Stütting, Franz (1877-1962)

Franz Stütting completed an apprenticeship as carpenter (1892-1895) and was a journeyman in Mimberg and Oberhausen (1895-1897) when he was called up for military service from October 1897 to September 1899. He worked as journeyman carpenter in Neheim (Ruhr) and Godesberg (Bonn) until February 1901, when he joined the Pallottine Society in Limburg.

He made his first profession in September 1903 and was sent as carpenter to Beagle Bay [2] together with Brothers Krallmann [3], Hermann [4] and Helmprecht [5] – the ‘fourth expedition’. In December 1906 he took his final profession. He suffered from heat exhaustion and returned to Germany in October 1909, most likely together with Br. Hermann who was also sent home due to poor health.¹

He became a cabinetmaker at the Pallottine house in Ehrenbreitstein, and during World War I he was drafted again but was assigned for civilian service on account of his health. He worked at Limburg and Ehrenbreitstein, and gained a licence to train carpentry apprentices in 1929. During World War II the Pallottine premises were requisitioned by the military, and he had to seek shelter with his family ‘like many of our aging brothers’.² When possession of the monastery was returned to the Pallottines after the war, he returned and continued to work as carpenter as much as he could until he was admitted to the Infirmary. His asthma and failing health brought him to the brink of death several times, and he received the last rites several times.

Franz Stütting during military service. Source: Stütting, Franz, Br. Personalakten, ZAPP	Br. Franz Stütting shortly before his death. Source: Stütting, Franz, Br. Personalakten, ZAPP.