MOLITOR, WILHELM

MOLITOR, WILHELM. - German writer and theologian, b. at Zweibrücken on 24 Aug. 1819, d. at Speyer on 11 Jan. 1890. He studied theology at Heidelberg and Bonn; held legal offices; in 1851 he was ordained priest, and in 1857 became vicar of Speyer Cathedral. There he taught art history and homiletics at the Seminary until 1865; in 1869 Pius IX summoned him to Rome for the preparatory work of the Vatican Council. He published critical and religious writings (Über kanonisches Gerichtsverfahren gegen Kleriker, Mainz 1856; Rom, seine Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft, 1862; Über Goethes Faust, 1862), collections of sermons for feast days (1881) and for Lent (1882), sacred songs (Domlieder 1846); as well as poetic works (M. Magdalena, 1863; Die Blumen von Sizilien, 1880), novels (Die schöne Zweibrücherin, 1884; Memoiren eines Totenkopfes, 1875, etc.), and short stories, mostly under the pseudonyms Ulrich Riesler and Bruno Bonner.