Heimerad

The Holy Heimerad ( Heimo, Heimrad, Haimrad; * 970 in Meßkirch, † June 28, 1019 on the Hasunger mountain near Kassel ) was a German priest and itinerant preacher. He evangelized the region between Hessen and Lower Saxony today. His feast day is June 28.

Life

Its origin from Meßkirch ( 970 ) is expressly attested in an ancient manuscript. The young, probably originating from a humble priest undertook pilgrimages in Germany, went with about 30 years on a trip to Italy (Rome) and then on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After his return to Germany he wanted to become a monk in the monastery of Hersfeld, but there was expelled after a dispute over the wearing of religious clothing. Also in Paderborn he was not included in the monastery. He then submitted as a wandering monk. Because of its unusual way of life, he was expelled from several places and neglected more and more. Finally, he settled on the mountain at Hasunger Burghasungen in Northern Hesse and managed the local Michael's Chapel. Originally mocked and ridiculed even there, he was venerated as a saint with the times and asked by ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries for advice. He was known to the Empress Cunegonde, Bishop Meinwerk of Paderborn and the Archbishop of Mainz Aribo. Heimerad died on 28 June 1019 and was buried on the mountain Hasunger.

Worship

The main source for his life is the biography, written by the monk of Hersfeld Ekkebert 1085-1090.

On the Hasunger mountain, Archbishop Aribo two years after Heimerads death in 1021 to build a church which became the nucleus of the company founded in 1074 Kanonikerstifts. Its conversion to the monastery Hasungen was completed in 1081. Simple people revered him as a saint and miracle worker. The pilgrimages to his grave experienced in the second half of the 11th century, culminating, as Hasungen next to St. Sebald in Nuremberg was one of the most popular German places of pilgrimage. In later centuries, especially after the introduction of the Reformation in the country county of Hesse in 1526, and the related closure of the monastery Hasungen, the worship Heimerads decreased radically. Through the publication of his Vita 1681 in book form and its inclusion in 1744 in the Holy collection Acta Sanctorum Heimerad stepped back into the consciousness of many creditors. In his home Meßkirch you thought again of the Holy, and so took him in 1773 the painter Meinrad of Au in the ceiling painting of the town church.

Today, the wooden Heimerad Cross reminds bronze plaque on the work Heimerads on the Burghasunger mountain.

Swell

  • Ekkebert of Hersfeld: Vita sancti Haimeradi, ed. by R. Kopke, in: Annales et chronica aevi Salici. Vitae aevi Carolini et Saxonici ( = Monumenta Historica Germaniae, Scriptores in folio, Vol 10 [ Vol 12 of the complete works ] ). Hiersemann, Hannover 1852, pp. 595-612, the text Ekkeberts and a later paraphrase contains ( digitized )
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