geschichte.pfad
Historischer Wanderweg Sand
von Manfred Dasbach und Udo Harler
Kapitel 19
Das alte Pfarrhaus
Seiten 55 - 59
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"geschichte.pfad Historischer Wanderweg Sand"
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 19: The old vicarageWhen Peter Ommerborn (1762 – 1837) reached the age of retirement he could look back on an eventful life. In 1826 at the age of 65 he became catholic priest in Sand. He had already worked in two parishes (at Offermannsheide and at Frielingsdorf) where in each place he had built a presbytery. According to tradition he made life difficult for the French occupiers. But “his obstinacy to always look forward and never to go back” proved successful till his old age. (Montanus) He didn’t, therefore, hesitate to have his third vicarage erected at Sand despite his advanced age and in spite of the opposition he met from parishioners. When in 1795 the French-Austrian Revolution War reached the county of Berg, Ommerborn resigned from his office as priest in order to join the guerrilla war against the French occupiers. He was so successful that a bounty of 100 Louis d’Or was placed on his head. |
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Not only were the French his enemies. In the county of Berg many a person sympathized with the ideals of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” and stood up for the abolition of the still existing feudal system, of guild coercion, bondage and serfdom. Ommerborn’s attitude tended towards conservatism. Soon he joined the Austrian army and rendered valuable service as somebody well acquainted with the battle zone. He had to insist for quite some time before the Austrian Honorary Citizens Medal was bestowed on him. In 1826 times were more settled again. After the war Ommerborn had been in charge of the parish at Frielingsdorf. He then applied for the ecclesiastical post of Sankt Severin in Cologne but was given the parish of Sand instead. He took quarters in Lerbach Manor. In addition to his original task he at once began the construction of the third vicarage. He now knew the ropes: he had to find a plot, clarify and secure the financing and plan the construction. He sold his two properties at Offermannsheide (up until now it hasn’t been clear how he had become such a well-to-do man), bought a piece of land next to the (old) church and donated it to the congregation “for the purpose of a new vicarage to be erected thereupon”. |
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Contrary to what one might expect the parish council wasn’t pleased or thankful but disapproved of the project: its members thought that the costs were far too high. They submitted a formal complaint to the district administrator and the archbishop and even made it clear that they would rather dissolve the parish or see it annexed to Herrenstrunden than have to pay for the new building. This became understandable when one is familiar with the situation of the parish in those days: it numbered about 320 parishioners only a fourth of whom were able to render duties to the church. At that time the salary of a teacher was 180 Taler (florins) a year. Taking this fact into consideration the sum of more than 2000 Taler needed for the rectory the final costs for its construction appear in a somewhat different light.
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True to the motto “Never look back but always ahead” Ommerborn succeeded in making the members of the parish council change their minds. He was allowed to carry out the construction work for which he was paid 1.689 Taler (florins). Yet as he noted the new vicarage cost him a total of 2.150 Taler (florins).
He made a present of the difference to the parish and he also donated the land on which the building stood as well as another piece of land measuring 800 square meters.
Mayor Kolter was an insightful man and he therefore thankfully accepted the donation to the church community. At the end of 1833 the presbytery was finished. At last Ommerborn could leave his damp lodgings in Lerbach Manor and move into his beautiful new house. Regrettably the three years during which he inhabited the vicarage don’t give him much peace. (He died in 1837) In 1835 two members of the parish council filed a complaint against him. |
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They pretended he had unrightfully cut down oak trees that were church property so as to recoup some of his expenses. Rather embittered Ommerborn produced the necessary authorization. Having meticulously carried out his ministry for 48 years nothing had prepared him for such an accusation. He didn’t want to know the names of the informers but he would like to have seen them punished. For a long time after his death this bad feeling caused by the building of the vicarage lingered on in the parish. Until 1960 the parish priests lived in this house; then a modern vicarage was built next to the new church that is used today. The vicarage built by Ommerborn was unoccupied and started to go to rack and ruin. Once again it became an eye sore. Everybody was happy therefore when in 1981 a new leaseholder was found who restored the building and made it into a gem.
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