The Bequest of Dean Joseph Penn and the Parish Church of Merano

Supplement to the Katholische Blätter 1846, No. 14.

Tyrol.

Meran, 27 March. (Corresp.) Honor to whom honor is due! Repeatedly, very laudable mention has been made in your esteemed paper both of the restoration that our venerable parish church underwent last year, and of the artistic sensibility and good taste demonstrated therein by the residents of Meran. Yet never, to my knowledge, has mention been made of the man without whose generosity, notwithstanding all the good taste of the people of Meran and the long-acknowledged necessity, a restoration on such a scale would likely have remained in the realm of pious wishes for a long time. The noble man to whom our house of God primarily owes its present worthy condition is indisputably the local dean and town parish priest Joseph Penn, who passed away almost two years ago, and who by testamentary disposition bequeathed his entire considerable estate, after deducting a few wholly insignificant legacies, in equal parts to: a. the parish church of Meran, b. the parish church of Tirol (as is known, the parish of Tirol is united with that of Meran), and c. the poor relief fund of Tirol. I hope this report might deserve space in your esteemed paper for another consideration as well.