Cordula Wöhler
Cordula Wöhler | |
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Born | |
Died | 6 February 1916 | (aged 70)
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Awards | Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice |
Cordula Wöhler, later Cordula Schmid, pseudonym Cordula Peregrina (17 June 1845 – 6 February 1916) was a German author of
Life
Born in Malchin, Mecklenburg, Cordula Wöhler was the oldest daughter of Wilhelm Wöhler (1814–1884) and his wife Cordula née Banck (1822–1900). When she was born, her father, a Lutheran theologian,[2] was head of a school in Malchin. Her mother was the daughter of a merchant from Stralsund. When her father took office as pastor in Lichtenhagen near Rostock in 1856, she found a 15th-century Pietà in the village church . Impressed by the sculpture, she developed Marian devotions.[2] She began a correspondence with Catholic religious authors Christoph von Schmid and Fr. Alban Stolz. In August 1864, she travelled with her family in Thuringia, Bavaria, Tyrol and Switzerland.[1] In Thuringia, she first attended the Tridentine Mass, which impressed her deeply.[2] After intense correspondence with Fr. Stolz, and another vacation with her parents in traditionally Catholic southern Germany in 1868, she decided to convert to the Catholic Church.[2] When her parents became aware of it in March 1869, they objected and forbade it. In 1870, Wöhler declared that she was, aged 25, independent and determined to convert. In response, her parents disowned her and expelled her from the family home.[1][3]
Coping with this painful personal experience, she wrote a prayer hymn to Mary on 31 May 1870, "Segne du, Maria, segne mich, dein Kind" ("You, Mary, bless me, your child").[4] In 1916, Karl Kindsmüller (1876–1955), a teacher, church musician and composer of several sacred songs from Lower Bavaria, wrote a melody for it.[a][3]
On 10 July 1870, Wöhler became a member of the Catholic Church in
In 1876, Josef Anton Schmid from Oberstaufen requested a "pious poem" ("frommes Gedicht") from her for a memorial plaque for the Jesuit Jakob Rem. Schmid and Wöhler entered an intense correspondence, resulting in an engagement before they had met in person.[1] They married in Riezlern, Kleinwalsertal, and moved to Bregenz.[4] She kept publishing under her maiden name. The couple moved to Schwaz in 1881,[2] where they bought a house and adopted two orphan girls.[4] She kept writing, and was active in the local parish together with her husband. The relationship with her birth family improved, with letters and occasional visits of her parents and her sister in Schwaz, but she never returned home.[2]
She died in Schwaz, and was buried with her husband, who died a few months later, next to the parish church.[1] According to the epitaph, she was a recipient of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice cross.
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Prämaßing, Carl (2017). "Marienlieder einst und jetzt / "Segne du, Maria"". Bote von Fatima (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Heinz-Karg, Katrin (August 2010). "Beistand in größter seelischer Not / Segne du, Maria" (PDF). Misericordia (in German): 22–23. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ a b Neumann, Felix (8 May 2018). "Eine Konvertitin verzaubert die katholische Welt / "Segne du, Maria": Naiver Schlager mit tiefer Botschaft". katholisch.de (in German). Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ a b c Hornung, Esther (2016). "Cordula Wöhler/Peregrina/Schmid in den Analysekategorien "Geschlecht", "Konfession", "Heimat"". theologie-geschichte.de (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
Further reading
- ISBN 3-88309-058-1.
- Julius Mayer (ed.), Alban Stolz: "Fügung und Führung", Konvertitenbilder, Part 3, "Alban Stolz und Cordula Wöhler", Freiburg im Breisgau, 1917
- Wieland Vogel: Doch meine Seele habt ihr nicht. Die Konversion der Dichterin Cordula Wöhler. Christiana-Verlag im Fe-Medienverlag, Kisslegg 2020
External links
- Literature about Cordula Wöhler in the State Bibliography (Landesbibliographie) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Gedichte von Cordula Wöhler (in German) gedichte.xbib.de
- Segne du, Maria, segne mich, dein Kind (in German) st-antonius.at Bregenz 1 May 2008