Bernhard Heinrich Overberg (1 May 1754 – November 8, 1826) was a German

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 ...

ecclesiastic, educator and author. As an instructor of the teachers he shaped the educational level in Münster and Westphalia.

Youth

Overberg was born of peasant parents in the village of Höckel, near Osnabrück, and became a pedlar like his father. At fifteen a priest prepared him for college, and he studied with the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

in Rheine. From 1774 he studied in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, and was ordained priest in 1779.

Normal school

At this time, the schools in Germany were very poor. A 1580 edict from Christian I, Elector of Saxony had made

sacristan A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretal ...

s serve as schoolteachers, in addition to their other duties, which left them little time or interest in teaching. By Overberg's day, schools in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

were often taught by discharged

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s, while in Westphalia the teachers-cum-sacristans often worked a third job as day-labourers. Overberg wrote to the Archbishop Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels, complaining that the poor pay could not attract good teachers. In 1783, the vicar-general, Freiherr von Furstenberg, resolved to found a normal school in Münster. This school would offer a course of practical and theoretical study for schoolteachers during the autumn vacation, paid for at public expense; teachers who passed the final examination would receive an increase in salary. Impressed by Overberg's teaching work as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

in Everswinkel, Furstenberg offered Overberg a position as director of the school.Löffler, Klemens. "Bernhard Heinrich Overberg." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 27 July 2019 At first, Overberg himself instructed the teachers; later, as the school grew from twenty pupils to more than a hundred, he employed an assistant. Overberg gave five lessons daily between 21 August to November, and taught method as well as the various school subjects. He accepted women into his school, making it Germany's first training course for female teachers. In 1789, Princess Adelheid Amalie Gallitzin visited the school and found herself so impressed that she enrolled her son, Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin. Under Overberg's influence, Gallitizin returned to her childhood Catholicism, taking Overberg as her confessor and spiritual advisor. Overberg became part of her circle of close friends, alongside Furstenberg, philosophers Johann Georg Hamann and François Hemsterhuis, and poet Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg. Overberg remained director of the school until his death in 1826, despite holding other positions in the meantime.

Other work

Besides teaching in his school, Overberg gave instruction in the catechism for twenty-seven years in the Ursuline convent without remuneration. Every Sunday he recapitulated all that he had lectured upon during the week in a public lecture which was attended by people of all classes, especially by students of theology. Overberg became regent of the ecclesiastical seminary in 1809, before which he had been for some time synodal examiner and member of the ''Landschulkommission''. In 1818 he was awarded 1818 the Prussian Red Eagle, and in 1823, honorary member of the cathedral chapter. Overberg died 8 November 1826. His grave is located in the choir of the

Überwasserkirche Überwasserkirche () is the common name of a Gothic architecture, Gothic hall church in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a ''Liebfrauenkirche'' (Church of Our Dear Lady), dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary. Officially St. ...

in Münster, where he was dean and pastor. In 2004, Voltlage commemorated the 250th anniversary of his birth with a number of events. Bishop Franz-Josef Bode from Osnabrück celebrated the closing mass of the festival year. Numerous educational institutions and streets are named after Overberg.

Works

* ''Anweisung zum zweckmässigen Schulunterricht'' (1797) (Instructions for practical school lessons for the school teachers in the Hochstifte Münster) * ''Biblische Geschichte'' (1799) * ''Christkatholisches Religionsbuch'' (1804) * ''Katechismus der christlichen Lehre'' (1804) * ''Sechs Bücher vom Priesterstande'' (1858)

References

External links

Online Biography of Bernhard Heinrich Overberg (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Overberg, Bernhard Heinrich People from Osnabrück (district) 1754 births 1826 deaths