Ryszard Markwart
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Father Ryszard Markwart | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 9, 1868 |
| Died | August 16, 1906 (aged 37) |
| Burial place | Nowofarny cemetery, Bydgoszcz |
| Nationality | German  German Empire, Polish  Poland |
| Occupation | Priest |
| Religion | Catholic Church |
| Church | Latin Church |
Ryszard Markwart (1868-1906) was a German-Polish catholic priest and Polish national activist who served in Magdeburg, Berlin and Bydgoszcz.
Life
Ryszard Markwart was born on September 9, 1868, in Ostróda, then part of the German Empire, from a Polish-German family.
His father was a German of the Evangelical faith and worked as a veterinarian. His mother Norberta was a Polish Roman catholic woman. She had the most influence on Ryszard and was critical to shape her son's attachment to Polishness and Catholic faith.
After graduating from gymnasium, he attended lectures at different universities:
Furthermore, Markwart was educated in theological seminaries in Poznań and Gniezno. He finally received ordination in Gniezno.
Initially, he was mansjonarz in Środa Wielkopolska (1892–1894), then vicar at Gniezno cathedral. In the years 1894–1899 he worked as a priest in German army. He was the parish priest of the garrison church in Magdeburg, then the military chaplain of the 7th division in Berlin. On a daily basis, he was sympathetic to Polish national activities, incl. actively participating in the assemblies of Polish organizations in Berlin. At the same time, he was tactful towards German Catholics, gaining their sympathy as well.
Activity in Bydgoszcz
After the death of Fr. Józef Choraszewski, parish priest parish church in Bydgoszcz, Fr. the archbishop of Gniezno Florian Stablewski supported his candidacy for the position of parish priest of this church. In the absence of any objection from the German authorities, on November 15, 1899, he was approved in this position. As the parish priest of Bydgoszcz, he taught religion in Bydgoszcz royal gymnasium and real gymnasium and looked after the existing at parish religious and charity associations. Particular care was taken by the Polish-Catholic Workers' Society, reactivated in 1892, which promoted patriotism and Polish culture. At the time when the patron of the Society was Fr. Markwart, this organization joined the Union of Workers' Societies in Poznań (1904).
Due to difficulties in providing pastoral care in the vast and populous Bydgoszcz parish, he actively strove to build in Bydgoszcz y Church of St. Trinity. In 1906, he also founded Nowofarny Cemetery at Artyleryjska Street, because Starofarny Cemetery could no longer fulfill its task due to the fact that it was full. In 1904, the archbishop of Gniezno granted him the title of an honorary clerical counselor.
He combined his pastoral work with active national activity among Polish inhabitants of Bydgoszcz. In 1905, he was elected a member of the Management Board of the K. Marcinkowski Scientific Support Society in [Bydgoszcz]] and of the organization "Straż", which opposed the Germanization policy of the German authorities. His active national activity aroused opposition from German nationalists. They informed the authorities Regency, falsely that Fr. Markwart wants to teach religion in Polish. Catholics of German nationality, demanding a separate parish, which was opposed by Fr. Markwart, demanded his resettlement from Bydgoszcz y (1904). However, he was not removed from the rectory of the parish church, and further efforts by the Germans to relocate him were shattered by his sudden death.
He died on August 16, 1906 in Świnoujście, while swimming in Baltic Sea. He was buried at Newfair Cemetery, with the participation of a crowd of Polish inhabitants of Bydgoszcz.
After 1920, one of the streets in [[Śródmieście (Bydgoszcz) | Bydgoszcz Śródmieście] was named after him.
See also
References
External links
- (in Polish)
Bibliography
- Błażejewski Stanisław, Kutta Janusz, Romaniuk Marek: Bydgoski Słownik Biograficzny. Tom II. Bydgoszcz 1995. ISBN 83-85327-27-4, str. 100-101