planned in 1936 and was largely financed by Hitler. Such was only decided and implemented later in 1948. The title of professor carried by Schrems goes back to a courtesy of Adolf Hitler on the birthday of the "Führer" on April 20, 1937. The historian Helmut Halter emphasizes opportunism, vanity and Schrems' initiative in the "role of cathedral sparrows as an instrument of the foreign cultural policy of the Nazi propaganda ministry".

Schrems tried, however, to counteract an excessive appropriation of the cathedral sparrows by the Nazis. As during a concert tour to South America in 1937, the first chairman of conformist Domchorvereins, Dr. Martin Miederer, who ordered the boys to wear Jungvolk uniforms, Schrems categorically refused. In the end, barely half of the boys turned up in uniform. On another occasion Schrems dismissed a singing boy from the choir because he had preferred a HJ Pentecost camp to the pontifical office.

In 1953 Schrems received the Nordgau Culture Prize from the city of Amberg in the “Music” category and in the same year the Albertus Magnus Medal from the city of Regensburg. In 1963 he was made an honorary citizen in Regensburg. He received the Bavarian Order of Merit in 1959. In Regensburg and Mitterteich streets are named after the musician. Mitterteich also honors the famous son with the naming of the Theobald Schrems Primary School, on whose premises there is also a bust of Theobald Schrems.

Under Theobald Schrems there were cases of sexual abuse and physical abuse in the Regensburg boarding school and in the elementary school of the Regensburger Domspatzen in Etterzhausen. The two boarding school directors from Regensburg, Friedrich Zeitler and Georg Zimmermann, should be mentioned . Schrems was head of the boarding schools in Etterzhausen and Regensburg until 1958.

After the allegations against Zeitler became known, Schrems reacted "with a view to the child's welfare appropriately" and immediately dismissed the boarding school director, although the public prosecutor did not report it.

The church musician Franz Lehrndorfer , a long-time employee of Schrems, composed the Missa in memoriam Theobald Schrems for four-part male choir in his honor . The world premiere took place on November 9th, 2008 by the choir of the former cathedral sparrows in Regensburg Cathedral.

Works

  • The history of Gregorian chant in Protestant church services (= publications by the Musicological Institute of the University of Friborg in Switzerland. Part 1: publications by the Gregorian Academy in Friborg in Switzerland. Volume 15, ZDB -ID 504100-4 ). St. Paulusdruckerei, Friborg (Switzerland) 1930.
  • Music and ethos. Cult and culture - singing and pastoral care. Memorandum and dunning notice. Publishing house Josef Habbel, Regensburg 1962.

literature

  • Christel Erkes (ed.): The Regensburger Domspatzen. Encounter with Theobald Schrems . Schauenburg, Lahr / Schwarzwald 1993, ISBN 3-7946-0301-X .
  • Jutta Franke: Schrems, Theobald. In: Karl Bosl (ed.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 151 ( digitized version ).
  • Franz Johann Löffler: Theobald Schrems in memory. In: Festschrift zum Nordgautag 28, 1990, pp. 69–71 ( online ; PDF; 2 MB).
  • Alois Späth: Dr.-Theobald-Schrems-Straße (Regensburg music history in street names). In: Mälzel's magazine. 2001 No. 1 ( online ).
  • Robert Werner: Brown spots on the priest's skirt. Studies on the denial and suppression of the Nazi past by the Regensburg theologians Josef Engert, Rudolf Graber and Theobald Schrems. Regensburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-9814689-6-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on Theobald Schrems from the work group Heimatpflege Mitterteich
  2. ↑ Helmut Halter: The "Regensburger Domspatzen" 1924–1945. In: Winfried Becker, Werner Chrobak (ed.): State, culture, politics. Contributions to the history of Bavaria and Catholicism. Festschrift for Dieter Albrecht's 65th birthday. Lassleben, Kallmünz 1992, ISBN 3-7847-3109-0 , pp. 371-388, here p. 375.
  3. ^ Karl Frank: Apostolate and Propaganda. In: Christel Erkes (ed.): The Regensburger Domspatzen. Encounter with Theobald Schrems. Schauenburg, Lahr / Schwarzwald 1993, ISBN 3-7946-0301-X , pp. 48–101, here p. 62.
  4. ^ Robert Werner: The Regensburger Domspatzen. Hitler's favorite boys' choir. (Report on regensburg-digital from October 22, 2012, p. 8).
  5. ↑ Helmut Halter: The "Regensburger Domspatzen" 1924–1945. In: Winfried Becker, Werner Chrobak (ed.): State, culture, politics. Contributions to the history of Bavaria and Catholicism. Festschrift for Dieter Albrecht's 65th birthday. Lassleben, Kallmünz 1992, ISBN 3-7847-3109-0 , pp. 371-388, here p. 386.
  6. ↑ a b Roman Smolorz : The Regensburger Domspatzen under National Socialism - Singing between the Catholic Church and the Nazi State , Pustet , Regensburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-7917-2930-5 .
  7. ^ Robert Werner: Abuse of the Domspatzen under Theobald Schrems , research from April 22, 2013 on regensburg-digital (last accessed April 2014).
  8. ↑ Notes on the former Domspatzendirektor Johann Meier research on regensburg-digital of December 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ Ulrich Weber, Johannes Baumeister: Incidents of violence being exercised against wards among the Regensburger Domspatzen (investigation report), July 18, 2017, p. 369.
predecessor Office successor
Franz Xaver Engelhart Domkapellmeister at Regensburg Cathedral
1924–1963 		Georg Ratzinger
personal data
SURNAME Schrems, Theobald
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Domkapellmeister, founder of the "Regensburger Domspatzen music high school"
DATE OF BIRTH February 17, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Mitterteich
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1963
Place of death regensburg