Early life and education Born on 3 February 1887, in
Schopfheim in
Baden, Germany, Metzger studied first at the
lycee in Konstanz, where
Martin Heidegger was also a student. Here Metzger gave a lecture on the "History of the Monastery at Reichenau". As a student, Metzger likely lived at Saint Conrad, a student residence established by the archbishop of Freiburg to provide religious training for those preparing for Holy Orders. One of the highly regarded professors at the
lycee was an instructor by the name of Pacius, a democrat and pacifist who taught modern languages. Metzger then attended the University of
Freiburg im Breisgau and then at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, where he earned a doctorate in theology.
Work In 1911 he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, and was sent to parish work in the
Archdiocese of Freiburg, since he definitely didn't want to pursue a scientific career. "My object is not to become a scholar, nor ... to obtain an honorable or pleasant position one day, but only to become a pious priest and capable pastor and to be able to develop all my powers for the glory of God", he stated. Metzger served as a military chaplain for the forces of
Imperial Germany during
World War I. It is still unclear what motivated him to do this. He was awarded the
Iron Cross on 6 May 1915, and honorably discharged because of ill health in October 1915, when he got pneumonia and pleurisy. His experience on the front lines convinced him that "future wars have lost their meaning, since they no longer give anybody the prospect of winning more than he loses". Metzger was also involved in establishing the
German Catholics’ Peace Association which used Esperanto in its international contacts from 1918. In 1920 Metzger founded "Internacio Katolika" (IKA). From 1921 to 1924 Metzger edited the Esperanto magazine,
Katolika Mondo (Catholic World), in Graz. In 1920 Metzger was admitted to a private audience with
Pope Benedict XV, who encouraged him to work for disarmament in Europe. Strongly advocating the ecumenical idea of peace Metzger soon became known as a leading German pacifist and Esperantist. He re-located to Meiningen in Germany, where he and the community, now called the Society of Christ the King, had been invited to staff and manage the Catholic Charities facility.
Arrests, trial and martyrdom After the rise to power of German dictator
Adolf Hitler in 1933, Metzger was arrested several times by the
Gestapo, for the first time for three days in January 1934. A second arrest for four weeks was in connection with the Munich assassination attempt on Hitler. Metzger then moved from Meitingen near
Augsburg to
Berlin, in order to avoid his persecutors. He lived and worked in
St. Joseph, Wedding from 1939 until his last arrest in 1943. In 1942, Metzger wrote a letter to Hitler in which he asked Hitler to step down, but he did not send it on the advice of his friends. , with the inscription of his last words Metzger was tried by the German
People's Court in a show trial that lasted just 70 minutes. The President of the court,
Roland Freisler – who had already completed three proceedings that day – refused to hear the defendant. He declared that "such a plague had to be eradicated". Metzger was sentenced to death for "high treason and favoring the enemy" and was executed after some months in the death row on 17 April 1944 in
Brandenburg-Görden Prison. Just before his execution he said:
Ich habe mein Leben Gott angeboten für den Frieden der Welt und die Einheit der Kirchen ("I offered my life to God for the peace of the world and the unity of the churches"). The then bishop of Freiburg,
Conrad Gröber, did not try to shelter Metzger, but called him a misguided idealist. Bishop Gröber subsequently apologized to Freisler and lamented "most deeply the offense of which he has made himself guilty". == Beatification ==