KROTZ, BONAVENTURA. - Dominican preacher, Friedrich Julius in secular life, born on 20 Dec. 1862 in Karlsruhe, died on 12 May 1914 in Berlin. Ordained priest in 1888 and chaplain in Heidelberg. Endowed with singular eloquence and drawn by the figure of Lacordaire, he entered the Dominicans at Venlo in 1892. Devoting himself to preaching, with his persuasive word, rich in broad learning and rare experience of contemporary life, he achieved the widest and most flattering successes.
Called by Meyenberg the “German Lacordaire,” he was highly celebrated in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the United States (1905-1906), earning in the Order the title of general preacher (1908). From 1907 parish priest at S. Maria della Vittoria in Berlin, and in 1911 chaplain to university students, always an initiator of religious, charitable, social, and cultural works, he distinguished himself as a director of souls, especially of converts. He wrote Das ewige Licht, edited by A. Donders (Freiburg 1920; 9th ed. there 1923); Mein Rosenkranz (there 1920).