Anna von Quitzow

Anna von Quitzow (* around 1510; † September 22, 1565 ) was a German Catholic abbess in the Stift zum Heiligengrabe monastery , who vehemently opposed the introduction of the Reformation and the conversion of the monastery into a Protestant women's monastery .

Live and act

Anna von Quitzow, descended from the old Brandenburg noble family von Quitzow , daughter of Georg II. (Jürgen) von Quitzow († 1527) and Margarethe von Arnim (after 1510), was abbess of the Heiligengrabe monastery from 1538 to 1549. On January 22, 1542, she learned from Curd von Rohr, governor of Ruppin and patron of the monastery, that the monastery was to be transferred to Erasmus von Retzdorf by Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg , who had professed his evangelical faith. Since the abbess of Zehdenick Monastery - an ally against the enforcement of the Protestant church order in the context of the Lutheran church visitation - had died in 1541 and the solidarity between the three monasteries of Zehdenick, Heiligengrabe and Lindow broke, the elector decided to change the situation to exploit in an evangelical women's monastery. But Anna von Quitzow received support from her own family as well as from other influential Prignitz aristocrats such as the von der Schulenburg family , who all spoke out in favor of preserving the monastery and its Catholic tradition. Thus, until April 1543, the introduction of Erasmus von Retzdorf as well as Curt von Rohr himself or Claus von Dase (as a substitute for Curt von Rohr) into the possession of the monastery could be prevented, as Anna von Quitzow and her entourage were resolute refused to agree to the introduction of the new evangelical church order and to recognize a secular lord.

Another attempt by the electoral envoy Thomas Nickel to get the keys and privileges of the monastery failed. The nuns received support from the citizens, who refused to take the monastery by force under the leadership of Rohr and Nickel. In the meantime, Anna von Quitzow complained at the end of April 1543 to the state parliament in Berlin and later also on various aristocratic days against the repeated takeover attempts. At the same time, the aristocratic families brought their daughters to safety during this unrest, but they reserved the right to return to the monastery at a later and calmer time.

After Curt von Rohr had the fields harvested and his mercenaries besieged the monastery, the nuns went hungry. In order to prevent further escalations in the course of the negotiations, the elector gave in temporarily and at least let the inmates of the convent do the summer harvest. Anna's brother Dietrich XIV. Von Quitzow (1515–1569) also tried, but in vain, to mediate in August 1543. At the beginning of October there was another siege of the monastery. The nuns, led by Anna von Quitzow, did not give up despite the lack of food. At the end of October 1543, the nobility decided to refuse to pay taxes to the elector if the monastery lost its privileges and freedoms.

After further tough negotiations between the elector, the nobles, some Perleberg clergymen and Anna von Quitzow with her nuns in November 1543, some compromises were reached, but still no agreement. At the beginning of January 1544, Anna asked for mercy for the eight remaining nuns and for more food to be supplied, without, however, abandoning her actual resistance. It was not until February 14, 1544 that this was broken, and the nuns now submitted to the new church order.

As a result, in October 1544 Anna von Quitzow asked Elector Joachim II to allow the nuns who were in exile with their families to return to the monastery. Since Anna lived in the old bishop's castle in Wittstock / Dosse , the residence of the Catholic bishop of the diocese of Havelberg Busso X. von Alvensleben , this application was rejected by the elector on the grounds that she was no longer a conversation partner for him. The conflict was finally resolved only after the bishop's death on May 4, 1548 and after subsequent mediation by the von Quitzow family the following year. The convent received the monastery property back, officially recognized the Protestant church order, and the nuns were able to move back into the monastery on May 17, 1549 with a solemn procession. Finally, on October 5, 1549, the agreements between the elector and Anna von Quitzow were contractually recorded and signed.

literature

• Annette Kugler-Simmerl: Bishop, cathedral chapter and monasteries in the diocese of Havelberg 1522–1598: structural change and loss of function , Lukas-Verlag 2003, pp. 11, 120, 125–128, 136. digitalisat
• Werner von Kieckebusch: Chronicle of the Kloster zum Heiligengrabe: from the Reformation to the middle of the 20th century , Lukas-Verlag 2008, p. 87ff. and other digitized

Web links

• Heiligengrabe ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )