Wolf, Friedrich

Catholic clerical councillor

Born: 07.01.1884 in Wallmerod

Died: 04.03.1970 in Wiesbaden

After studying theology in Fulda, Freiburg and Limburg, Wolf was ordained a priest in 1908. He then worked as a chaplain in several parishes, including Frankfurt am Main, before becoming a sub-rector at the Limburg seminary in 1913 and a divisional priest from 1914-18. After the war, he held parish posts in Kransberg and Frankfurt-Höchst.

Bishop Antonius Hilfrich gave him the title of Spiritual Councillor in 1931 and appointed him dean of the parish of Wiesbaden. For health reasons, he gave up his office as parish priest in 1953, but remained dean of the city until 1962. In 1949, he was conferred the dignity of Apostolic Protonotary by papal breve. Dr. Franz Schramm, Ministerialrat, praised Wolf for his great commitment to the Catholic population of Wiesbaden and the state of Hesse after 1945 and for the great services he had rendered. In 1954, Wolf was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

As early as 1934, he had warned that the National Socialists were "finishing off" the Church by legal means and had also called on the bishops to openly protest against this. Like him, many Catholics had assumed that the Nazi leadership would not abide by the Reich Concordat of 1933. Under his aegis, the bomb damage to St. Boniface's Church was repaired after 1945 and the interior of the church was restored and painted on the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 1949.

Wolf also wrote articles and glosses for the diocesan newspaper. After his resignation as parish priest, he published texts on historical and folkloristic topics in the yearbook of the diocese of Limburg and in the diocesan newspaper until his death.

His grave is in the south cemetery.