He is known nationwide for his sermons.
Many in the Ammertal took him to their hearts.
Father Karl Stribny from Unterammergau is celebrating his 50th jubilee as a priest in Altenau on July 4th.
Unterammergau
- How great must a sermon be if it has not been forgotten even 40 years later?
The believer, who takes Karl Stribny's hand in hers and thanks him with all her heart for his words from then, testifies to Stribny's magic.
He smiles.
When the Pallottine Father thinks back to that meeting.
He is a master of the spoken word.
Unterammergauer's sermons penetrate deeply into the soul.
He is known for this beyond the district boundaries.
On July 4th he celebrates his 50th anniversary as a priest.
The 78-year-old will speak again in Altenau - and inspire people.
Stribny was born on a lonely farm
In his childhood Stribny was still a long way from his current calling.
He was born on August 17, 1942 on a lonely farm in the Black Forest.
It took the boy an hour to get to school in the town of Heubach.
Simple, mind you.
Over hill and dale.
After class, free time was a foreign word for the young boy.
Not to mention vacation.
After school he had to help his mountain farming family.
Farmers who looked after cattle and forest.
We went into the wood with a saw and an ax.
He always had to get out of bed early in the morning to look after the animals with his one year older brother.
They had cows.
And goats.
“My favorite animals - to this day,” says Stribny.
He loved reading even more.
Since the farm had a water wheel and therefore its own electricity, there was light.
“An absolute rarity,” he says.
The neighbors, all hundreds of meters away, only had petroleum lamps.
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Stribny was ordained a priest on July 2, 1971 by Bishop Josef Stimpfle in Augsburg Cathedral.
© Private
As a teenager, he was shaped by a life full of privation and sparse, work, and much more the forest.
He soaked up the quiet in the few breaks like a sponge.
Just like the noises of the birds, of the branches rustling in the wind - all of this often made him contemplate.
Until one day, out of the silence, an inner voice answered.
“I slowly felt what all young people should feel.” His calling.
Then he knew what would become of him one day.
But reality caught up with him first.
His father didn't believe in the priestly plans.
The boy should work “something smart”, stay on the farm, cultivate the land.
Stribny only joined the Pallottine Order at the age of 23
It was only at the age of 23, in the summer of 1965, that he joined the Pallottine Order in Bamberg as a “late caller”, as he says with a smile today.
He studied theology near Koblenz, then in Augsburg.
From the mountain farm to the big city.
While he was still one of the very few Catholics in an otherwise Protestant class during his school days, he was now among his own kind.
Back then, in the 1960s, things were anything but harmonious between the two faith groups.
On July 2, 1971, Stribny was ordained a priest in Augsburg Cathedral from Bishop Josef Stimpfle (1916 to 1996).
After working as a youth chaplain in Freising, Kempten, Landsberg and Kaufbeuren, he came to Unterammergau as a priest in 2002.
Father fell in love
He quickly fell in love with the country and its people.
“Love at first sight,” as he says.
“From the Black Forest to the Ammerwald, that fits well!” Again, the quiet in the forest showed him the way.
During a walk on the Steckenberg, the inner voice of his youth spoke up again.
“I'm supposed to stay here,” says Stribny.
"You are right here."
He has experienced a lot in the 19 years in the Ammertal.
Even a misfortune did not break him in 2003 - he was already 60 years old.
He was in a serious car accident and was struggling to survive.
Since then he has had to take it easy.
But he always kept his Sunday sermons.
Also his deep faith.
“I've wondered if becoming a priest was the right decision,” he admits.
Today he knows: "I'm glad I didn't run away like so many others."
He loves playing chess on his tablet, reading in the winter garden or hiking in nature.
But what he loves most is preparing his sermons.
He often takes days of his own time.
Work that believers appreciate - and earned him his flattering reputation.
Jubilee service
The festive service for the 50th jubilee of Father Karl Stribny will take place on Sunday, July 4th, in Altenau.
Start on the Schulanger near the parish church of St. Antonius is at 10 a.m.
In bad weather, mass takes place in the church.