St. Thomas Abbey (Andernach)

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The Abbey of St. Thomas zu Andernach (full title since 1482: "Our Lady in Front of the Walls to St. Thomas") was a former Augustinian choir women - monastery in Rhineland-Palatinate outside the gates of Andernach in the southeast of the medieval city. It existed from 1126 to 1802.

history

Already in the 6./7. In the 19th century, the St. Stephen monastery was founded on the site of the later St. Thomas Abbey . In 883 it fell victim to the Norman storm and was in ruins for 244 years. In 1127, the head of the Springiersbach women's convent Texwindis (also Tengswich, Tenxwind or Teghwind) received the order from her brother and abbot Richard I of the Springiersbach monastery to move the predominantly aristocratic Augustinian convent from Springiersbach to Andernach. The facility, first mentioned in 1129 as a new construction of the monastery ruins, was ordered by the Archbishop of Trier , Meginher von Viandenwas built on the ruins of the former St. Stephen's monastery near Andernach, Texwindis became the “first head of the monastery”. On May 27, 1152, Master Bensuetis also received confirmation from Pope Eugene III. The new monastery was consecrated to the Holy Virgin Mary and was named “Our Lady Before the Walls” (“Monastery of St. Mary”). According to the founding regulations of Archbishop Meginher, a maximum of one hundred women were allowed to live in the monastery. Because of the rapidly increasing number of women, the Archbishop of Trier, Albero von Munsterol, felt compelled to repeat the provision in 1138, on the grounds: "quidquid modum egreditur, ad vitium inclinat" - "everything that exceeds the limit approaches an error" . In the eventful history, the number of canonesses fluctuated from barely more than ten to one hundred, which was also reached in the heyday of the monastery in the 13th and 14th centuries. The monastery was very rich due to the gifts of the noble ladies, who from the 15th century only found entrance into the monastery. Land of the monastery was found in the Eifel as far as Polch and Berresheim, on the Rhine from Metternich (today Koblenz) to Sinzig and on the right bank of the Rhine from Langendorf (Neuwied) to Rheinbrohl, in the Westerwald to Datzeroth, on the Moselle and near the Lahn Limburg.

During the war between Philip of Swabia and Otto IV. (HRR) , the monastery was ravaged by plundering soldiers in 1198. In the following centuries, the monastery flourished until the end of the 15th century a clear decline was recorded, which was countered in 1499 with a reformation of the monastery system. At that time the abbey only housed 18 nuns, including the head of the Countess Palatine Margareta von Baiern.

The abbey was severely damaged during the Thirty Years' War , including the Niederhof, in 1632 and 1633 by the Swedes under Field Marshal Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin and in 1646 under the French military leader Turenne . The reconstruction then took place slowly.

At the beginning of the 18th century, it gained independence from the Springiersbach Abbey with the support of Archbishop Johann Hugo von Orsbeck of Trier . The permanent apostolic nuncio in Cologne, Horatius Philipp Spada ( Orazio Filippo Spada ), titular archbishop of Thebes , confirmed the resolutions based on 16 articles on January 3, 1701, which mainly concerned the rules of the monastery and the investiture of the provost ( article 14). After that, the future monastery propst was no longer allowed to come from Springiersbach and had to be expressly approved by the Archbishop of Trier. The pastoral care of the nuns was taken over by the brothers of the Franciscan monastery in Andernach, which from the 13th century until 1802 was located between the south wall and Hochstrasse at today's Christ Church, then St. Nicholas Monastery Church.

At the end of the 18th century , the number of nuns fell permanently to about twenty nuns due to the extinction and emigration of the local nobility. In 1783 there were five lay sisters, fourteen choir-ladies and around twenty employees and servants. The rich foundations have long since ceased to flow, and the expenditures clearly exceeded the income. In 1786, the two electors of Trier and Cologne, Clemens Wenzeslaus of Saxony as full professor and Maximilian Franz of Austria as sovereign of Andernach, decided to convert the monastery constitution: “In order to improve wealth, the capitular constitution in the monastery of St. Thomas introduced, limited hospitality, and stopped farming. The unnecessary courtyard buildings are to be sold and no more novices are to be accepted until further notice ”. The monastery soon sank to insignificance.

Almost 10 years later, on October 22, 1794, French revolutionary troops under General Marceau took the monastery, filled the buildings with straw and set them on fire. The source is an entry in the logs of the Andernach Eisengässern neighborhood, but from today's perspective, the soldiers' carelessness that led to the fire is much more likely. In 1802 the monastery was dissolved in the course of secularization , but was largely preserved and was sold. In 1815 the Prussian administration set up the St. Thomas zu Andernach insane nursing home in the buildings . In 1866/1867 they were expanded. In 1876 the new "Provincial Insane Asylum Andernach" on Aktienstraße was put into operation. The previous facility was passed into municipal ownership as an “insane nursing home” and was dissolved in 1920. (> Festschrift 125 years Rhein-Mosel-Fachklinik Andernach, 2001 <). Some of the buildings were confiscated by the Americans and later the French ( World War I ). The city of Andernach then had apartments set up in the abbess house. In 1931, a wing of the monastery building, today's "old building" of the Kurfürst-Salentin-Gymnasium , was used as a school building for the collegiate high school (rebuilt in 1957). On December 27, 1944, bombs destroyed the abbess house. The church of St. Albert was built on the foundation walls in the early 1950s. The main building of the former lunatic asylum St. Thomas housed the Andernach Catholic elementary school (St. Thomas School) for many years and was demolished around 1980 in the course of a new building. The St. Michael's Chapel , the portal coat of arms and the northeast fortified tower from the 14th century have been preserved.

Naming

In the deed of foundation the monastery is called "monasterium beate Marie foris murum Andernaci" ("Monastery of Blessed Mary outside the walls of Andernach"), and in 1478 in the will of Sister Agnes von Belle the name was: "Monastery of our dear Frauwen bussen (outside) Andernach ". The later common name was “monasterium divae virginis Mariae ad s. Thomam "(" Monastery of the Divine Virgin Mary of St. Thomas ")," Our Lady in Front of the Walls of St. Thomas "," Monastery of Sanct Thomas "(" Conventus Sanctae Mariae de Andernaco ") or similar, from 1718 also St. Thomas Abbey. The name of both patronages was first mentioned in a letter of purchase from Margareta von Roden from 1482. Under St. Thomas is to be understood as Thomas Becket of Canterbury , Primate of England and glorious campaigner for the freedom of the Church at that time, whose veneration quickly spread in the Archdiocese of Trier .

The seal and later the coat of arms of the monastery, created in the 13th century, showed in the middle the Queen of Heaven with crown, veil and wrinkled robe sitting on the throne, with her left hand around the baby Jesus resting on her lap, with her right in front of her breast Holding the symbol of love, the heart, to which the Savior also extends his hands, accompanied by two slim angel figures, carrying lilies in raised hands, and a small praying figure kneeling at the feet of the Mother of God. The inscription in capital letters : Sigillum conventus sce Marie de Andernaco ( Sigillum conventus sanct [a] e Mari [a] e de Andernaco - seal of the convent of St. Mary of Andernach ). Later the monastery coat of arms was only used with St. Mary with scepter (instead of the heart) and the baby Jesus is shown, who holds an orb in his left hand and stands on the coat of arms of the respective master, as can be found in the coat of arms of Miesenheim (Isabella Maria Rosina von der Hees). In the Kurfürst-Salentin-Gymnasium in Andernach one of these monastery coats of arms can be found in a glass window. Another monastery coat of arms from 1774, that of the second abbess Josepha Karolina Nagel von Loburg (1757–1777), can be found above today's north portal of St. Albert Church. It once adorned the portal of the abbot's house, which fell victim to the hail of bombs in 1944 with the 800-year-old St. Thomas monastery basilica.

building

The monastery consisted of the four-tower Romanesque abbey church of St. Maria or St. Maria and Thomas (since 1482), a three-aisled pillar basilica with two large towers on the choir (apse) to the east and two smaller towers flanking the western gable of the central nave, similar to the later one (~ 1220) built Andernach Church of Our Lady on a smaller scale, but with this opposite tower positioning, as well as the main house and several auxiliary buildings. In addition one, later a total of three mills (Hacke (nborn) -, Klees (monastery), and Mohrsmühle), stables, barns and gardens with a pond, as well as the (preserved) St. Michael's Chapel, an original cemetery and burial chapel, were made the 13th century, surrounded by a 15 m high wall reinforced by four towers.

The north-eastern round defensive tower of the monastery from the 14th century, originally around 24 m high, has also stood the test of time. In 1816 it was converted to the St. Thomasmühle , a tower windmill as a tale and cutting mill, with 26 m the highest in Rhineland-Palatinate and the second highest in the Rhineland after the Pantaleonsmühle (37 m cap height) in Cologne. From 1912, the defense tower served as a water tower after the tank socket with lantern was increased (31 meters with a tower ball without lightning rod).

In front of the north side of the monastery on the other side of the Breite Weg from Andernach to Koblenz, today's Breite Straße , was the Große Hof (curia ante claustrum), later called Niederhof, already notarized in 1187. It was run by the so-called Niederhofmann and, with its goods, played an important economic and social role in the monastery system. Today it can still be found in the local street name Im Niederhof . The St. Thomaser Hohl as the eastern boundary is also reminiscent of the former abbey.

Heads (masters) and abbesses of the monastery

A total of 53 heads led the monastery in its 676-year history. The last ones were allowed to call themselves abbesses: Isabella Maria Rosina von der Hees (1718–1757) received the title abbess and the indult for herself and her successors to wear a staff and pectoral cross in 1718 . She was the 50th headmistress and first abbess; at 39, she had the longest term in office. Her coat of arms can be found in that of Miesenheim , because she had considerably improved the economic and financial situation of the place through the installation of the nett hammer in 1727 (hammer water mill for metal processing) from a grain mill. He was followed by Josepha Karolina Nagel von Loburg (1757–1777), Maria Sophia von Boineburg zu Lengsfeld (1777–1792) and Amalia Truchsess von Wetzhausen (1792–1794) as the last abbess. She was deposed by the French revolutionary troops and had to leave the monastery. She died in Leutesdorf in 1811 .

  •   1. Texwindis I of Andernach (1129–1149)
  •   2. Guda (Jutta) (1149-1152)
  •   3. Bensuetis (1152-1155)
  •   4. Hedwig von Isenburg (1155–1160)
  •   5. Gerbergis von Waldeck (1160–1167)
  •   6. Texwindis II of Nassau (1167–1178)
  •   7. Irmgard von Wied (1178–1187)
  •   8. Ida von Landskron (1187–1190)
  •   9. Benigna of Sayn (Ben. De Fayen) (1190–1192)
  • 10. Klarissa of Virneburg (1190–1199)
  • 11. Texwindis III. (1196-1210)
  • 12. Aleidis of Kottenheim (1210–1216)
  • 13. Sophia I, Countess of Hammerstein (1216–1249)
  • 14. Gertrudis I of Isenburg (1249–1255)
  • 15. Lukardis of Kobern (1255–1274)
  • 16. Mechtildis, Countess of Rheineck (1274–1292)
  • 17. Hildegard I of Virneburg (1292-1308); Prioress Irmentrud de Monreal (1308-1310)
  • 18. Kunegunde (1311-1316)
  • 19. Aldegundis of Wied (1316)
  • 20. Hildegard II of Treis (1317-1330)
  • 21. Aleyidis (1330-1337)
  • 22. Sophie von Spiegel from Cologne (1337–1342)
  • 23. Elisabeth von Wied (1342-1343)
  • 24. Hildegard III. von Sayn (Hagen) (1343–1344)
  • 25. Catherine I of Kempenich (1344); 4 months
  • 26. Nesa von Kempenich (1344–1367)
  • 27. Bela of Monreal (1370-1397)
  • 28. Elsa von Scheiden (1397–1417)
  • 29. Beatrix von Spiegel (1417–1429)
  • 30. Hilla von Senheim (1433–1456)
  • 31. Catherine II of Selbach (1458–1464)
  • 32. Agnes von Selbach (1465–1476)
  • 33. Gertrudis II. Mant von Limbach (1476–1499)
  • 34. Margareta von Baiern Countess Palatine (1499–1503)
  • 35. Catherine III. von Ghöre (1503–1520)
  • 36. Magdalena von Schönhals (1520–1523)
  • 37. Anna I of Lesch (1523–1537)
  • 38. Christina Print from Horchheim called Christina von der Brohl, Broell (e) or Broill (e) (1537–1557)
  • 39. Anna II of Brambach (1558–1562)
  • 40. Catherine IV of Deusternach (1562–1594)
  • 41. Mary I House of Ulmen (1594–1612)
  • 42. Anna III. Elisabeth von Flerseim (1612–1623)
  • 43. Maria II von Rolshausen (1623–1624)
  • 44. Anna IV. Maria Katharina Schilling von Lahnstein (1624–1631)
  • 45. Anna V. Haust von Ulmen (1631–1648)
  • 46. ​​Sophia Agnes Ahr zu Golzheim (1648–1674)
  • 47. Anna VI. Sidonia von Wolframsdorf (1674–1692)
  • 48. Juliana Katharina Christina Schütz von Holzhausen (1692–1707)
  • 49. Lucia Katharina von Breidbach-Bürresheim (1707–1718)
  • 50. Isabella Maria Rosina von der Hees (1718–1757) (1st abbess)
  • 51. Josepha Karolina Nagel von Loburg (1757–1777)
  • 52. Mary III. Sophia von Boineburg zu Lengsfeld (1777–1792)
  • 53. Amalia Truchsess von Wetzhausen (1792–1794, † 1811 in Leutesdorf)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang P. Fischer: The fall of the St. Thomas monastery at the gates of the city of Andernach . The four-tower Romanesque abbey church was also a victim of the flames.> In: Andernacher Annalen, Volume 9 . Andernach, 2011/2012; P. 89 ff
  2. ^ Monastery coat of arms of St. Thomas

literature

  • Christoph Brower, Jacob Masen: Metropolis Ecclesiae Trevericae . Vol. I, ed. by Christian von Stramberg, Koblenz 1856
  • Wolfgang P. Fischer: The fall of the St. Thomas monastery at the gates of the city of Andernach . In: Andernacher Annalen, Volume 9 . Andernach, 2011/2012
  • Conrad d'Hame: Confluvium historicum seu historia chronologico-diplomatico-domestico-diaristica et miscellanea monasterii Montis BMV prope Boppardiam (...) . 2 vol., Trier 1773
  • Karl-Josef Gilles, Erwin Schaaf: Springiersbach. From the Augustinian Canons Abbey to the Carmelite Monastery 1102–2002 . Ed. from the Verbandsgemeinde Kröv-Bausendorf and the Carmelite monastery Springiersbach (= series Ortschroniken des Trier Land , vol. 36), Trier 2002, ISBN 3-928497-07-3
  • Hans Hunder: Andernach. Depictions of the history of the city . City administration, Andernach 1986
  • Gerhard Terwelp: History of the monastery of our dear lady for h. Thomas near Andernach . Jung, Andernach 1881, 1883
  • Bruno Zeitz: The monastery of Our Lady of St. Thomas / Andernach and the parish Feldkirchen / Neuwied . In: Association of Former Salentines: News . No. 33, Andernach 1992, pp. 7-10,
  • Festschrift on the occasion of the formation of the Andernach school center, June 6, 1979

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 25 ′ 56 ″  N , 7 ° 24 ′ 24 ″  E