Susteren Abbey

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The westwork of the church as seen from the adjacent cemetery. The rest of the original west tower can be seen between the twin towers.
The basilica as seen from the northeast. In front of the semicircular apse is the external crypt.
View into the nave

The Susteren Abbey in between Sittard and Roermond in today's Dutch province of Limburg situated place Susteren founded in the 8th century. Of the abbey buildings, only the basilica remains .

History of the abbey

In the spring of 714 Pippin the Middle and his wife Plectrudis presented the monastery with a letter of protection and transfer to St. Willibrord , who at the same time allowed the free election of abbot. The abbey became a refuge for missionaries in Friesland and the Netherlands. The Benedictine abbey was re-established as a secular women's monastery after being destroyed by the Vikings in the 9th century . The first abbess was St. Amalberga von Susteren († around 900, also called Amalberge / Amelberg / Alma).

The lotharingische King Zwentibold , supporters of the monastery and father or brother of the abbess Benedicta and Cecilia, was a late According to tradition, to 900 buried in the Abbey Susteren. St. Wastrada († mid-8th century) and St. Gregory († around 775/777) of Pfalzel-Utrecht, initially companion of St. Boniface during his missions in Friesland, later abbot in Utrecht, also found their final resting place in the Susteren Abbey.

Pope Benedict XVI elevated the church to a minor basilica in 2007 .

Abbey church

The abbey church still preserved today, the St. Amalbergabasilika, was built in the 11th century. The three-aisled basilica, built over a cross-shaped floor plan, is covered with a flat wooden ceiling, only the westwork and the semicircular apse that closes the central nave and does not reach the central nave are vaulted . The aisles have straight ends. The arcades between the central and side aisles have alternating rectangular pillars and columns with cube capitals (Rhenish column change ). The choir an external, not located under the actual church, joins the east crypt at. The cross vaults of the crypt are supported by square pillars.

The collegiate church, which was heavily modified by the restoration work carried out between 1885 and 1890 under the direction of the architects Pierre Cuypers and Lambert von Fisenne , is clearly influenced by the Ottonian church of the Essen monastery . A conspicuous conversion carried out during the repair is the change from the original westwork to a double tower facade. The Amelberga basilica originally had a single massive west tower, which was flanked left and right by two lower and narrower stair towers with a square floor plan.

The baptismal font from around 1200 is noteworthy among the furnishings of the church. There is also a calvary in the triumphal arch with sculptures of St. Mary and St. John from the 14th century.

The St. Amalberga basilica is dedicated to St. Amalberga, the first abbess.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ E. den Hartog: Romanesque Architecture and Sculpture in the Meuse Valley. Eisma BV, Leuwaarden / Mechelen 1992, ISBN 90-74252-04-4 , pp. 18 f., 26 f.
  2. ↑ a b Susteren . www.dbnl.org. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  3. ↑ Biography of the Holy Amalberg

Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 40 ″  N , 5 ° 51 ′ 2 ″  E