Wilhelm II. Roßhirt

The abbot portrait of Wilhelm II Roßhirt

Wilhelm II. Roßhirt (born February 4, 1714 in Neustadt an der Saale , † January 15, 1791 in Ebrach ) was abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Ebrach from 1773 to 1791 .

Life

Early life

Wilhelm Roßhirt was born on February 4, 1714 in Neustadt an der Saale in Lower Franconia . He came from a family of officials who served in the administration of the city. However, the sources are silent about the names of his parents. The school education of the young Wilhelm is not mentioned either. Only when he entered the Cistercian monastery in Ebrach and took his vows on July 18, 1734, Wilhelm Roßhirt became tangible again.

After he was ordained a priest on June 15 or July 1738, Roßhirt completed the official career within the monastery community. He was a chancellery and subprior before he was to hold the office of prior , representative of the abbot, for five years . He was then called to Würzburg , where he headed the Ebracher Klosterhof. At the same time he served as a confessor for the Cistercian convent Himmelspforten in Würzburg. Most recently he was the court master at the Sulzheimer Hof until 1773 .

After the death of his predecessor Hieronymus Held on October 20, 1773, the monks elected Wilhelm Roßhirt as abbot Wilhelm II on December 13, 1773. As one of his first official acts, the abbot renewed and increased the road that ran through Ebrach, so that the church is still today seems to be lower. In addition, he sent many of his monks to the University of Würzburg , where they could acquire academic degrees, and promoted education in the monastery by expanding the library.

As abbot

However, Abbot Wilhelm saw the main task in the renovation of the Gothic monastery church. For this he took 100,000 guilders in hand. Materno Bossi was appointed plasterer and the altar panels were also redone. On August 19, 1780, Wilhelm II. Roßhirt rededicated the high altar and the side altars. He also renewed the village churches that belonged to the monastery. The churches in Geusfeld and Theinheim were completely rebuilt. A hospital was also built in the monastery garden.

The disputes with Würzburg, which seemed to have been settled with the abbiat of Hieronymus Held, flared up again under the rule of Wilhelm. The reason for this was a writing by the Ebrach Father G. Baumann, in which the abbey was referred to as a "direct Reichsstift". Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal described the work as the “arrogance” of the monks and had it publicly disreputed. Thereupon Roßhirt started another process at the Reich Chamber of Commerce , which he finally won.

In his last years in office Roßhirt started a reform of the primary school system in his dominion. In 1784 he also supported the distressed citizens of Bamberg when he sent a cart with bread and flour into the city to alleviate the misery after the winter of 1783/84 . His golden profession ceremony was planned by his later successor Eugen Montag and was characterized by celebrations lasting several days. Abbot Wilhelm II. Roßhirt died on January 15, 1791 at the age of seventy-six.

coat of arms

The coat of arms of Abbot Wilhelm Roßhirt

The personal coat of arms of Wilhelm II Roßhirt can be found on an engraving that was made in 1773 to commemorate the newly elected abbot. It was also attached to the Elgersheimer Hof . Description : A bridled horse head looking to the right. The tinging is unknown, it is a speaking coat of arms.

literature

• Adelhard Kaspar: Chronicle of the Ebrach Abbey . Münsterschwarzach 1971.
• Josef Wirth: The Ebrach Abbey. To commemorate eight hundred years. 1127-1927 . Gerolzhofen 1928.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm II. Roßhirt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kaspar, Adelhard: Chronicle of the Ebrach Abbey . P. 174.
2. ↑ Wirth, Josef: The Ebrach Abbey . P. 137.
3. ↑ Kaspar, Adelhard: Chronicle of the Ebrach Abbey . P. 178.

predecessor	Office	successor
Jerome II hero	Abbot of Ebrach 1773–1791	Eugene Monday