Joseph von Klinkowström

Who was Joseph von Klinkowström?

Joseph von Klinkowström was a Jesuit missionary and the son of Friedrich August von Klinkowström of the Prussian noble family of Klinkowström.

He received his early education at his father's school, and in 1831 entered the Jesuit novitiate in Graz. After completing his novitiate and the study of rhetoric and philosophy, he taught for three years in the lower forms of the Gymnasium. He made his theology in Rome, where he was ordained priest in 1846. On his return to Graz he taught rhetoric, and subsequently, during the confusion caused by the revolution of 1848, held the position of tutor in a noble Westphalian family. When, two years later, a popular missionary movement began in Germany, Father Klinkowström was allotted to the German missionaries, proved himself to be efficient. He continued his efforts in Austria in 1852, and his sermons in Vienna led the emperor to express a desire to see him. The result of the interview was the establishment of a Jesuit community in Vienna. Here from 1859 to 1872, in which year his strength began to fail, Klinkowström continued his preaching activity.