Franz Xaver Nies


Franz Xaver Nies was a German Catholic missionary of the Society of the Divine Word in Shandong during the late 19th century. Together with his fellow missionary Richard Henle, he was killed in the Juye Incident that led to the German occupation of the Kiautschou Bay concession and was followed by the acquisition of concessions in China by other foreign powers.
Franz Xaver Nies joined the Society of the Divine Word on 7 May 1879, was ordained as a priest by the Bishop of Roermond on 7 June 1884, and dispatched on his mission to China on 1 January 1885.
In his hometown of Rehringhausen, a road has been named after Franz Xaver Nies.