Berberich, Maria Felicitas Benigna Baroness of

born: 1707/08

died: 1764

The year of birth of the baroness, who came from Franconian nobility ("derer von Wolfskeel"), has not yet been determined. She was married to Eugenius Alexander von Berberich, Imperial Postmaster of Würzburg. After the death of her husband, Prince Alexander von Thurn und Taxis appointed her as postmistress of the Würzburg post office. She moved to Kostheim in 1754.

Her will of 1756 is revealing for her social work, in which she decreed, among other things, that the children of dispossessed parents should be able to attend school by paying the teachers 15 kreuzer every quarter.

The construction of the Kostheim Baroque church, built in 1766-69, was only made possible by the sale of gold and precious stones from her estate. According to the will, the gold jewelry from the baroness's estate was made into a monstrance that still exists today. She did not live to see the completion of the church. Pastor Jacobus Saul was the administrator of her estate. After her death, she was buried in the church of St. Kilian, where Jacobus Saul also found his final resting place. Both graves have been missing since the destruction of the church in 1793.

Until the end of the 1950s, the former girls' school bore Berberich's name. Today, only a street name commemorates the benefactress.