Brauweiler Abbey
The Abbey Brauweiler is a former Benedictine abbey , in the district Brauweiler of city Pulheim in North Rhine-Westphalia , northwest of Cologne . Even today, the former abbey church of St. Nikolaus with its towering west building not only shapes the townscape of Brauweiler, but also forms the landmark of this area that can be seen from afar. It is one of the great Romanesque church buildings in the Rhineland.
Prehistory and foundation of the monastery
Settlement in what is now Brauweiler can be proven by finds of pottery shards , hewn flint and a Hallstatt fire grave since the earlier Iron Age . A fortified structure dates from Roman times . During excavations in 1983/1984, the remains of a Roman mansion ( villa rustica ) with two wings that belonged to an estate were found on the site of the abbey . Layers of fire indicate that this manor burned down in the 4th century and was not rebuilt.
In the Fundatio monasterii Brunwilarensis (narrative source of a Brauweiler monk towards the end of the 11th century) the construction of a wooden chapel is described on the square, for whose altar a certain Brun relics of St. Medardus brought from Soissons . The construction could be classified in the middle of the 8th century, but there is no documentary evidence. According to the story, the ruined remains of the chapel were found around 985. Count Palatine Hermann I had a new stone chapel built and consecrated by Archbishop Warin of Cologne . Next to the chapel, another destroyed farm was rebuilt. This property developed into the center of a settlement that has not been abandoned to this day.
Between 991 and 993, the wedding between Count Palatine Ezzo-Ehrenfried , a son of Hermann I, and Mathilde , a daughter of Emperor Otto II and Theophanu , took place on the estate . Ezzo transferred the property to his wife, who dedicated it to Christ and the saints in the Medardus Chapel.
During this time it was common for the rich nobility to have monasteries and churches built in order to create a living connection between the church and the members of the family. During a pilgrimage to Rome before 1024, Ezzo and Mathilde received relics and a cross from Pope Benedict VIII to found a monastery. Brauweiler was probably chosen as the place of foundation because the Palatine family's own property was concentrated here and the location was strategically located on two road connections from Cologne to Aachen and Roermond .
The then important reform abbot Poppo von Stablo was commissioned to found the monastery after mediation by Archbishop Pilgrim of Cologne . Poppo stood for a monastery reform that required strict adherence to the monastic rules and was thus in harmony with the imperial church and the nobles. On April 14, 1024 seven monks sent by Poppo reached Brauweiler and began building the monastery on the highest point of the site, the chapel was included in the construction. The church itself was built about 26 meters north of this chapel. Countess Palatine Mathilde died on November 20, 1025 in Aeccheze (probably Echtz near Düren) during the construction work and was buried in the middle of the cloister in front of an altar. The church and monastery were consecrated on November 8th 1028 by Archbishop Pilgrim.
The Romanesque abbey church in Brauweiler
The mighty west tower is accompanied by two narrow towers standing next to it (around 1138). This magnificent group forms a contrast to the three eastern towers, which were only completed in the 19th century.
The nave is remarkably short (around 1140–1150), while the aisles have a peculiar spatial width. The monastery church brought a promising innovation to the central nave: the three-story structure with an interposed triforium . Soon after, this became part of the general standard of Romanesque basilicas. The colored version of the building sculpture follows the remains of the original Romanesque design. In contrast to this is the fine tendril painting of the vaults from the late Gothic period.
Monumental painted saints from the 14th century can be seen on the pillars of the nave.
On the south side altar is a beautiful stone Marian retable from the end of the 12th century. The seated figure of St. Nicholas. The crypt adopts the floor plan of the St. Maria im Kapitol church in Cologne in a reduced form . The upper church also turned out to be a scaled-down replica of the Cologne model.
Organs
The church has two organs . The west organ with its richly gilded baroque prospect (end of the 17th century), which has been preserved, was rebuilt for the first time in 1715 by the important organ builder Balthasar König and most recently in the 1960s by Willi Peter . It was rebuilt by the organ construction company Weimbs in Hellenthal according to the original concept with a mechanical action and center console (inauguration on January 25, 2013).
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P.
In addition, the organ building association continued to collect money and sponsorships for a new choir organ. The restoration of the Romanesque organ in the left aisle, the Willi Peter from the Evangelical Church in Solingen- Gräfrath here translocated had and connected by the scheduled table with the main organ. was abandoned. It is now for sale. The new organ was built by Hermann Eule Orgelbau Bautzen and inaugurated in March 2018.
Bells
The abbey church has a 7-part bell. In the west tower hang four bells, u. a. the two oldest bells of the peal. The oldest precisely dated bell in the Rhineland is the Misericordia bell . It was cast in 1300 by an unknown Cologne master and consecrated after Martini . Probably two more bells from this period hung in the tower. The medieval main bell rang out with the nominal c 1 , d 1 and e 1 , and was probably the first carefully coordinated bell in the Rhineland. The (se) two other bells were cast in (heavy) rib by the foundry Johannes Helling (Kalkar) in 1630, and thus each sounded a semitone higher. The “Maria” bell has been preserved. In addition to the main chime, there were five other bells from around 1300 and the years 1518, 1673 and 1872 until the Second World War. These and the larger of the two slipway bells were melted down during World War II.
In 1961 the bell was extended to include five new bells from the Mabilon bell foundry . Two bells were hung in the west tower, three bells were hung in the crossing tower.
|
No. |
Surname |
Casting year |
Caster |
Mass (kg, approx.) |
Diameter (mm) |
Percussive ( HT - 1 / 16 ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Big Marienbell | 1630 | Johannes Helling | 2,100 | 1447 | dis 1 ± 0 |
| 2. | Misericordia | 1300 | unknown | 1,350 | 1263 | e 1 +5 |
| 3. | Gertrude Bell | 1961 | Mabilon & Co., Saarburg | 800 | 1075 | f sharp 1 +5 |
| 4th | Little bell of Mary | 1961 | Mabilon & Co., Saarburg | 550 | 956 | g sharp 1 +4 |
| 5. | Benedict bell | 1961 | Mabilon & Co., Saarburg | 330 | 802 | h 1 +5 |
| 6th | Bernhard Bell | 1961 | Mabilon & Co., Saarburg | 220 | 719 | c sharp 2 +4 |
| 7th | Sebastian and Donatus bell | 1961 | Mabilon & Co., Saarburg | 160 | 638 | dis 2 +3 |
Development until 1802
During the time of the Archbishop of Cologne, Anno II , the monks adopted the rules of the Siegburg reform . The former abbey church and today's parish church of St. Nikolaus and St. Medardus is the third church building on this site, built from 1136 to after 1220. The introduction of the Bursfeld reform in 1467 brought a new heyday . The abbey was last built in 1780 according to plans by Nikolaus Lauxen until 1785 the prelate wing, which is considered to be Lauxen's main work, building on the forms of the Nonnenwerth monastery (1773–75) that he had previously planned . After the French occupation of the Left Bank of the Rhine , the monastery was abolished in 1802 in the course of secularization .
Use after secularization
The abbey church became a Catholic parish church, while the abbey buildings were used as a beggar's depot according to a Napoleonic law from 1811 and from 1815 by the Prussian government as a work center.
In 1920 the “preservation house” and the “cell building” were rented to the Cologne justice administration. The buildings served as a concentration camp for twelve months from 1933 and later as a prison for the Cologne Gestapo . In 1944 Konrad Adenauer was imprisoned here for two months; his second wife Gussie attempted suicide while in custody . 1945–49 was an open camp of the British Army and later the UNRRA for Displaced Persons .
With the establishment of the Rhineland Regional Association (LVR) as the legal successor to the Rhineland Provincial Association , the abbey was taken over into municipal administration in 1954. Between 1954 and 1978, mentally ill, alcohol and drug addicts were treated here. After an extensive renovation and restoration since 1980, two culture departments, the LVR Conservation Office in the Rhineland and the LVR-Archivberatungs- and training center, as well as today Archive of LVR housed in the buildings. The LVR Office for Monument Preservation in the Rhineland is responsible for 95,000 monuments in the Rhineland. Your task is to preserve this cultural diversity through its recording, investigation and care. The Rheinisches Archivamt supports the numerous municipal, economic and private archives of the Rhineland with professional advice, training and financial support.
In addition, some rooms in the LVR-Kulturzentrum Brauweiler Abbey can be rented for meetings and seminars or private events such as weddings. The baroque prelature courtyard, the Marienhof with the medieval cloister, the farmyard and the abbey park are accessible free of charge. A visit to the chapter hall with its Romanesque paintings, as well as the baroque ballrooms (imperial hall and abbot hall) is possible as part of public and individual tours. The Brauweiler Memorial commemorates the events of the Nazi era in Brauweiler with a permanent exhibition.
In April 2010, the Art Fund Foundation launched the archive for artists' bequests. In cooperation with the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhineland Regional Council, four depot rooms with a floor area of 2000 square meters are available in the former estate through the conversion of the cowshed and barn. The first director of the archive is the Cologne art historian Regina Barunke.
Art and culture in the abbey
The Freundeskreis Abtei Brauweiler eV under the chairmanship (since the establishment) of the former Oberkreisdirektor of the district Cologne , Karlheinz Gierden , in which the carrier of the abbey, the city, the churches as born members and institutions and private persons are members, organizes in the abbey one Extensive exhibition and event program, including the "classic nights", classical concerts that take place in the cloister. The Board of Trustees was chaired by Jürgen Rüttgers from Pulheim and former Prime Minister for 14 years . In autumn 2012, the two people exchanged their offices and the 86-year-old Gierden took over the chairmanship of the board of trustees.
In addition, LVR events take place in the LVR cultural center of Brauweiler Abbey, including lectures, readings and film screenings. In the lecture series “Wednesdays in the Archive” and “Monument Preservation in View”, employees from the local cultural departments and external experts give presentations on topics that affect the work in the departments. The event series “Kulturregion Rheinland” presents cultural institutions in the Rhineland and also provides insights into the wide range of cultural work of the LVR. Both lectures and films take place in this series. The LVR-Kulturzentrum Brauweiler Abbey participates annually in the "LiteraturHerbst Rhein-Erft" and has been holding additional readings since 2018.
Governor of the Brauweiler Abbey
The bailiwick over the Brauweiler monastery was in the hands of the founding family until the Palatine family Ezzo died out, first with Ezzo himself, then with his son Ludolf († 1031). It then passed to Konrad (Kuno) († 1053), then possibly to Ezzo's son Hermann († 1056).
In 1051, in a documented legal act before a royal court in Cologne, the monastery and its property were transferred under the protection of St. Peter and thus of the Archbishopric of Cologne. The patrons of the monastery were therefore the Archbishops of Cologne, who subsequently gave the bailiwick to ministerials .
In the second half of the 13th century, tensions arose between Vogt Heinrich von Bachem and the monastery due to attacks on monastery property. These could only be settled after two comparisons. In this context, research has revealed four falsified and nine completely forged documents to date. The content of these forgeries, however, were not unjustified favors of the monastery, but attempts to fend off excessive demands of the bailiffs.
From 1360 the bailiffs Carsilius von Palant and Philipp von Kendenich (also Kenthenich o. Kentenich) demanded excessive payments for their office, which were rejected by the convent . There were several raids against monastery property and kidnappings of servants of the monastery, who were only released against payment of ransom. In 1365 the monastery bought back the bailiwick, for which 1,500 and 1,300 gold shields had to be paid to the families Kendenich and Palant. A loan with an annual interest rate of 10% burdened the monastery coffers considerably until 1383, when the Order of St. John in Cologne made 1500 gold shields available free of charge, with which the debt and other liabilities could be redeemed. From 1365, the office of bailiff was only granted for a period of two years, problems with the bailiffs have not become known since then.
coat of arms
The abbey has recovered economically since 1500, but had a process with the Archbishop of Trier, Jakob I von Sierck , to take over the sovereignty of the Klotten estate on the Moselle. This process dragged on from 1445 to 1457. The abbot Hermann III appointed in 1532. Laer arranged the monastery finances and carried out long-planned construction projects in the abbey. It developed into a bastion of Catholicism against the emerging Protestantism . Abbot Hermann III. took advantage of this situation and convinced Emperor Charles V to place the abbey under special protection.
On November 23, 1547, Emperor Charles V confirmed the Brauweiler Abbey with a great privilege of its rights and freedoms. She enjoyed protection from her opponents, regardless of their status or influence. However, the abbey did not become directly imperial , but remained under the control of the Archbishop of Cologne. Associated with the great privilege was the right to use one's own coat of arms. The parchment certificate with the attached emperor's seal is now kept in the parish archive of Brauweiler. In the text of this document, the reason for the award of the coat of arms is given as the imperial descent of the founder of the monastery. The coat of arms shows a one-headed, right-facing, snot-tongued, black eagle. He is holding an abbot's staff in his right foot. It thus resembles the two-headed eagle in the Reich coat of arms. For further differentiation, a silver background was chosen for the coat of arms of the abbey instead of the gold one.
Abbots of the monastery
According to a list in the Liber sancti Nicholai episcopi in Bruwilre, p. 163 r (names Latinized there), which was created by Abbot John IV. Münch (1617–1649) and supplemented by other scribes, led in the period from 1030 to 1802 51 abbots the monastery.
Until the introduction of the Bursfeld reform
|
|
|
|
after the introduction of the Bursfeld reform
|
|
|
Varia
- The so-called millennial mulberry tree has stood near the Benedictine abbey of Brauweiler since 1024 and is probably the oldest of its kind in Germany.
literature
- Uwe Bathe: The Romanesque chapter house in Brauweiler. A critical inventory of his architecture, building sculpture and painting. Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-89498-100-8 .
- Hermann Daners, Josef Wißkirchen: What happened in Brauweiler - The Nazi era and its consequences in the Rhenish Provincial Labor Institute. Documentation. Pulheim 2006, ISBN 3-927765-39-2 .
- Hermann Daners, Josef Wißkirchen: The Brauweiler Laboratory near Cologne during the National Socialist period. Essen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8375-0971-7 .
- Claudia Euskirchen: The baroque monastery buildings of the former Benedictine abbey Brauweiler. Cologne 1993, ISBN 3-7927-1383-7 .
- Roland Günter: "Art History Hiking Guide Rhineland", Chrr. Belser AG for publishing business KG Stuttgart-Zurich 1979.
- Udo Mainzer : Christ in the midst of his apostles - On the architectural iconography of the Brauweiler choir top chapel . In: INSITU. Zeitschrift für Architekturgeschichte 3 (1/2011), pp. 19–34.
- Werner Schäfge: "Cologne's Romanesque Churches", Cologne: Dumont 1996.
- Peter Schreiner, Monika Tontsch: The abbey church St. Nikolaus and St. Medardus in Brauweiler. Building history and equipment. Pulheim 1994, 2nd edition 1999, ISBN 3-927765-12-0 .
- Peter Schreiner : The history of the Brauweiler Abbey near Cologne 1024−1802 Pulheim 2001, ISBN 3-927765-27-9 .
- Bernhardt Schütz / Wolfgang Müller: "Romanesque. The churches of the emperors, bishops and monasteries", Freiburg im Breisgau 1989.
- Erich Wisplinghoff : The Benedictine abbey Brauweiler . , Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 1992 (= Germania Sacra, New Series 29. The Dioceses of the Church Province of Cologne, The Archdiocese of Cologne 5), ISBN 3110132230 .
- Heinz Wolter: Brauweiler , in: Manfred Groten u. a. (Ed.): Handbook of the historical sites of Germany: North Rhine-Westphalia. (= Kröner's pocket edition 273), Stuttgart 3rd edition 2006, p. 866 f., ISBN 978-3-520-27303-1 .
Web links
- Brauweiler Abbey - Official homepage
- Culture in the Brauweiler Abbey
- Rhenish Office for Monument Preservation
- Holdings in the HStA Düsseldorf
- 360 ° panorama of the Brauweiler Abbey
Individual evidence
- ↑ St. Nikolaus Abbey Church, 50259 Pulheim-Brauweiler - new building. (pdf) Weimbs Orgelbau, January 25, 2013, accessed on August 19, 2020 .
- ↑ The organs in the abbey church ( Memento from November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Pulheim-Brauweiler New organ for the St. Nikolaus Church. Rhein-Erft Rundschau, March 26, 2016, accessed on July 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Consecration of the new choir organ of the Abbey Church of St. Nicholas. Organ building association Abteikirche Brauweiler e. V., accessed on August 8, 2020 .
- ^ Peter Schreiner : A bell jubilee in Brauweiler , Pulheimer contributions 24, (2000), pp. 70–95
- ↑ Brauweiler Abbey - bells peal. brauweilerblog, February 11, 2015, accessed on July 18, 2017 .
- ^ Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection (ed.); Claudia Euskirchen: Kloster Nonnenwerth (= Rheinische Kunststätten , issue 447). Neuss 2000, ISBN 3-88094-856-9 , p. 7.
- ^ Wilhelm Kohl: Wolfhelm (from Cologne). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 13, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, ISBN 3-88309-072-7 , Sp. 1530-1532.
- ↑ entry to mulberry tree in Abbey Park Brauweiler (natural monument) in the database " KuLaDig " of the Regional Association of the Rhineland , accessed on February 27 2020th
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 40.3 ″ N , 6 ° 46 ′ 58 ″ E