Wilhelm Willms

Wilhelm Willms (born November 4, 1930 in Rurdorf an der Rur, today Linnich , † December 25, 2002 in Heinsberg ) was a German priest and author of sacred songs and poetry .

life and work

After the war Willms grew up in Düsseldorf-Oberkassel . After a few semesters studying the history of art , he switched to theology (Bonn and Munich) and in 1957 he was in Aachen ordained. He first worked as a chaplain in Viersen St. Peter, then in Aachen and St. Dionysius in Krefeld, then provost in St. Gangolf in Heinsberg .

In 1972 he won the first, second and third prize for his lyrics (set to music by Hans-Jörg Böckeler ) in the competition "Kiel above - Kiel below" for the New Spiritual Song on the occasion of the 1972 Sailing Olympiad in Kiel . In 1983, together with Father Stephan Reimund Senge from the Himmerod Abbey, he published the psalms band Spiel-Raum for worship .

In 1985 Wilhelm Willms wrote the musical Wagnis und Liebe about the life of the founder of the Schoenstatt Movement and developer of Kentenich pedagogy, Josef Kentenich , which was set to music by the composer Ludger Edelkötter . Other texts were also set to music by Peter Janssens , such as “Bread That Nourishes Hope”, which in 2013 found its way into the Catholic hymn book Praise God .

From 1980 to 1990 he worked at the Theresienkirche in Aachen (personal parish). Since suffering a stroke during a mass on the first Sunday in Advent in 1990, he has been released from freelance work in his diocese (including at the Bildungswerk Aachen). His motto was "Go to all creatures preaching the good news ... for creation lies in labor pangs waiting for redemption, for liberation".

Willms wrote numerous books and texts for New Spiritual Songs (over 200). He was a member of the ecumenical lyricists and composers group of the Werkgemeinschaft Musik eV and the AG Musik in der Ev. Jugend eV, today the lyricists and composers group TAKT .

Works

• All buds open , set to music by Ludger Edelkötter , Erna Woll and Peter Janssens
• Bread that feeds hope , set to music by Peter Janssens
• Die Völker play dodgeball , set to music by Peter Janssens
• Can the bread be so small , set to music by Ludger Edelkötter
• Kyrie - Like a bird in a nest , set to music by Peter Janssens
• Forget-me-not litany , set to music by Peter Janssens
• Do you know where the sky is , set to music by Ludger Edelkötter and Hans-Jörg Böckeler
• Which angel will tell us , set to music by Peter Janssens and Hans-Jörg Böckeler
• When the red sea has green waves , set to music by Peter Janssens and Hans-Jörg Böckeler
• When everyone gives what they have , set to music by Peter Janssens
• We spin, weave , set to music by Peter Janssens
• Kevelaerer Kredo , 1972, set to music by Werner Haentjes in 1976 and Hans-Jörg Böckeler in 1991
• Ave Eva , Musical, 1974, music: Peter Janssens
  • I want against the bells of the people , set to music by Peter Janssens
  • Go, go, go to the rock , set to music by Peter Janssens
  • Once it got light in the sky , set to music by Peter Janssens
  • Get up from death , set to music by Peter Janssens
  • The sky rises above everyone , set to music by Peter Janssens
• Utopia - Blues Cantata, 1974, music: Nis-Edwin List-Petersen
• Francis of Assisi , 1977, music: Peter Janssens
• We brick up Jericho , 1980, music: Detlev Jöcker
• First communion mass "The vineyard is in bloom" , 1983, music: Hans-Jörg Böckeler
• Close contact fair , 1986, music: Hans-Jörg Böckeler
• Risk and Love , 1985

Web links

• Literature by and about Wilhelm Willms in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Wilhelm Willms  in the German Digital Library
• Search for "Wilhelm Willms" in the SPK digital portal of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation