Directly on the wall of the Hotel Clemar is a commemorative plaque commemorating a great personality of Znojmo: Clement Mary Hofbauer. The patron saint of Vienna, Warsaw and the bakers is inextricably linked with the history of the city. Even before he set out on his journey through Europe, the man from nearby Tasovice completed training as a baker. At that time he was still called Jan and dreamed of a good education and a vocation as a priest. How did a baker from Znojmo become one of the most influential people in Vienna? Read his story.
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer was born on December 26, 1751, the ninth of twelve children. At a young age he wanted to become a priest, but he came from a poor family that had no money for his studies. At the age of fifteen, therefore, he was apprenticed to Znojmo baker František Dobš. Although Clement went on the road relatively soon after his apprenticeship, this profession stayed with him for a long time. In Vienna, he worked as a journeyman baker. His master even wanted him to marry his daughter and take over the trade.
It is no exaggeration to say that his trip to Rome changed his destiny. During this time, among other things, he took the name Clement and learned about the Redemptorist Order. He took his religious vows in March 1785 and was ordained a few days later.
St. Clement then went to Europe to devote himself to helping his fellow men. But he lived in troubled times that kept thwarting his plans. First he went to Vienna, but Emperor Joseph II had just closed more than 800 monasteries and banned popular missions. Then came Warsaw, where St. Clement became famous for his selflessness.
He cared for pilgrims, vagabonds and orphans, for whom he unhesitatingly begged.On one such occasion, a man is said to have insulted him and even spat in his face. But St. Clement remained calm, wiped his face and said, "That was for me. Now I ask for something for my orphans," which so frightened the man that he wordlessly pressed a large sum of money into his hand. But politics once again threw a spanner in the works of St. Clement in Warsaw: Napoleon banished him from Poland.
Then he went back to Vienna, where his church and house became a religious center. It was visited by the poor and the nobility, by soldiers and the intellectuals. He became the advisor of bishops, writers and artists.Through his prominence, he also had influence on the resolution of ecclesiastical issues at the Congress of Vienna.
In Vienna, he also became known for his untiring work.He visited the poor, helped them, and could sit in the confessional for hours until he was exhausted. He did his best to fulfill his duties, even though he was in great pain toward the end of his life. People are said to have told of Clement's bloodstains in the snow.
St. Clement, the baker of Znojmo, died on March 15, 1820, and was canonized and beatified.