50th anniversary of death of Clemens August count of galen - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1996 - 100 Pfennig

The bishop of Münster, Clemens August Cardinal Count von Galen, was born on 16 March 1878 at Burg Dinklage in the district of Vechta. His parents were Count Ferdinand Heribert von Galen and Elisabeth, b. Countess von Spee. His education at home was marked by a deep religiosity and a strong sense of family. In Münster he was ordained a priest on May 28, 1904. He worked in Berlin for the longest time of his priestly ministry. In 1906 he became chaplain to St. Matthias, Berlin-Schöneberg, then Kuratus to St. Clement and since 1919 pastor of St. Matthias. In 1929, the bishop of Münster appointed him pastor of St. Lamberti in Münster. On October 28, 1933, he was consecrated bishop by Cardinal Joseph Schulte. True to his slogan »Nec laudibus, nec timore - carefree for praise and fear«, he opposed the ideology of National Socialism for the first time in his 1934 Lenten Pastoral Letter. In the summer of 1941 he denounced in his famous sermons, the human rights violations of the Nazi regime. He expected that he would be killed. On February 18, 1946 Pope Pius XII appointed him. to the College of Cardinals. After his arrival as a cardinal in Münster on March 16, 1946, he fell seriously ill. On March 22, 1946 Clemens August Cardinal Galen died in Münster. His strength of character in severe distress remains a role model for future times. (Text: Canon Dr. Paul Hellbernd, Münster)