Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/608

 SCHMIDT

546

SCHOENBERG

Christoph von Schmid

author dailj' moved, and were not at fiist meant for publication. To enforce his lessons in religious in- struction, he sought to illustrate them by examples taken from Christian antiquity, from legends, and other sources. Usually a story or a chapter was read to the children after school hours as a reward, on condition that they should write it down at home. He thus became familiar with the range of thought and the speech of children, and was careful to speak t heir language rather than that of books. He was able to observe with his own eyes what it was that impressed the minds and hearts of children both of tender and of riper years. Their manner of repeating the stories also helped him.

He was the pioneer writer of books for children, and his great merits are fully acknowledged by both Cath- olic and Protestant writers on pedagogics. His stories have been translated into twenty-four languages, and to this day he is regarded in Germany as the prince of story-writers for the young. He is the greatest edu- cator Bavaria produced in the eighteenth century, and ranks, both as to theorj' and practice, with the most celebrated of modern educators. Canon Schmid was the ideal of a mild, charitable, unselfish man, of child- like simplicity of character, a devout Catholic priest, whose virtues are mirrored in his writings. On 3 Sep- tember, 1901, Thannhausen unveiled the bronze statue of the celebrated story-writer and educator.

Erinnerungen (Memoirs), published by Werfer (Augsburg, 1853-7); Letters and Diaries of Chr. von Schmid, ed. Werfer (Munich, 1868); Monataschrift fiir kaiholische Lehrerinnen (1905, nn. 1 and 2).

B. GULDNER.

Schmidt, Friedrich von, b. at Frickenhofen, 1825; d. at Vienna, 1891. After studying at the technical high school at Stuttgart, he became, in 1845, one of the guild of workmen employed in building the Cologne cathedral, on which he worked for fif- teen years. Most of the working drawings for the towers were mafle by Schmidt and Statz. In 1848 he attained to the rank of master-workman and in 1856 passed the state examination as architect. After becoming a Catholic in 185S, he went to Milan as professor of architecture and began the restora- tion of the cathedral of San Ambrogio. On account of the confusion caused by the war of 1859 he went to Vienna, where he was a professor at the academy and cathedral architect from 1862; in 1865 he received the title of chief architect, and in 1888 was ennobled by the emperor. Next to Ferstel he is the most important modern Gothic architect. In this style he built at Vienna the Church of St. Lazams, the church of the White Tanners, that of the Brigittines. He alsfj built the Classical gymnafiium with a Gothic i^'Mht and the memorial building (^n-cted on the site of the amphitlif-atre that had be(n d<slroyed by fire. The last mentioned building was in Venetian Gothic. A large number of small ecclesiastical and secular buildings in Austria and Germany were designed by him. His last work was the restoration of the ca- therlral at Fiinfkirchen in Hungary. His chief fame however he gained by his restoration of the Cathedral

of St. Stephen at Vienna. He took down the spire and worked on its rebuilding up to 1872. His design for the town-hall of Vienna was also a very success- ful one. The projecting middle section has a fine central tower that rises free to a height of 328 ft. and is flanked by four smaller towers. This section harmoniously combines height ^dth broad horizontal members. A large court and six smaller ones are enclosed by the extensive building, the wings of which end in pavilions. Nothing in the building shows the regularity of a set pattern; the architect, rather, made skilful use of individual Renaissance motifs. \Mien he began in Vienna his manner was rather stiflf, but he worked his way up to artistic freedom. In building the parish church at Fiinfhaus he even ventured to set a fagade vsath two towers in front of an octagonal central structure \\\ih a high cupola and a corona of chapels. His motto was to unite German force with Italian free- dom. He modified the tendency to height in the German Gothic by horizontal members and intro- duced many modifications into the old standard of the style in order to attain a more agreeable general effect. In this way he always remained unfettered and original in his style and replaced in part what was lacking in decorative details or in the means of producing the same. He was teacher and model to many younger architects. A bronze statue of him has been placed before the to^\'n-hall of Vienna. His son Heinrich was overseer at the building of the cathedral of Frankfort and afterwards professor of medieval architecture at Munich.

Reichensperger, Zur Charakteristik des Baumeister Fr. ton Schmidt (Dusseldorf, 1891); Kuhn, Kunstgeschichle, II (New York, 1909).

G. GlETMANN.

Schneemann, Gerard, b. at Wesel, Lower Rhine, 12 Feb., 1829; d. at Kerkrade, Holland, 20 Nov., 1885. After studying law for three years, he entered the seminary at Miinster where he was ordained sub- deacon in 1850. He became a member of the Society of Jesus, 24 Nov., 1851, and was ordained priest on 22 Dec, 1856. For some years he taught philoso- phy at Bonn and Aachen, and subsequently lec- tured on church history and canon law in the Jes- uit scholasticate at Maria Laach. His first notable publication was "Studien tiber die Honoriusfrage " (Freiburg, 1864) in which he refuted the opinion of DoUinger. Between the years 1865 and 1870, he contributed a number of timely and important dis- sertations to "Die Encyclica Papst Pius IX" and "Das ocumenische Concil", two series of papers that were published at Freiburg under the general title of "Stimmcn aus Maria-Laach". In 1871 the "Stim- men" became a regular monthly review and for six years was edited by Father Schneemann. He wjia moreover the chief promoter in the collaboration and publication of the "Acta et decrcta sacrorum conciliorum recentiorum", commonly called "Col- lectio Lacensis", and died while preparing the docu- ments of the Vatican Council for the seventh and last volume. His work " Controversianmi de divinaj gratia; liberique arbitrii concordia initia et progres- sus" (Freiburg, 1881), was the occasion of a renewed controversy on the nature of grace and free will.

Slimmen aus Maria-Ijaach, XXX (ISHG), 167 sq.; Collectio Lacensis, VII (Freiburg, 1885), ix; Sommeuvooel, liihl. de la Compfigniede Jesus, VII (Paris, 1896), c. 822; Fkins, .S. Thomce doctrina de coOperatione Dei (Pari.s, 1892); Dummermuth, De- fensio doctriruc S. Thomcc de prmmotione physica (Paris, 1896).

F. X. Delany.

Schoenberg, Matthias von, author, b. at Ehingen, in the Diocese of Constance, 9 Nov., 1732; d. at Munich, 20 Apr., 1792. Of his early life little is known; he entered the Society of Jesus on 15 Sept., 1750. From 1766 to 1772 he was in charge of Eleemosyna Aurea, an institution founded for the