It always made its big appearance in the first week of the Oktoberfest, at the traditional Oktoberfest service. It always takes place in the mornings in a marquee before the guests arrive, and for Father Paul it was always one of the highlights when he was able to baptize a newborn showman’s child at this service. Whereby “newborn” is to be interpreted broadly, because the showman’s parents liked to wait until the next Oktoberfest with the baptism so that their child could be baptized by Father Paul Schäfersküpper right there.
A task that his successor will have to take on in the future, because the showman pastor Father Paul Schäffersküpper died on New Year’s Eve 2021 in his hometown of Essen. This was announced by his order, the Dominican Province of St. Albert in Essen. Schäffersküpper was 72 years old and was ordained a priest as a late caller in 1994. Before that, after studying linguistics, medicine and education, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry.
He joined the Dominican Order in 1989 and later became prior at the Graz Convention. In 2002 he took on the role of showman, circus and tourism chaplain for Upper Bavaria and Swabia. Of course, he was also responsible for the Oktoberfest, which made him very well known.
Schäfersküpper always gave a lot of thought to his work. After all, he often said, his clientele could not choose their pastor simply by going to the neighboring parish. And otherwise he saw his task very pragmatically. He was happy to tell that a nun had suggested that he offer confession dates at the Oktoberfest. “People come to the Oktoberfest to sin, not to go to confession,” he replied with a laugh.
In September 2020, Father Paul resigned from the job of the showman pastor for health reasons and retired to Essen. His death was “very surprising”, announced the Dominican Province of St. Albert together with the bereaved. The funeral will take place next Saturday.