joseph werner bardenhewer (30 january 1929 − 10 april 2019) was a german catholic priest and philanthropist. he served as the dean of wiesbaden, the state capital of hesse, from 1974 to 1996. in 1999, he founded the wiesbaden chapter of the charity organisation africa action. the charity gives help to the health care and education in countries of the sahel region. in 2016, he was awarded the highest national honour of burkina faso. he was born in arnsberg, north rhine-westphalia.