DIESSEL, GERHARD. - Redemptorist preacher, born at Freren (Hannover) on 21 January 1845, died at Dornbirn (Austria) on 6 August 1907. He studied at Louvain and Münster. Ordained priest in 1868, he served as parish priest at Eutin, missionary at Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands, and subsequently parish priest at Hamburg. In 1878 he entered the Redemptorists and became novice master at Eggenburg, later superior of the houses at Grulich, Filippsdorf, Wartha, and Katzelsdorf; a renowned preacher, he was also much sought after as a spiritual director.
His writings were chiefly of a practical nature. Notable among them are the various volumes of Fastenpredigten (Regensburg 1809-1914); Maria, der Christen Hort (2 vols., ibid. 1900); Die Arbeit betrachtet im Lichte des Glaubens (3rd ed., ibid. 1904); Das grösste Denkmal der göttl. Liebe (2nd ed., 2 vols., ibid. 1909), which contains in its introduction a brief biography of the author; Predigten und Konferenzen (3 vols., ibid. 1912-14); Die betrachtende Ordensfrau (2 vols., ibid. 1921-26).