Childhood, early education Thomas Spreiter was born to a deeply religious Catholic middle-class family. From an early age, he had shown an interest in missionary work, but during the
Kulturkampf no
orders could engage in missionary activities. However, Benedictine visionary
Andreas Amrhein had just begun his
Ottilien Congregation and had opened up an institute in
Reichenbach, not far from Regensburg. Spreiter began his
novitiate there on 29 September 1886. The institute was housed in a former Benedictine monastery, and the first years, poverty reigned and the work was hard; additionally, Spreiter had become Amrhein's personal secretary. In 1887, the order transferred its activities to
St. Ottilien Archabbey. until the
Maji Maji Rebellion, during which Bishop Cassian and four other bishops were killed, threatened his mission and his life; they fled, and Spreiter went to Europe to learn of his future as a missionary. succeeding Bishop Spiss. He was ordained in St. Ottilien on 1 May, and returned to Africa in 1906, now overseeing all missionary and educational activities in his vicariate: "Every year he undertook a pastoral journey through his mission territory. That meant he was on the road for up to six months and covered a distance of around 1500 kilometers on foot." "resigning" his post in Zanzibar on 24 November 1920.
Third mission On 27 August 1921 he was appointed bishop (1st Apostolic Prefect In 1922, with the help of other German missionaries, he founded the
Inkamana Abbey, also known as Sacred Heart Abbey, Inkamana. He retired on 14 May 1943, and died in Sacred Heart Abbey, on 27 January 1944, where he is buried. ==Dinosaur bones==