Wilhelmsstift

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Episcopal Theologian Convict Wilhelmsstift
Logo wilhelmsstift tuebingen.jpg
Seminar type Theological convict
address Collegiumsgasse 5
72070 Tübingen
country Germany
carrier Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart
founding year 1817
Number of seminarians (total) 13 +5 ( St. Lambert Study House )
director Cathedral Chapter Msgr. Martin Fahrner
Repeater Andreas Kirchartz
Spiritual Uwe Thauer
Website URL www.wilhelmsstift.de

The Wilhelmsstift in Tübingen is the theological convict of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart .

It was set up in 1817 in the rooms of the former Collegium illustrious . The future priesthood candidates ( diocesan theologians ) of the diocese live in it during their studies at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen . The theologenkonvikt Johanneum , which belongs to the Wilhelmsstift and which used to house the basic studies, is now intended for the theological mentorship , as well as the theological-propaedeutic seminar Ambrosianum . Next to the Wilhelmsstift is the Konvikts- and Stadtpfarrkirche St. Johannes Evangelist .

history

Both the idea of ​​the Wilhelmsstift and the walls and rooms and the entire structure have their prehistory. The foundation walls go back to the Franciscan monastery in Tübingen . An expansion took place in the years 1588–1592 under Duke Ludwig with the establishment of the Collegium illustrious by the Württemberg master builder Georg Beer .

Towards a new destiny

The secularization of the 19th century in the first decade doubled the area Württemberg. Above all in the area of ​​church politics, however, there were now problems that were previously unknown in Württemberg. " Altwürttemberg " was purely Protestant, while the majority of the population in " Neuwürttemberg " belonged to the Catholic Church. The state wish for a “regional bishopric” could not be realized immediately. When Elector Clemens Wenzeslaus von Trier , who had also been Bishop of Augsburg and Prince Provost of Ellwangen , died in 1812 , King Friedrich I of Württemberg approved that Prince Franz Karl von Hohenlohe , Auxiliary Bishop in Augsburg, despite the lack of papal authority Business of a vicar general and the episcopal functions in the Württemberg part of the diocese of Augsburg and in the exempten district of Ellwangen. At the same time, the king established a "High Catholic State University" in Ellwangen, which included five chairs in theology, and a seminary on the Schönenberg.

State University of Ellwangen

As a result of a change of government in 1816, the Catholic-Theological University of Ellwangen was incorporated into the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen as the Catholic-Theological Faculty in the autumn of 1817 . The general vicariate was relocated to Rottenburg, the theologenkonvikt Wilhelmsstift in Tübingen and the seminary in Rottenburg were re-established . A Catholic diocese was established there in 1821 due to its more central location in Württemberg and its proximity to the seat of government in Stuttgart .

Criticism of the state university

Very soon critical statements about this "state university" were loud in Württemberg. 15 Catholic members of the Württemberg assembly of estates declared that the training of young clergymen at a university with only one theological faculty must remain “always incomplete and one-sided”. However, this criticism had no effect for the time being. Only after King Wilhelm I came to power in the autumn of 1816 did a change become apparent. The new minister of church and school system was Karl August Freiherr von Wangenheim, President of the High Tribunal and the Higher Education Directorate and curator of the University of Tübingen. On May 20, 1816, he asked the three-member trustee of the Ellwangen teaching institution “to report on the current state of the Catholic State University of Ellwangen, its needs and resources, and at the same time to comment on the question of whether the Catholic theological study system would be perfected not to be desired, and under what provisions it would be feasible to establish a faculty for Catholic theology at the University of Tübingen with the abolition of the University of Ellwangen [...], and thus to use the study aids of this high school for the purposes of the Catholic Church . "

The expert opinion of the Ellwanger trustees

The Wilhelmsstift seen from the tower of the collegiate church

The answer of the trustee was preprogrammed in the question of the minister. In a report dated January 16, 1817, she considered it “natural to use the existing University of Tübingen as a joint educational institution”. The division of teaching subjects in Ellwangen should be retained. For the diocesant theologians, the board of trustees considered “their own institute [for] the essential requirement”. In order to anticipate the conditions of the vicariate general, the reporters expressed their wish to set up a seminary in the former Jesuit college in Rottenburg, as the distance between Tübingen and Ellwangen made the supervision of the bishop difficult. The relocation of the Catholic theological faculty and the founding of the Konvikt were the inspiration for the new bishopric.

Minister von Wangenheim presented his plan to the king in an "attachment" dated March 21, 1817 and adopted the above-mentioned arguments of the board of trustees. As a connoisseur of Tübingen conditions, he named the "Collegium illustrious" in the middle of the city as a possible Konvikts building. He kept silent about an alternative.

Opening of the Wilhelmsstift

Inner courtyard of the Wilhelmsstift during the fountain festival

In autumn 1817, Minister von Wangenheim signed the “Royal Ordinance Concerning Catholic Educational Institutions in the Kingdom” with the approval of the King, thus giving the go-ahead for the new theological convict. Two days later, King Wilhelm I appointed pastor and school inspector Josef Sperl as the first Konviktsdirektor and, for reasons of savings, he also became city pastor of Tübingen. Five young priests were assigned to the director as repeaters according to the five year courses of the Konvikt, two of them had previously been repeaters at the seminary in Ellwangen. At the same time, the former ballroom of the Collegium Illustre was converted into the Wilhelmskirche , later the parish church of St. John , and consecrated on December 7, 1818.

The originally planned opening date on Michaelmas Day 1817 could not be kept. November 11, 1817 was set as the opening day, the arrival of the sixty new Konviktoren was set between November 5 and 10, 1817, but most of them came later. The lectures therefore only started at the beginning of December. For the time being, lectures were held in the Konvikt. On April 27, 1822, the Konviktors at that time sent a request to the king to be allowed to name the Konvikt after him, the "founder, maintainer and protector". King Wilhelm I complied with this request and since then the theological convict of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese has been called Wilhelmsstift.

education

The diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart attaches particular importance to the “cosmopolitan catholicity” shaped by Max Seckler in its priest training . Therefore, the training takes place in three different institutions. Entry qualification is the general university entrance qualification, the course usually begins with a philological year at the theological-propaedeutic seminar Ambrosianum .

For more information, see Priest Training in the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart .

Library

The Wilhelmsstift has had its own library there since it was founded . Today it has more than 200,000 volumes and is one of the largest and most important seminar libraries in Germany.

Its jewel is the so-called “ Royal Reference Library ” with around 10,000 volumes and the so-called Getzeny Institute in the central building. The Royal Reference Library includes the books that King Wilhelm I made available to the newly built theologian convict from his private collection as initial equipment.

For more details see Konviktsbibliothek Wilhelmsstift .

management

The management of the house is in the hands of the house management, a committee made up of the director and the repetitionist . Together with the spiritual they form the three-member college, which forms the core body for priestly formation.

Martin Fahrner has been the director since 2005, and church music director Thomas Gindele, who succeeded the church musician Jürgen Maag after his death , is responsible for the basic musical training . The church music regional cantorate Tübingen is also located in the Wilhelmsstift through the seat of the music lecturer.

Directors

The most important office in Wilhelmsstift was and is that of director. Until 1857, the director was appointed by the king , as in the Evangelical monastery , but the church council was allowed to submit a list of proposals beforehand.

Important repeaters

  • Paulus von Braun (1842–1924), member of the state parliament
  • Franz Xaver von Linsenmann (1835–1898), professor of moral and pastoral theology in Tübingen; Cathedral Capitular of the Diocese of Rottenburg; preconized (designated) bishop of Rottenburg.
  • Franz Xaver von Funk (1840–1907), professor of church history in Tübingen
  • Paul von Schanz (1841–1905), professor of New Testament exegesis, dogmatics and apologetics in Tübingen
  • Otto Gauß (1877–1970), music rep, composer and organist
  • Anton Hinderberger (1886–1963), cathedral dean of Rottenburg
  • Carl Joseph Leiprecht (1903–1981), cathedral capitular of the Rottenburg diocese; Titular bishop of Scyrus and auxiliary bishop in the diocese of Rottenburg; Bishop of Rottenburg
  • Heinrich Fries (1911–1998), professor of fundamental theology in Munich.
  • Otto Knoch (1926–1993), theologian, clergyman and exegete.
  • Gebhard Fürst (* 1948), director of the Catholic Academy Stuttgart-Hohenheim; Bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart
  • Gerhard Schneider (* 1969), practical theologian, auxiliary bishop, cathedral chapter and chief department head of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese and member of the meeting of the episcopal ordinariate

Eminent collegiate students

Institutions connected to the Wilhelmsstift

literature

  • Martin Fahrner (Ed.): Becoming a priest - cosmopolitan, Swabian, Catholic, Schwabenverlag. 200 years of Wilhelmsstift and seminary , Ostfildern 2017, ISBN 978-3-7966-1747-8 .
  • Max Seckler : Cosmopolitan catholicity. The idea of ​​the Wilhelmsstift Tübingen in the past and present. Lecture on the inauguration of the renovated Wilhelmsstift on November 14, 1981 . Tuebingen 1981.
  • Werner Gross : The Wilhelmsstift Tübingen 1817–1869. Theological training in the field of tension between state and church . Tübingen 1978 (Contubernium, 32) [Tübingen 1984, ISBN 3-16-444823-6 ].
  • Rudolf Reinhardt (ed.): Tübingen theologians and their theology. Sources and research on the history of the Catholic Theological Faculty of Tübingen . Tübingen 1977, ISBN 3-16-939732-X .

Web links

Commons : Wilhelmsstift Tübingen  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Commemorative publication on the conversion of the Wilhelmsstift, Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Ulm, 1981; Page 87
  2. ^ Letter from the President of the Upper Tribunal and the Senior Academic Directorate and Curator of the University of Tübingen, Karl August Freiherr von Wangenheim, dated November 20, 1816, Wilhelmsstift Tübingen archive
  3. ↑ Expert opinion of the Ellwanger Kuratel from January 16, 1817 to the Minister Karl August Freiherr von Wangenheim, Main State Archives Stuttgart
  4. ^ "Royal ordinance concerning the Catholic educational institutions in the Kingdom of October 25, 1817" in the Royal Württemberg State and Government Gazette, Württemberg State Library Stuttgart
  5. ↑ Convention of 1857, see Art. 8c. Ministerial order of 1859
  6. ^ List of directors from 1921 to 1980 taken from: Festschrift on the conversion of the Wilhelmsstift; Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Ulm; 1981
  7. ↑ Press release of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese , accessed on July 5, 2020

Coordinates: 48 ° 31 ′ 16 ″  N , 9 ° 3 ′ 19 ″  E