Diaries of Swabian monasteries and parishes from the period of the French Revolution: self-awareness of the clergy in times of crisis

Abstract

At the end of the Holy Roman Empire the material condition of the Catholic Church was badly affected by the French Revolution, the Napoleonic wars and the danger of secularization concerning whole Europe at that time. It may be concluded that at the end of the 18th century in monasteries and parishes the events of everyday life were recorded to a much greater extent than before, which probably helped to cope with the crisis, but also served to justify one’s own actions. At that time there appeared individual and institutional self-testimonies such as diaries, memoirs and letters.From the abundance of sources, I chose to present in this article detailed fragments from the diary of Father Benedict Baader (1751-1819), a prior and archivist of the Dominican community in (Ober-)Elchingen; manuscript-diaries recording activities of the deanery in Weisenhorn and the parish in Illerberg written by the dean Christoph von Zwergen in the years 1793-1830 (the years of his term of office: 1776-1830); notes of Johann Nepomuk Kriehofer (1770-1836), a vicar in Krumbach and Groskissendorf and later a parish priest in Adelsried and Zusmarshausen. Th e selected sources show how the clergymen recorded and commented on the symptoms of the crisis from a regional point of view. The diaries were written in a very interesting way and they deserve publication within the project of Polish-German cooperation.

Keywords

• dzienniki
• szwabskie klasztory i parafie
• okres rewolucji francuskiej
• postrzeganie siebie