Heimerad (also known as ''Heimrad'', ''Haimrad'' or ''Heimo'') (c. 970 in

Meßkirch Meßkirch (; Swabian: ''Mässkirch'') is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The town was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's ''Zimmern Chronicle'' (1559–1 ...

near the Bodensee in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

– 28 June 1019 on the Hasunger Berg (now Burghasungen) near

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

) was a German priest and travelling preacher, popularly revered as a ''holy fool''.

Life

Born of unfree parents, Heimerad undertook pilgrimages in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. After his return to Germany he became a monk in Hersfeld Abbey, but was expelled after a dispute about wearing the order's clothing. Nor was he accepted in the monastery at

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

. Because of his conspicuous and unusual way of life he was driven from several places, and became more and more desolate. At length he found a site for a hermitage on the Hasunger Berg (today Burghasungen in

Zierenberg Zierenberg is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 19 km east of Bad Arolsen, and 15 km northwest of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. Local council The elections from 06. March 2016 showed the foll ...

). At first mocked and scorned even there, with the passage of time he came to be revered as a saint and his advice was sought by the great: he was acquainted with the Empress Kunigunde, Bishop

Meinwerk of Paderborn Meinwerk (c. 975 – 5 June 1036) was the Bishop of Paderborn from 1009 until his death. He was a member of the aristocratic Immedinger family and was granted his see on the understanding that his property would pass to the diocese on his death ...

and

Aribo, Archbishop of Mainz Aribo (died 1031) was the Archbishop of Mainz from 1021 until his death. He was Primate of Germany during the succession of Conrad II. Aribo disputed with the Diocese of Hildesheim the jurisdictional right over Gandersheim Abbey, but Pope Ben ...

. He died in 1019, on 28 June, which is his feast day. The main source for his life is the biography written by the monk Ekkebert of Hersfeld between 1072 and 1090. Aribo, Archbishop of Mainz, had a church built over Heimerad's grave on the Hasunger Berg two years after his death, in 1021, which served as the nucleus of

Hasungen Abbey Hasungen Abbey (german: Kloster Hasungen) was a monastery of the Benedictine Order located at Burghasungen, now a part of Zierenberg in Hesse in Germany. The site is at the top of a basalt mountain, the Hasunger Berg. In 1074 a monastery was ...

, founded in 1074. Pilgrimages to his grave reached their high point in the second half of the 11th century, when Hasungen ranked as the most visited place of pilgrimage in Germany next to the grave of Sebaldus in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. In later centuries, especially after the dissolution of Hasungen Abbey in the 16th century, veneration of Heimerad tailed off drastically.

References

*Ekkebert von Hersfeld: ''Vita sancti Haimeradi'', ed. R. Köpke, in: ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores in folio'', Bd. 10. *Keller, Hagen: ''Adelheiliger und pauper Christi in Ekkeberts Vita sancti Haimeradi'', in: J. Fleckenstein und Karl Schmid (eds.): ''Adel und Kirche. Gerd Tellenbach zum 65. Geburtstag''. Freiburg 1967, pp. 307–323 *Struve, Tilman: ''Hersfeld, Hasungen und die Vita Haimeradi'', in: Archiv für Kulturgeschichte, Band 51 (1969), Heft 2, pp. 210–233

External links

* http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/0000/bsb00000874/images/index.html?fip=193.174.98.30&id=00000874&seite=604 * http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/91710 {{Authority control 10th-century births 1019 deaths People from Meßkirch 11th-century German clergy German Roman Catholic saints 11th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown