Johann Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner (17 October 1728 – 6 June 1783) was a German

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

, promoting the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. While working as a civil servant for the

Bavarian court The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingdo ...

, he published a hymnal which contained a complete German High Mass and songs such as " Das Grab ist leer, der Held erwacht" (The grave is empty, the hero awoken) for which he is known. These hymns and especially his German mass, used in settings by

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

, remain popular to this day.

Career

Beginning life as Johann Franz Seraph Kohlbrenner in

Traunstein Traunstein (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger Traunstein (district), district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health se ...

on 17 October 1728, he was the son of Rupert Kohlbrenner, a worker in a

salt works A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The salt pans are shallow and expansive, allowing sunlight to penetrate and reach the seawater. Natural salt pans are formed throu ...

. After attending the local ''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

'', he worked as a clerk at the salt works, responsible for the company's archives. At age 25, Kohlbrenner was called to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

to revise and supervise the Registry of the Exchequer (''Registratur der Hofkammer''). In 1762, he installed a tree garden in the elector's Aerarium in Lechhausen. From 1766, he published a journal of the type, the ''Intelligenzblatt der Churbaierischen Lande''. In 1777, together with the priest and composer , Kohlbrenner published in

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

the first part of a Roman Catholic

hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...

, ''Der heilige Gesang zum Gottesdienste in der römisch-katholischen Kirche'', which promoted

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

singing in German, in the spirit of

the Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a European intellectual and philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained through rationalism and empirici ...

. After this hymnal was also published in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

in 1781, he added a second part, published there in 1783. Part of the hymnal was his '' Singmesse'', for singing the complete

mass ordinary The ordinary, in Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted with the '' proper'', which is that part of ...

in German instead of the traditional

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. His German mass in ten songs was set to music by

several times, called ''

Deutsches Hochamt (German High Mass) is the title common to several mass compositions by Michael Haydn, setting the mass ordinary in German by Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner. Three of the works require trained singers and orchestra, while a fourth is kept simple to ...

'' (German High Mass). On 26 June 1778

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) was a German nobleman of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, Sulzbach branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He became Count Palatine of Sulzbach at the age of six following the death of his father J ...

, made Kohlbrenner a ''

Reichsritter The Free Imperial Knights (, ) were free nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, whose direct overlord was the Emperor. They were the remnants of the medieval free nobility ('' edelfrei'') and the ministeriales. What distinguished them from other kn ...

'' (Imperial Knight). Unmarried, he died at age 54 on 6 June 1783, in Munich and was buried at the cemetery of ''Unserer Lieben Frau Gottesaker zu St. Salvator''. The inscription read: Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner is still known for his German High Mass and for his hymn which appears in the regional section of the Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speak ...

'' for Austria (2013 edition) as GL 710. " Das Grab ist leer, der Held erwacht" is frequently sung in Easter services. His hometown, Traunstein, has named a ''Mittelschule'' after him.

Works

* ''Das baierische und pfälzische Landmann in der verbessernden Landwirthschaft.'' Munich 1769 () * ''Geographische Mauth-Charte von Baiern.'' Augsburg 1764 () * ''Der heilige Gesang zum Gottesdienste in der römisch-katholischen Kirche.'' Landshut 1777
Digitalisat
* ''Materialien für die Sittenlehre, Litteratur, Landwirthschaft, zur Kenntnis der Producte, und für die Geschichte alt und neuer Zeiten.'' München 1774.

Literature

* * Cornelia Baumann: ''"Wie wenig sind, die dieses wagen!" Franz von Kohlbrenner, Traunstein 1728 – München 1783.'' Drei-Linden-Verlag, Grabenstätt 1985. * Cornelia Oelwein: ''Franz von Kohlbrenner (1728–1783)''. Ein berühmter Traunsteiner. Chiemgau Dr., Traunstein 1996. * Daniel Schlögl: ''Der planvolle Staat''. Raumerfassung und Reformen in Bayern 1750 – 1800. C.H. Beck, München 2002, . * Lorenz Westenrieder:
Leben des Johann Franz Seraph von Kohlbrenner samt seinem Portrait
'. Strobl, München 1783 () * anon.: ''Kohlbrenner, wie er war. oder Anmerkungen und Anekdoten zu dem von Hr. Prof. Westenrieder verfaßten Leben des Johann Franz Seraph Edlen von Kohlbrenner.'' 1793 () * * Clemens Alois Baader: ''Das gelehrte Baiern, oder Lexikon aller Schriftsteller, welche Baiern im 18. Jahrhundert erzeugte oder ernährte''. Nürnberg 1804, Sp. 606–610 ()

References

External links

*

Bayerische Landesbibliothek
Kohlbrenner, Johann Franz Seraph
bmlo.lmu.de
Franz Seraph Kohlbrenner als Herausgeber des "Münchener Intelligenzblattes."
catalog.princeton.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohlbrenner, Franz Seraph von German Roman Catholic hymnwriters People from Traunstein 1728 births 1783 deaths