Johann Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner (17 October 1728 – 6 June 1783) was a German

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

, promoting the Enlightenment in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. While working as a civil servant for the

Bavarian court The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

, he published a hymnal which contained a complete German High Mass and songs such as "

Das Grab ist leer, der Held erwacht "Das Grab ist leer, der Held erwacht" (The grave is empty, the hero awoken) is a Catholic hymn for Easter, first printed in 1777 in the hymnal ''Landshuter Gesangbuch'' published by Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner. Keeping only the first of five sta ...

" (The grave is empty, the hero awoken) for which he is known. These hymns and especially his German mass, used in settings by

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 173710 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau, near the Hungarian border. ...

, remain popular to this day.

Career

Beginning life as Johann Franz Seraph Kohlbrenner in

Traunstein Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...

on 17 October 1728, he was the son of Rupert Kohlbrenner, a worker in a

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural s ...

. After attending the local ''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primary (' ...

'', he worked as a clerk at the salt works, responsible for the company's archives. At age 25, Kohlbrenner was called to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

to revise and supervise the Registry of the Exchequer (''Registratur der Hofkammer''). In 1762, he installed a tree garden in the elector's Aerarium in Lechhausen. From 1766, he published a journal of the type, the ''Intelligenzblatt der Churbaierischen Lande''. In 1777, together with the priest and composer , Kohlbrenner published in

Landshut Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...

the first part of a Roman Catholic

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chri ...

, ''Der heilige Gesang zum Gottesdienste in der römisch-katholischen Kirche'', which promoted

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

singing in German, in the spirit of

the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

. After this hymnal was also published in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

in 1781, he added a second part, published there in 1783. Part of the hymnal was his '' Singmesse'', for singing the complete

mass ordinary The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the '' ...

in German instead of the traditional

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. His German mass in ten songs was set to music by

several times, called '' Deutsches Hochamt'' (German High Mass). On 26 June 1778

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (german: link=no, Karl Theodor; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) reigned as Prince-elector and Count Palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as prince-elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777 to his ...

, made Kohlbrenner a ''

Reichsritter The Free Imperial knights (german: link=no, Reichsritter la, Eques imperii) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility ('' edelfrei'') and the minister ...

'' (Imperial Knight). Unmarried, he died at age 54 on 6 June 1783, in Munich and was buried at the cemetery of ''Unserer Lieben Frau Gottesaker zu St. Salvator''. The inscription read: Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner is still known for his German High Mass and for his hymn which appears in the regional section of the Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

'' for Austria (2013 edition) as GL 710. "

" is frequently sung in Easter services. His hometown, Traunstein, has named a ''Mittelschule'' after him.

Works

* ''Das baierische und pfälzische Landmann in der verbessernden Landwirthschaft.'' Munich 1769 () * ''Geographische Mauth-Charte von Baiern.'' Augsburg 1764 () * ''Der heilige Gesang zum Gottesdienste in der römisch-katholischen Kirche.'' Landshut 1777
Digitalisat
* ''Materialien für die Sittenlehre, Litteratur, Landwirthschaft, zur Kenntnis der Producte, und für die Geschichte alt und neuer Zeiten.'' München 1774.

Literature

* * Cornelia Baumann: ''"Wie wenig sind, die dieses wagen!" Franz von Kohlbrenner, Traunstein 1728 – München 1783.'' Drei-Linden-Verlag, Grabenstätt 1985. * Cornelia Oelwein: ''Franz von Kohlbrenner (1728–1783)''. Ein berühmter Traunsteiner. Chiemgau Dr., Traunstein 1996. * Daniel Schlögl: ''Der planvolle Staat''. Raumerfassung und Reformen in Bayern 1750 – 1800. C.H. Beck, München 2002, . * Lorenz Westenrieder:
Leben des Johann Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner samt seinem Portrait
'. Strobl, München 1783 () * anon.: ''Kohlbrenner, wie er war. oder Anmerkungen und Anekdoten zu dem von Hr. Prof. Westenrieder verfaßten Leben des Johann Franz Seraph Edlen von Kohlbrenner.'' 1793 () * * Clemens Alois Baader: ''Das gelehrte Baiern, oder Lexikon aller Schriftsteller, welche Baiern im 18. Jahrhundert erzeugte oder ernährte''. Nürnberg 1804, Sp. 606–610 ()

References

External links

*

Bayerische Landesbibliothek
Kohlbrenner, Johann Franz Seraph
bmlo.lmu.de
Franz Seraph Kohlbrenner als Herausgeber des "Münchener Intelligenzblattes."
catalog.princeton.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohlbrenner, Franz Seraph von German Roman Catholic hymnwriters People from Traunstein 1728 births 1783 deaths