St. Michael Abbey (Siegburg)

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Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806) .svg
Territory in the Holy Roman Empire
Reichsabbey Siegburg
coat of arms
coat of arms



Arose from Auelgau
Form of rule Electoral Principality
Ruler / government Prince abbot
Today's region / s DE-NW


Reichskreis Lower Rhine-Westphalian
District council Reichsfürstenrat : a curial vote on the Rhine. Prelate database
Capitals / residences Siegburg
Denomination / Religions Roman Catholic
Language / n German


Incorporated into 1676: Jülich-Berg


The Siegburg Abbey of St. Michael from the south with the preserved St. John's tower (left)
Anno shrine from 1183

The Abbey Michael Berg was an abbey of the Benedictine order . It existed from 1064 to 1803. Abolished after secularization, the buildings were used, among other things, as an asylum . In 1914 the monastery was repopulated by Dutch Benedictines; it was named "Benedictine Abbey Michaelsberg" and existed until 2011. The monastery building is on the Michaelsberg , about 40 meters above the city of Siegburg . Today it houses the Catholic Social Institute of the Archdiocese of Cologne and a small Carmelite monastery .

history

Today's Michaelsberg, then called Siegberg, was first inhabited around 800 by the Ezzonen , the Counts of Auelgau , who built their castle there.

middle Ages

In 1064, the Archbishop of Cologne, Anno II, founded a Benedictine abbey there. The patron saint of the abbey was the Archangel Michael , who from then on gave the abbey and the mountain its name. The monastery quickly became a reform abbey as part of the reforms of Cluny . However, the monastery constitution differed considerably from Cluny. As a Siegburg reform , this direction was widely spread. After the archbishop's death in 1075, he was buried in the abbey. In order to promote the canonization of Annos, a biography of the bishop was created in Siegburg with the Vita Annonis Minor . On the occasion of his canonization, Anno's bones were transferred to the Anno shrine in 1183 , which can still be viewed in the abbey church today.

Other Archbishops of Cologne buried in the abbey were Hermann III, who died in 1099 . von Hochstaden and Friedrich I. von Schwarzenburg, who died in 1131 .

From the monastery in 1085 was Norbert of Iburg as the third abbot of the monastery Iburg by Iburg posted. After the death of Osnabrück Bishop Benno II, he recorded his biography. This anonymously written résumé was written between 1090 and 1100 in the Iburger Benedictine monastery. It is described by historians to hagiographies as factual, unvarnished and factual. The renunciation of whitewashing is "something extraordinary in this high degree within medieval biography" . The original of the font has not been preserved.

Soon after its establishment, the abbey had a large influx of monks, so that it began to establish daughter monasteries. The provost of St. Pankratius in Oberpleis was founded as the first dependent monastery community before 1105 . Further provosts were established in Remagen in 1110 and in Cyriax an der Agger in 1256 .

From 1125 on, the Counts of Berg provided the abbey bailiffs for a long time and built their own castle in Siegburg in 1243. A feud that had lasted for centuries began between the abbots of the monastery and the counts of Berg, who refused to recognize the abbey's sovereignty and imperial immediacy . The following bailiffs are documented:

  • before 1254: Heinrich, quondam advocatus
  • 1254: Heinrich called Lohmar, advocatus
  • 1264: Herlivus, advocatus
  • 1310: Engelbert von dem Bottlenberg, Vogt von Siegburg
  • 1313: Wilhelm von Troisdorf, advocatus in Siberg
  • 1326: Ludwig von Rott, Vogt
  • 1335–1338: Gottschalk Moir von der Sülz, Vogt in Siegburg
  • 1351–1354: Emmerich von Bernsau, advocatus in Sybergh
  • 1362–1363: Ludwig von Lülsdorf, vaet zo Siberg

In 1403 a war broke out between the abbey and the city due to a new occupation of the Vogtstelle, with parts of the city being set on fire. In 1512, after a long legal battle, the abbey was granted imperial immediacy. The production of the abbey liqueur has been documented since 1504 and was produced again in the abbey from 1952. In 1576 Abbot Gottfried von Eyll expelled all Protestant citizens from the city, and in 1593/1594 Abbot Wilhelm von Hochkirchen founded a Latin school in Siegburg.

Modern times

  • From 1632 to 1635, Siegburg and the abbey were occupied by Swedish troops and the abbey's defenses were reinforced. In the course of the Thirty Years' War , the Duke of Jülich-Berg gained the upper hand, and in 1676 Siegburg became the Jülich-Berg state town. The abbey retained its other possessions and rights through an inheritance settlement. From 1649 to 1667 the abbey church was rebuilt with baroque elements by Abbot Johann von Bock. In 1670 large parts of the fortifications were destroyed by Jülich-Bergische troops. In 1692 Emilia Rosina von Auwach was born. von Koppenstein is buried in the church. Your coat of arms epitaph is walled in the crypt. She was the mother of the Speyer cathedral dean and prince-bishop district president Hermann Lothar von Auwach († 1722). In 1736, 1762 and 1772 there were fires in the abbey, which gave it its present form.

Prussian sovereignty

In the course of secularization , the abbey was closed on September 12, 1803. On May 19, 1812, the church treasury was awarded to the abbey of the parish church of St. Servatius . From 1816 to 1820 the abbey was the seat of the district administrator of the Siegburg district .

From January 1, 1825, the First Rhenish Insane Asylum for 200 “curable insane people” under Maximilian Jacobi was set up in the abbey buildings . On May 1, 1878, the institution was relocated to Düren . In 1829 the abbey church was used simultaneously and also by the newly founded evangelical community, which received its own church in 1879. In 1834 the former monastery church became a parish church. From 1879 to 1914 the abbey was used as a penitentiary , in which 500 prisoners were housed after an extension from 1890.

On October 22, 1910, the city acquired the Michaelsberg in order to make a Benedictine monastery possible again. On February 28, 1914, this was approved by the State of Prussia, and on July 2, 1914, the first monks of the Benedictine Sublazens Congregation from the Merkelbeek monastery (Netherlands) arrived in Siegburg.

First World War

On August 1, 1914, the abbey made itself available as a reserve hospital. This was dissolved on February 10, 1919 by the British military government, which then billeted over 500 Canadian soldiers there. Only two rooms for two priests were excluded from this. In February 1920, the Canadians were replaced by French troops and the abbey became Caserne de la Marne . On August 2, 1921, parts of the abbey were released again by the French War Ministry, and the occupation was abandoned on January 29, 1926. In July 1929 the prisoner's wing was laid down again.

National Socialism and World War II

On July 26, 1931, the Siegburger Heimatmuseum was set up in the north wing of the abbey. This was closed on May 6, 1940 when a reserve hospital was set up in the abbey. On May 6, 1941, the abbey was closed by the SS and the monks were expelled.

In a bombing raid on December 28, 1944, the abbey buildings were almost completely destroyed, despite the Red Cross hospital flags being displayed . Also on March 3, 1945, the abbey received several bomb hits.

After the Second World War

After the end of the war, the monks could return to the abbey. During excavations during the reconstruction of the abbey on August 14, 1947, the Annograb was rediscovered. On March 20, 1949, the restored crypt of the abbey church was consecrated and on September 25, the bones of St. Anno were transferred from the Servatius church to the abbey church.

The traditional monastery liqueur has been produced again in the abbey since 1952. After the dissolution of the convention , production is continued by a private company. Michel , a top-fermented beer , has been brewed for the abbey since 2004 .

The rebuilt abbey church was consecrated on September 8, 1953. On April 25, 1955, the precious Anno shrine previously held in the St. Servatius treasury was transferred to the abbey and taken with the bones to the new Anno chapel , on July 6, 1956 the new organ was consecrated. Most of the glass paintings in the abbey church were created by Ernst Jansen-Winkeln between 1952 and 1954 .

At the beginning of December 1968 Abbot Alkuin resigned from his office and from the monastery in protest against the authoritarian style of office of the church and the condemnation of the Reutlingen religious educator Hubertus Halbfas ; at his own request he was returned to the lay status on January 30, 1970. The abbey museum was opened on April 23, 1983. The renovation of the crypt was completed on February 25, 1995.

The north wing and a large part of the west wing houses the since April 20, 1997 Edith Stein - retreat house of the Archdiocese of Cologne . The Federal Finance Academy had previously used these premises. The abbey also has the St. Maurus youth hostel ( bed and breakfast hotel ) and, until 2010, the “abbey rooms” and a book and art shop. Men could also spend “days in the monastery”. On Whit Monday 2006, Abbot Raphael blessed the new bells that were installed in the belfry a few days later.

Dissolution of the abbey in 2010/2011

On May 16, 2010, Abbot Raphael Bahrs asked for a canonical visitation to be released from his office because he did not feel up to the necessary radical decisions of an economic nature. Abbot President Bruno Marin accepted the resignation. In terms of canon law, the abbot präses thus became the monastery superior, who delegated this task to former abbot Albert Altenähr ( new Benedictine abbey Kornelimünster ). Father Christian Dieckmann became head of the house. At the end of June 2010 the abbey closed the hotel-restaurant "Abtei-Stuben" and the monastery book and art shop for economic reasons. Together with the Archdiocese of Cologne , a new economic concept was worked on in order to ensure the continued existence of the abbey in connection with a discussion process on the Benedictine profile.

On November 8, 2010, the convent announced that Michaelsberg Abbey should be given up. The reasons given were the inadequate financial and personal situation. The Archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Cardinal Meisner , declared that he would work to ensure that another community continued the spiritual presence on the Michaelsberg. On Trinity Sunday, June 19, 2011, a pontifical service with Cardinal Meisner, a day of encounter and a pontifical Vesper with Abbot Bruno Marin from Rome ended the almost thousand-year history of Mount Michael as the location of abbeys. The remaining monks had to look for a new home within the framework of canon law.

Development from 2012

On September 12, 2013, at the invitation of the Archdiocese of Cologne, six priests of the order community of the Discalced Carmelites (OCD) established a monastic community on the Michaelsberg in the part of the monastery that had previously been used as a youth guest house, which was converted for this purpose. The religious from India hold daily services in the abbey church and are active in pastoral care. From October 2016 to the beginning of 2017, the abbey church had to be closed due to basic construction work on the monastery buildings and access road, the Carmelites temporarily lived in "Haus Magdalena" in Bad Honnef.

Furthermore, the Catholic Social Institute of the Archdiocese of Cologne (KSI) , which has been located in Bad Honnef until now, moved its location to the Michaelsberg. The move after renovation and expansion measures in the abbey buildings took place at the beginning of 2017, the opening was carried out on May 7, 2017 by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Archbishop Rainer Cardinal Woelki .

The Edith Stein retreat house of the Archdiocese of Cologne was closed in 2014 at the Siegburg location and moved to Altenberg .

Bells of the abbey church

In the west tower there is a loud chime made of seven bronze bells , which make up the largest chime in the city. All bells are works by the bell foundry Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock from Gescher . In 2006 the two big bells were put on the tower; their predecessors of the same tone (Monasterium bell foundry, Münster) were damaged on the crown and therefore had to be replaced for safety reasons. The three big bells were hung on cranked yokes, which leads to a loss of sound.

No.
  		Surname
  		Casting year
  		Caster
  		Diameter
(mm) 		Mass
(kg) 		Percussive
( HT - 1 / 16 ) 		inscription
 
1 Maria 2006 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 1772 3764 b 0 +1 VIRGO REGINA MONACHORUM NOS VICE MATERNA PROTEGE VIVIFICA
2 Michael and Mauritius 2006 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 1454 2015 of the 1 +1 EXIME MICHAEL DE FAUCE TUOS INIMICI NOS O MAURITI VIRTUTE TUERE POTENTI
3 Joseph 1995 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 1316 1503 it 1 +2 O JOSEPH SANCTE PER VITAE COMMODA NOBIS EXIME NOS MORTI TRANSFER AD ALTA POLIA
4th Benedict 1995 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 1105 874 ges 1 +1 ALME FATHER BENEDICTE MEMENTO CONGREGATIONIS TUAE QUAM POSSEDISTI AB INITIO
5 Anno 1995 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 941 511 as 1 +1 ALME PATER PATRIAE PLEBEM SACER ANNO TUERE IGERBERGENSEM
6th Mauritius and companions 1993 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 858 393 b 1 +2 SANCTUS MAURITIUS ET SOCII EIUS MARTYRES / Laetamini in Domino et exsultate justi. Et gloriamini omnes recti corde.
7th Erpho, Reginhard and Cuno 1993 Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock 628 159 it 2 +1 PRIMI ABBATES SIGEBERGENSES ERPHO REGINHARD CUNO / Sancti estis, dicit Dominus, et multiplicabo numerum vestrum, ut oretis pro populo meo in loco isto.

Abbots

Old abbey

  • Erpho, June 3, 1076, professed monk from Gorze
  • Reginhard , 1076-4. Nov. 1105
  • Kuno I. , 1105-May 1126
  • Kuno II., 1126-1146 / 1147
  • Nicholas I, 1146 / 1147–1174
  • Gerhard I., 1174–1184 / 1185
  • Gerlach, 1184/1185–1191/1200
  • Hermann, 1200
  • Otto, 1200 / 1206-1208 / 1211
  • Gottfried I., 1211-1224 / 1227
Crypt, grave slab of Abbot Georg Christoph von Hagen († 1762)
Crypt, grave slab of Abbot Heinrich Ferdinand Dietrich Gottfried von Schaumberg († 1779)
  • Lambert, 1224 / 1227-1236 / 1238
  • Gottfried II., 1238-1259
  • Dietrich I., 1259-1270 / 1275
  • Adolf, 1270 / 12275-1302 / 1303
  • Heinrich, 1303-1309
  • Dietrich II. Von Sülz, 1309-1320
  • Wolfard I., 1320-1349
  • Reinhard II of Lülsdorf, 1350–1358
  • Nikolaus II. Von Lahnstein, 1358-1364
  • Dietrich III. von der Horst , 1365–1369 / 1370
  • Wolfard II. Von Landsberg , 1370/1386/1387
  • Pilgrim von Drachenfels, 1387-1415 / 1416
  • Adolf II von Vorst, 1417–1419
  • Wilhelm ILB Spies von Büllesheim , 1419–1462
  • Wilhelm II of Lülsdorf, 1462–1489
  • Johann I. von Nesselrode , 1489–1506
  • Gerhard II von Plettenberg , 1506–1516
  • Johann II. LB von Fürstenberg , 1516–1549
  • Hermann von Wachtendonk, 1550–1578
  • Gottfried von Eyll, 1578–1587
  • Wilhelm von Hochkirchen, 1587–1610
  • Gerhard III. Kolf von Vettelhoven, 1610–1620
  • Bertram von Bellinghausen, 1620–1653
  • Johann Bock von Pattern, 1653–1672
  • Bernhard Gustav of Baden-Durlach , 1672–1677
  • Heinrich Melchior von Nuland, 1678–1694
  • Wilhelm Rutger von Bellinghausen, 1695–1697
  • Eugen Theodosius von Hoen, 1697–1706
  • Franz Bernhard von Westrem, 1706/1735
  • Georg Christoph von Hagen, 1735–1762
  • Heinrich Ferdinand Dietrich Gottfried von Schaumberg, 1762–1779
  • Franz von Seraing, 1779–1787
  • Johann Speyart von Woerden, 1787–1803

New abbey

  • Ignatius Jacobs, 1922 ( prior )
  • Gotthard Bayer, 1924 (prior)
  • Liborius Hardebusch, 1928 (prior)
  • Ildefons Schulte Strathaus , 1935–1967
  • Alkuin Heising , 1967-1968
    • Reginhard Spilker, prior administrator 1968–1970
  • Placidus Mittler , 1970-2000
    • Raphael Bahrs, 2000–2003 prior administrator
  • Raphael Bahrs, 2003-2010
  • Picture gallery

  • Bird's Eye View (2017)

  • Michaelsberg Abbey

  • St. John's Tower

  • The gatehouse of the abbey

  • View over the inner courtyard

  • The Edith Stein monument in the inner courtyard

  • Abbey church from the southeast

  • Abbey church from the east

  • Nave

  • Sculpture of the Archangel Michael in the abbey church

  • Abbey floor plan

  • crypt

  • Crypt, grave slab Emilia Rosina von Auwach († 1692)

See also

literature

  • Marcel Albert: The Benedictine Abbey Siegburg in the reporting of the Cologne nuncios (1584–1794). ( Siegburg studies. New series 1). Rheinlandia-Verlag, Siegburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-9816041-5-3 .
  • Heinz Firmenich: The Michaelsberg Abbey in Siegburg. ( Rheinische Kunststätten, 99). 6th edition. Society for book printing, Neuss 1978. ISBN 3-88094-229-3 .
  • Placidus Mittler: Michaelsberg Abbey, Siegburg. History and life. Schmitt, Siegburg 1987, ISBN 3-87710-128-3 .
  • Wunibald Weber : Michaelsberg. History of a 900 year old abbey. Self-published, Siegburg 1953.
  • Erich Wisplinghoff : The Benedictine Abbey Siegburg. Berlin 1975 (= Germania Sacra, NF 9).
  • Andrea Korte-Böger: Siegburger Studies - The former choir stalls of the Siegburg Abbey Church. Rheinlandia Verlag, Siegburg 2016.

Web links

Commons : Michaelsberg Abbey  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archbishop's General Vicariate Cologne (ed.): Personal scheme for the Archdiocese of Cologne 1993/94. Cologne undated (1993), p. 443
  2. ^ Siegburg: New religious order and academy give the Michaelsberg a future. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Press office of the Archdiocese of Cologne, January 23, 2012, archived from the original on November 22, 2012 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Hatto Kallfelz: Life descriptions of some bishops of the 10th – 12th centuries Century (Freiherr vom Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe 22), Darmstadt 1972, p. 367
  4. ↑ Robert Flink: The former Benedictine propherty. Pankratius in Königswinter- Oberpleis. 2nd edition, Cologne 1982, PDF ( Memento of March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), p. 4.
  5. ↑ Albrecht Brendler: On the way to the territory. Administrative structure and office holder of the County of Berg 1225–1380. Inaugural dissertation, Bonn 2015, p. 224.
  6. ↑ a b orden online , accessed on January 24, 2012
  7. ↑ Salina Braun: "As for the main cause of his mental illness, ... self-defilement". Disease attributions and treatment practices in the Irren-Heil-Anstalt Siegburg (1825–1878). The fall of Georg v. G. In: Würzburg medical history reports. Volume 25, 2006, pp. 43-61, here: pp. 47 f.
  8. ↑ Archbishop's General Vicariate Cologne (ed.): Personal scheme for the Archdiocese of Cologne 1993/94. Cologne undated (1993), p. 548
  9. ↑ a b Mauritius Mittler: Michaelberg Abbey, Siegburg . In: Erbe und Einsatz , Vol. 43 (1967), pp. 422-423.
  10. ^ Siegburg, former Benedictine Abbey of St. Michael. Research Center for Glass Painting of the 20th Century. V. Accessed May 13, 2020.
  11. ↑ HEISING, Alkuin (Johannes) OSB , Orden-online.de
  12. ↑ Press release of May 16, 2010
  13. ↑ Press release of June 24, 2010
  14. ^ Declaration by the Siegburg Benedictine monks from November 8, 2010
  15. ^ Monks leave Siegburg Abbey ( memento of November 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), rp-online.de
  16. ↑ https://www.foerderverein-michaelsberg.de/abteigeschichten/lösungen-der-benediktiner
  17. ^ Günter Willscheid: Monks from Michaelsberg: bread and salt for Indian priests. In: rundschau-online.de. September 12, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2017 .
  18. ↑ The Carmel Michaelsberg. Discalced Carmelite Community, accessed July 14, 2017 .
  19. ↑ domradio.de: With Chancellor and Cardinal. Opening of the Catholic Social Institute in Siegburg, May 4th 2017.
  20. ↑ Edith Stein retreat house closes. ksta.de, May 22, 2013, accessed on July 3, 2015 .
  21. ↑ The bells of the abbey church at wdr.de/Glockenpforte
  22. ^ Gerhard Hoffs: Bell music in the dean's office Siegburg / Sankt Augustin . PDF file ( Memento of November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), pp. 77–83.

Coordinates: 50 ° 47 '44.7 "  N , 7 ° 12' 39.3"  E