Vitus Georg Tönnemann

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Painting by Vitus Georg Tönnemann around 1738. The painting was made in Vienna during his lifetime and was given to the Jesuit order in Paderborn. There is a portrait of Emperor Charles VI on his chest. Today the Theological Faculty of Paderborn - loan from the Association for the History and Classical Studies of Westphalia .

Vitus Georg Tönnemann , also Thönemann (* 1659 in Höxter in the Corvey Abbey ; † March 14, 1740 in Vienna ) was a German Jesuit in the service of the Roman-German Emperors Leopold I and Charles VI .

Life

Tönnemann was born in 1659 in Höxter in the Corvey abbey, a small spiritual territory in Westphalia . Only his baptism date is known: October 4, 1659. His school and university education he received at the Jesuit school in Theodorianum and in the University in Paderborn . On February 7, 1677 he entered the Jesuit order and was then a novice in Trier , lectured in Paderborn and also studied in Münster . In Paderborn the young Jesuit finally became a professor of theology and philosophy . Years of apprenticeship followed in Meppen ( poetics and rhetoric ) and Paderborn (philosophy). On February 20, 1693 he took the four Jesuit vows customary . The date of the ordination as a Roman Catholic priest is not known, but may have been earlier.

Tönnemann subsequently acquired through mediation in a legal dispute between his order and the Elector Friedrich III. von Brandenburg rendered great services to the legacy of the Reich Chamber Court President Moritz von Büren . With skill, Tönnemann was able to reach a settlement at the imperial court in Vienna and with the Pope , which secured the Jesuits in the Prince Diocese of Paderborn their possessions in the rule of Büren .

Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705) became aware of the Jesuit and appointed him tutor and companion of the Duke and later Emperor Joseph of Lorraine (1678–1711). In 1694 Tönnemann came to the imperial capital Vienna . As a result, the father not only traveled with the Roman king through the Austrian hereditary lands , but also got to know Lombardy and Hungary . As a result, the Emperor placed so much trust in Westphalia that he sent him to Spain in 1705 as confessor of the Archduke and designated King Charles .

Tönnemann was commissioned by Emperor Leopold to court his son for Elisabeth Christiane von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel at the court of the Protestant Duke Anton Ulrich von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel . The successful initiation of marriage with engagement in Barcelona in August 1708 increased the importance of the Jesuit for the imperial court.

After Karl took over the government in 1711, Tönnemann became grand chaplain of the imperial troops and organized for the first time an independent military chaplaincy for the Habsburg army.

The Imperial Councilor Tönnemann had a very great influence at the Viennese court, not only being involved in the spiritual and personal innermost core of the emperor, but also influential in legal matters. He was considered the primary representative of the “Catholic Party” at the imperial court and stood on the side of the Archbishop of Salzburg on the question of the expulsion of the Protestant Salzburg exiles . But his integrity was also praised by other contemporaries. The British ambassador in Vienna reported to Lord Townshend in London in 1721 that "there were only three people at the imperial court who were completely inaccessible to bribery", Prince Eugene of Savoy , the President of the Court Chamber, Count Gundacker von Starhemberg and Thönemann.

For over 30 years the emperor attended the Holy Mass of the Father almost every day. The relationship was so close that several public signs of trust have been proven. Emperor Karl was on the deathbed of the priest who had bronchitis. Vitus Georg Tönnemann died three hours later on March 14, 1740 in Vienna. Father Vitus was solemnly buried in the crypt of the Jesuit order in Vienna.

literature

  • W. Thöne: Vitus Georg Thönemann 1659-1740 . A Paderborn diplomat at the court of Emperor Charles VI. In: Westphalian magazine . tape 91 , Dept. 2, 1935, p. 47-60 .
  • Helena Fyfe Thonemann: Confessor to the Last of the Habsburgs . The Emperor Charles (1685-1740) & Georg Tönneman, SJ (1659-1740). HF Thonemann, Banbury 2000, ISBN 0-9539405-0-0 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Georg Korting follows in the footsteps of the Paderborn Jesuit father Vitus Georg Tönnemann - A Paderborn Jesuit at the Viennese court ( memento of the original from January 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: i-basis.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.derdom.de
  2. ↑ See differences between Brandenburg and Paderborn resp. the Jesuits to Büren because of the rule of Büren.
  3. ^ Mack Walker: The Salzburg trade. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997, ISBN 9783525354469 , p. 113. Restricted preview in the Google book search
  4. ^ Family Thonemann. In: thonemann.name. February 7, 2016, accessed January 2, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Tönnemann, Vitus Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Jesuit
DATE OF BIRTH 1659
PLACE OF BIRTH Höxter
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1740
Place of death Vienna