Johann Martin Schleyer (; 18 July 1831 – 16 August 1912) was a German

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

who invented the

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...

Volapük Volapük (; , "Language of the World", or lit. "World Speak") is a constructed language created between 1879 and 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Catholic priest in Baden, Germany, who believed that God had told him in a dream to create an ...

. His official name was "Martin Schleyer"; he added the name "Johann" (in honor of his godfather) unofficially.

Life and work

Schleyer was born in Oberlauda (

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 i ...

). According to his own report, the idea of an international

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

arose out of a conversation he had with one of his

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

ioners, a semi-literate German

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasa ...

whose son had emigrated to America and could no longer be reached by

mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

because the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

could not read the father's handwriting. He was ordained in 1856. From 1867 to 1875 he was pastor at Krumbach near

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– ...

. At the end of this time he was jailed for four months for preaching against

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

during the

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church in Germany, Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues wer ...

. From 1875 to 1885 he was pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul parish in Litzelstetten. He later wrote that the first seven years in Litzelstetten were among the happiest of his life. At this time he was editor of the magazine ''Sionsharfe'', devoted mainly to Catholic poetry. In May 1879 he published an article on

in this magazine. This sketch was followed by a full-length book in 1880. The language spread widely and new clubs sprung all over

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. After 1885 Schleyer had to retire from his pastoral duties due to ill health, though he was still involved in the Volapük movement until it fell apart a few years later. In 1894 Pope Leo XIII made him a papal prelate. Schleyer died in

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was t ...

in 1912.

Remembrance

Konstanz-hauptfriedhof-grab-von-johann-martin-schleyer-detail

A campaign to beatify him was started in June 2001, based in his home parish of Litzelstetten. The high school Martin-Schleyer-Gymnasium Lauda-Königshofen in Lauda is named for him.

References

External links

* *
Information on Schleyer and the campaign for his beatification
* (de
Johann Martin Schleyer
at the Website of catholic Erzdiözese Freiburg {{DEFAULTSORT:Schleyer, Johann Martin 1831 births 1912 deaths People from Lauda-Königshofen 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests Constructed language creators People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Speakers of international auxiliary languages Volapük Volapükologists German Servants of God 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests Creators of writing systems