Georg Michael Wittmann (22 (23?) January 1760, near
Pleistein,
Oberpfalz
The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria.
Geography
The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...
,
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 ...
– 8 March 1833, at
Ratisbon) was a German prelate of the Catholic Church.
Life
He studied first with the
Jesuits
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, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
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, then with the
Benedictines at
Amberg (1769–78), and at the
University of Heidelberg
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Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
(1778-9). On 21 December 1782, he was ordained priest and after doing parish work at
Kenmath,
Kaltenbrunn, and
Miesbrunn he became professor and subregens at the diocesan seminary of Ratisbon in 1788 and regens in 1802. From 1804 he was also pastor of the cathedral.
In 1829 he was appointed auxiliary
Bishop of Ratisbon
The Bishops of Regensburg ( Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. and consecrated titular
Bishop of Comana. In 1830, when the
coadjutor Johann Michael Sailer
Johann Michael Sailer (17 October 1751, in Aresing – 20 May 1832, in Regensburg) was a German Jesuit theologian and philosopher, and Bishop of Regensburg. Sailer was a major contributor to the Catholic Enlightenment.
Biography
Sailer was born ...
became ordinary of Ratisbon, Wittmann was made his
vicar-general
A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...
; and after Sailer's death he was nominated Bishop of Ratisbon, 1 July 1832, but died before his
preconization.
He exerted an influence on the candidates (numbering over fifteen hundred) whom he prepared for the priesthood during the forty-five years of his connection with the seminary. By his zeal, charity, and exemplary life, he gained the affection and esteem of all. He was buried in the cathedral of Ratisbon, where a monument was erected to his memory by
Conrad Eberhard.
Works
His chief literary works are:
*"Principia catholica de sacra Scriptura" (Ratisbon, 1793)
*"Annotationes in Pentateuchum Moysis" (Ibid., 1796)
*"De horarum canonicarum utilitate morali" (Augsburg, 1801)
*"Anmahnung zum Colibate" (s. l., 1804; Ratisbon, 1834)
*"Confessarius pro aetate juvenili" (Sulzbach, 1832).
Wittmann also prepared with
Feneberg a translation of the New Testament (Nuremberg, 1808; latest edition, Sulzbach, 1878). For a time he availed himself of the services of the Protestant
Bible Society of London to spread his translation among the people, but in 1820 he severed all relations with this society.
References
*Mittermuller, Leben und Wirken des frommen Bisch., Michel Wittmann (Landshut, 1859)
*Mehler, Lebensbeschreibung des frommen Bisch. Michael Wittmann (Ratisbon, 1894)
*Hahn, Bisch. Michael Wittmnn, das Bild eines frommen und segensreichen Lebens (Ratisbon, 1860)
External links
Source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittman, Georg Michael
1760 births
1833 deaths
Roman Catholic bishops of Regensburg
19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bavaria
Burials at Regensburg Cathedral