P, Dr. Gabriel (Heinz) Heuser OSB was born in 1940 in Cologne, Germany. He began his novitiate in the monastery of Ettal on 28 April 1959 and professed his simple vows one year later. On 1 May 1963, he professed his solemn vows. Over many years, Father Gabriel served as First Cantor, Subprior, and Prior for the community, also fulfilling a variety of teaching and parish responsibilities. He and three confreres joined together in 1993 to refound the monastic community of Wechselburg in the Diocese of Dresden-Meissen. Father Gabriel learned in 2017 that he had cancer, to which he eventually succumbed on 2 September 2018. His funeral was celebrated in Ettal on 10 September 2018, with his burial in the monastery crypt.
