Josef Kreitmaier (born November 20, 1874 in Siegenburg, Lower Bavaria; died January 15, 1946 in Holzhausen, Augsburg district) was a German Jesuit, art historian, and church composer.
Josef began taking violin lessons at the age of nine.
From 1886, he attended the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich, and from 1888, the Episcopal Boys' Seminary at Metten Abbey, where he wrote his first compositions in his senior year. In 1895, he entered the Regensburg Seminary, where Karl Adam became his friend and Michael Haller his music teacher. In 1897, he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Tisis, Vorarlberg, and in 1899 he went to study rhetoric at the Exaeten monastery (Leudal, Netherlands). This was followed by studies in philosophy and theology at the Ignatius College in Valkenburg, interrupted by practical work at the Aloisius College in Sittard from 1902 to 1904. In 1907, he was ordained a priest, followed by ascetic training in Wijnandsrade.
In 1909, Kreitmaier became editor of the ND magazine Leuchtturm, first in Luxembourg, then in Cologne from 1910 to 1911. He was then sent to Munich to study art and music history, where Heinrich Wölfflin, Adolf Sandberger, Theodor Kroyer, and Eugen Schmitz were his teachers, and subsequently took over the art and music editorial department of the magazine Stimmen aus Maria Laach (Voices from Maria Laach) – from 1914 onwards, Stimmen der Zeit (Voices of the Times). He was its editor-in-chief from 1927 to 1936, during which time he earned high regard in artistic circles. For several decades, he was a member of the jury of the German Society for Christian Art.
In 1938, Kreitmaier was the representative of his order's province at the General Congregation of the Jesuits in Rome. From 1941 to 1945, he was the superior of the writers' community of Stimmen der Zeit, which was banned during those years. Alfred Delp was also one of the editors.
About the songbook Gloria:
Gloria, a spiritual songbook, with lyrics mainly by Erich Przywara and melodies mainly by Josef Kreitmaier; 17 editions, around 500,000 copies; including the Christ the King hymn O du mein Heiland, hoch und hehr (O my Savior, high and noble), which was sung frequently for a time, and the hymn Ein neues Zion leuchtet (A new Zion shines), which is also included in the diocesan sections of the Gotteslob hymnal, both by Przywara and Kreitmaier.
