Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich

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Father Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich to the canal

Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (born July 16, 1563 in Erftstadt , Liblar , Schloss Gracht ; † March 30, 1636 in Cologne ) was a German noble Jesuit priest and rector of the colleges of Speyer , Trier and Cologne.

Origin and family

He came from the noble family of Wolff von Metternich and was the son of the Bliesheim bailiff Hieronymus Wolff von Metternich (1519–1592) and his wife Katharina von Buschfeld . His brother Adolph Wolff von Metternich (1553-1619) officiated as cathedral capitular and cathedral dean in Speyer.

Live and act

The brothers Wilhelm and Adolf Wolff von Metternich both had preambles at the Speyer Cathedral Monastery . Both attended the Collegium Germanicum in Rome . Adolf was there from 1581 to 1584, Wilhelm came in 1583, stayed until 1587 and then entered the Jesuit order, renouncing his Speyer benefices.

Family coat of arms
Coat of arms cope of the great-nephew Johann Wilhelm Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1624–1694), Provost of Mainz , in the Speyer Cathedral Treasury , Palatinate History Museum , Speyer

Initially cathedral preacher in Mainz , Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich became rector of the Jesuit college in Speyer in 1595 . The brother Adolf had also returned to Speyer and from 1598 the nephew of the brothers, Johann Adolf Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (1592–1669), later educator of the two sons of Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria, lived with him for schooling . Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich headed the Speyer College for 22 years. Here he also influenced the Jesuit Friedrich Spee (1591–1635), who was temporarily under his leadership and who later became famous as a critic of the witch trials. He entrusted him in Speyer u. a. with the establishment of a Guardian Angel Brotherhood . In 1617 Wolff von Metternich left Speyer and then became rector of the Jesuit colleges in Trier and Cologne. On the occasion of the death of his brother Adolf, he visited Speyer in 1619. After this death he became the main family reference person of the nephew Johann Adolf, who was orphaned in 1605 and mentioned above.

Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich died in Cologne in 1636, where he had fled from the advancing Swedes during the Thirty Years' War . The father was the author of several theological treatises.

The historian Ludwig Stamer writes about him:

“ For many years, Wilhelm von Metternich was rector of the Jesuit college in Speyer. It was the center of the spiritual life for the clergy, the nobles, officers and civil servants. "

- Church history of the Palatinate, Part 3, Volume 1, p. 134, Pilger Verlag Speyer, 1954

According to recent research, Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich is also regarded as the author of the famous Speyer hymn book from 1599 .

His great-nephew Hermann Werner Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (1625–1704) officiated as Prince-Bishop of Paderborn , his brother Johann Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich von Metternich zur Gracht (1624–1694) as Provost of the Cathedral in Mainz , Paderborn and Münster .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andreas Steinhuber : History of the Kollegium Germanicum Hungaricum in Rome , Volume 1, p. 238, Herder Verlag, Freiburg, 1906; (Detail scan)
  2. ^ Emmy Rosenfeld: Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld: a voice in the desert , Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1958, p. 21, ISBN 3-11-005333-0 ; (Digital scan)
  3. ^ Karl Stommel: Johann Adolf Freiherr Wolff called Metternich zur Gracht: from Landritter to Landhofmeister, a career in the 17th century , Rheinland-Verlag, 1986, ISBN 3-7927-0919-8 , p. 64; (Detail scan)
  4. ↑ Herbert Pohl: The fathers of the Speyerer Gesangbuch from 1599 , in: Habent sua fata libelli: Facets of a library history 1815 - 2015 , Diözesanbibliothek Speyer , 2015, pp. 173–190
personal data
SURNAME Metternich, Wilhelm Wolff von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Metternich zur Gracht, Wilhelm Wolff von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German aristocratic Jesuit priest and rector of the colleges in Speyer, Trier and Cologne
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1563
PLACE OF BIRTH Erftstadt , Liblar , Gracht Castle
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 1636
Place of death Cologne