Joseph Matthias Hubertus Goebbels (19 March 1836 – 6 September 1911) was a German

Catholic Priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and artist. Goebbels served as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest at the Church of Sankt Maria im Kapitol in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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and became a noted painter of church interiors. He was born in Baesweiler and his father was from

Aldenhoven Aldenhoven () is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 5 km south-west of Jülich, 5 km north of Eschweiler and 20 km north-east of Aachen. Gallery ...

Works

Goebbels painted in the

historicist Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

style of the

Nazarene movement The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of c ...

and decorated the walls of more than 20 churches in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

region. The interiors of Rolduc Abbey near

Kerkrade Kerkrade (; Kerkrade dialect, Ripuarian: ; ; or ''Kirchrath'') is a town and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the southernmost province of the Netherlands. It forms part of the P ...

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are considered his masterpiece. Many of his paintings are no longer extant today, however well-preserved examples can be found near Rolduc, in particular at St. Briktius in Oekoven-

Rommerskirchen Rommerskirchen () is the southernmost municipality in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Notable places Rommerskirchen possesses rich historical inheritances, including numerous remains of the Roman Villae Rusticae, and t ...

''(pictured)'' and at the former Marienborn Monastery () in the village of Hoven near

Zülpich Zülpich (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen. History The town is commonly agreed to be the site with the Latin name of ''Tolbiacum'', famous for the Battle of T ...

. He was also commissioned to paint the wings on the late Gothic altarpiece at

Antwerp Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady () is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Antwerp, Belgium. Today's seat of the Diocese of Antwerp started in 1352 and, although the first stage of construction was ended in 1521, has never been 'completed'. It was construct ...

with pictures from the life of Jesus.

Legacy

In appreciation of his services, in 1892 he was appointed

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at Aachen Minster. Although a tomb in Aachen was built for him, his wishes were to be buried in his birthplace, so he is instead buried in Baesweiler cemetery. In the spring of 2007, a town square in front of the cemetery was named after him.Klaus Hardering: "Kirchenmann und Kirchenmaler: Der Aachener Domkanoniker Matthias Goebbels." In: Schriftenreihe Baesweiler Geschichtsverein 1/2010, pp. 2-82

References

Literature

* Klaus Hardering: ''Die Abteikirche von Klosterrath: Baugeschichte und Bedeutung = De Abdijkerk te Rolduc.'' Utrecht: Clavis, 1998. (Clavis kunsthistorische monografieen; 18) * Anke Twachtmann-Schlichter: ''Matthias Goebbels: Dekorationsmalerei und Kirchenrestaurierung im 19. Jahrhundert in Köln.'' Hildesheim; Zürich; New York: Olms 1994 (Studien zur Kunstgeschichte; Bd. 89) Zugl.: Münster (Westfalen), Univ., Diss., 1992

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goebbels, Matthias 1836 births 1911 deaths People from Aachen (district) 19th-century German Roman Catholic priests Nazarene painters