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.
Early life and occupations
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.
He was first a "manservant" "(Template:Lang-pl)", i.e. below the rank of priest in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, in Środa Wielkopolska during two years (1892–1894). Ryszard then became a vicar at the Gniezno Cathedral.
Between 1894 and 1899, he worked as a priest in the German imperial army. He transfered as parish priest to the garrison church in Magdeburg, then moved as the military chaplain of the 7th division, billeted in Berlin.
During this period, he permanently showed support to Polish national activities, in particular by actively participating in meetings and happenings organised by Polish organizations in Berlin. Concurrently, Markwart expressed tactfulness towards German Catholics, gaining also their sympathy.
Activity in Bydgoszcz
In 1899, the parish church in Bydgoszcz lost his priest, Father Józef Choraszewski. To replace him, Florian Stablewski, the serving archbishop of Gniezno, supported Markwart candidacy for the position of parson of the parish.
With the tacit agreement of the German authorities, Ryszard Markwart was nominated to this place on November 15, 1899. As the parish priest of Bydgoszcz, he taught religion in the two existing realschules of the city: in downtown (today's High School No. 1) and in the old town (today's High Seminary of Bydgoszcz Diocese at 18 Grodzka Street).
He additionally supervised the religious and charity associations of the parish. In particular, Ryszard Markwart took extra care of the "Polish-Catholic Workers' Society" (Template:Lang-pl), reactivated in 1892, which championnd patriotism and Polish culture. Under his patronage, the institution joined the "Union of Workers' Societies" (Template:Lang-pl) in 1904 in Poznań.
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