Magdalenenstift (Altenburg)
The Magdalenenstift is a cultural monument in the center of the city of Altenburg and the seat of the church foundation “Ev.-Luth. Magdalenenstift ".
history
founding
In 1665, Duke Friedrich Wilhelm II wanted to make provisions for his wife Magdalena Sibylle of Saxony and have her widow's residence built in Altenburg . His choice fell on the small mountain opposite the castle: Magdalena should always have the castle in front of her eyes when she was old. In the same year, the entire property was marked out and the construction of the foundations of the square castle began. However, the Duchess Magdalena Sybilla died on January 6, 1668, before the building was completed. With her death, the entire construction stopped and the unfinished building was used as a grain store.
In 1702 Henriette Catharina von Gersdorff , a Lutheran and convinced Pietist , approached Duke Friedrich II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg with a request for support for the establishment of an Evangelical Lutheran women's foundation . Noble "Capitularinnen", ie "unsupervised" women, should live there and noble children should be taught and brought up in the Protestant sense. The prince stood up for the plans without hesitation and gave the monastery its current land. The completion of the building began in 1703. The inauguration of the monastery was celebrated on December 4, 1705. The foundation has had an uninterrupted tradition ever since.
The work of the monastery since 1705
Since 1705, the Magdalenenstift has been serving as a boarding school and girls' school for young noble women for more than two centuries in the spirit of Protestant education. In order to be accepted as a nun, the girls had to be 7 years old, the training was possible up to the age of 17. The three-class instruction and training was carried out by the monastery pastors, teachers from the city and noble ladies employed in the monastery.
The building ensemble was expanded step by step: The burial chapel was built in 1708, a first rectory in 1710/11, the ladies' house in 1820, the new rectory in 1866/67, the collegiate church in 1870/71, the connecting house in 1878, the north-east wing in 1890/91 and in 1898 the gym, which was extended again in 1911.
Maria Wellershoff, née Maria Wellershoff, gives a detailed insight into school and boarding school life from 1936 to 1938 . von Thadden in From Place to Place - A Youth in Pomerania . Franziska zu Reventlow had already processed her experiences in Altenburg 1886/1887 in her autobiographical novel Ellen Olestjerne .
At Easter 1938 new school regulations were introduced throughout the German Reich . For the Magdalenenstift the implementation of the ordinances of the Reich Minister of Education on private schools was decisive. The school classes had to be dissolved and, on the instructions of the National Socialists , permission to continue school operations was no longer granted after Easter 1939. Maria von Wedemeyer worked for a while as a teacher in the Magdalenenstift in 1944. In September 1944, by order of the Reich Governor in Thuringia , Fritz Sauckel , boarding school operations were also banned. The Magdalenenstift had to sign a rental agreement with the state of Thuringia and make its premises available to a so-called German home school. After the end of the war, the foundation was retained and in December 1945 became the Evangelical Lutheran Inner Mission . Subordinate to the regional church of Thuringia . From 1946 onwards, the Magdalenenstift housed the Altenburg Bible Society , which was dissolved in 1992, and a seminar for the training of catechists from 1948 to 1960 .
With the move into a kindergarten in 1958 and the construction of the home for the blind in 1961, a new era began in the monastery. In 1970 the boarding school was closed and two years later the last provost Elisabeth Börger was retired. However, an association of former collegiate children still exists today .
The foundation today
Today the Magdalenenstift is a social center with a variety of diaconal and social tasks. In the years 1999 to 2003, the entire building ensemble was fundamentally renovated and a combination of historical ambience and modern functionality was created.
The foundation combines help and offers for people of all ages in child and youth welfare institutions as well as elderly and handicapped aid in Altenburger Land. On December 4, 2005, the foundation celebrated its 300th anniversary.
Board
- Dirk Keiner, CEO
- Sybille Wessel, Deputy. CEO
- Adelheid Jencio-Gentele, member
(As of June 2018)
Board of Trustees
- Joachim Bohn, pastor i. R., Chairman of the Board of Trustees
(As of June 2018)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Jörg Bachmann: History of the Evang.-Luth. Magdalenenstift Altenburg. Retrieved June 15, 2018 .
- ^ Maria Wellershoff: From place to place: Eine Jugend in Pommern , 2010. Page 155 ff.
- ^ Franziska zu Reventlow: Ellen Olestjerne , 1903.
- ↑ Jörg Bachmann: Timeline of the Magdalenenstift Altenburg since 1665. Retrieved on June 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Dirk Keiner: 300 years Magdalenenstift Altenburg. Retrieved June 15, 2018 .
- ^ A b Jörg Bachmann: Foundation Evangelical Lutheran Magdalenenstift Altenburg. Retrieved June 15, 2018 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 59 ′ 12 ″ N , 12 ° 26 ′ 36 ″ E