Benedictine convent Spandau

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The "Spandau Madonna" (approx. 1290)

The St. Marien Benedictine Monastery in Spandau existed from 1239 until it was dissolved as a result of the Reformation in the 16th century. It was located south outside the walls of the city of Spandau (today part of Berlin, name form at that time: Spandow , Zpandow or Zspandow ) and held the patronage of numerous surrounding parishes . Nothing of the buildings has survived; they were demolished in 1636.

Location and construction

The monastery was outside the city of Spandau near the Magdeburg - Berlin - Poland trunk road, between the Havel and today's Klosterstrasse at the mouth of the Bullengraben , between Bahndamm and Ruhlebener Strasse. It could be reached from the city through the southern “Klosterviertel” and the “Kloster-Thor” - renamed “Potsdamer Thor” in 1747 by order of Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia . Nothing is known about the buildings, as there are neither structural remains nor preserved pictorial or textual representations. The location can also only be developed. The monastery farm yard with barns, cattle stalls, brewery and bakery was located directly on the Havel. The extensive lands of the monastery in its immediate vicinity with meadows, gardens and vineyards formed the "monastery field" in today's Klosterfelde district.

Not far from the monastery, also in front of the city gates, the Heilig-Geist-Spital was built in 1244 under the sponsorship of the citizenry, later also the leper hospice “St. Lazarus ”, which then became a poor house, the“ St. George Hospital ”. The Benedictine Sisters were not involved in these institutions.

Today the Berlin locations of Klosterfelde and Jungfernheide , where the monastery owned properties, as well as Nonnendamm and Klosterstrasse (called "Potsdamer Provinzialchaussee" until 1878) are reminiscent of the monastery .

Church and furnishings

A church belonged to the monastery, which was consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary ( ecclesia beate Marie virginis sanctimonialium ordinis sancti Benedicti in Spandow "Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Nuns of the Order of St. Benedict in Spandow"); the main altar was dedicated to Mary and the Holy Cross . It is possible that the Moritzkirche served as a makeshift monastery church for a while, as it was occasionally referred to as such. However, this is no longer considered conclusive by historians.

A Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary , the “Spandau Madonna”, dated to the end of the 13th century , may have its origin in the Spandau Benedictine monastery. It came to the Nicolaikirche in the 15th century, where a copy still stands today; the original is in the Märkisches Museum in Berlin. The statue was probably associated with a pilgrimage on the Feast of Mary (September 8th) and Assumption (August 15th).

The "Spandau Gospels ", a precious manuscript with a book cover in goldsmith work , today in the Berlin State Library is a testimony to the wealth of the monastery .

When a Catholic church was built again in Spandau - St. Marien am Behnitz  - in the 19th century,  the tradition of the church in the Benedictine monastery was taken up with the election of the Marien Patronage, also with the consecration of the Church of Mary, Help of Christians in 1910 .

History and meaning

The monastery was founded in 1239 by the Ascanian margraves Johann I of Brandenburg and Otto III. founded by the pious in order to "create a religious and cultural center for the Mittelmark". Thanks to the pious foundations of the sovereigns and the nobility, it soon had rich property. The donations were linked to the obligation to celebrate masses to commemorate the dead ( Seelgerät Foundation ), which were celebrated by priests who were employed by the nuns for this purpose.

When entering the monastery a dowry had to be paid, so that to a large extent noble and wealthy women lived in the monastery and the monastery property steadily increased. At times, up to 11 villages (1450/1480) were fully owned by the monastery, including Lankwitz , Lietzow (today: Charlottenburg ), Lübars , Gatow , Kladow , Seeburg , Tegel and the mill there, as well as Dalldorf (today: Wittenau ); There was partial ownership in another 55 villages. The forest area in the Jungfernheide with the Plötzensee in it was also owned by the nuns, and the trade route they paved along the Jungfernheide to Berlin - Cölln is today's Nonnendamm. The nuns attached particular importance to the fishing industry and acquired the Lietzensee , Groß Glienicker See , Falkenhagener See and Jungfernsee . For a long time the monastery had a second farmyard in Kasow . The majority of the possessions were in a radius of 20 km around Spandau. In the course of the 15th century the expansion measures of the monastery decreased. Nothing is known of the establishment of subsidiary conventions.

The Benedictine monastery was the only one of this order in the Mittelmark . The closest Benedictine monasteries in Arendsee , Dambeck and Krevese were already located west of the Elbe in the Altmark , the other nunneries in Mittelmark ( Friedland , Heiligengrabe , Lindow , Marienfließ , Wanzka , Zehdenick and Ziesar ) belonged to the order of the Cistercian Sisters . In the city of Spandow, in addition to the Benedictine monastery, there was a Kalandsbruderschaft , a community of priests to which lay people could also belong. Probably the Franciscan monastery in Berlin and the Dominican monastery in Cölln in Spandau each had an appointment , simple accommodation with storage space for collecting alms. Whether there was also a Dominican convent in Spandau in the 13th century , which was then moved to Cölln, can neither be clearly confirmed nor refuted. Spandau belonged to the diocese of Brandenburg ; the Benedictine monastery with 82 dependent villages formed a sub-center ( sedes , "seat") in the eastern part of the diocese.

With the founding of the monastery, he was given the church patronage , the right to fill parish positions with a priest, for the St. Nicolai parish church in Spandau , probably also for the Moritz church and the St. Mary's altar in the chapel at Spandau Castle, as well as for ten other village parishes ( Roskow , Bornim , Seegefeld , Rohrbeck , Gatow, Kladow, Wilmersdorf and Groß Kienitz , each with their subsidiary churches). The monastery had the task of supplying the churches in the wide area with hosts and mass wine from its own production. In 1240, the citizens of the city of Spandau refused to take over the church patronage over St. Nicolai against payment of compensation, so that the parish church remained dependent on the monastery until the Reformation. The nuns had employed their own chaplains and confessors for pastoral care in the monastery itself .

The size of the convent should have been between 60 and 70 nuns. From 1305 a hospital was attached to the monastery. One of its main tasks was a school with a boarding school , mainly for girls, from at least 1299 onwards .

Since the 15th century the rights of the monastery towards the patronage churches and institutions had gradually been eroded. Although the monastery exercised nominal sovereignty, the power of disposal was in fact with the magistrate, which had controlled churches and church assets since the 1430s at the latest; several church leaders were councilors at the same time. In 1541 communalization was finally completed in the course of the Reformation.

Dissolution due to the Reformation

The Reformation reached Spandau in 1539 at the latest, when on November 1, 1539, Elector Joachim II converted to the Protestant faith in the St. Nikolai Church in Spandau ; the former provost of the monastery, Bishop Matthias von Jagow , gave him communion in both forms. This also made the Mark Brandenburg Protestant. The Benedictine nuns reluctantly took over the Reformation on April 27, 1541 as part of a “general church visitation ” through which the visitors reformed the worship service and transferred the patronage of the parish church of St. Nikolai to the city council of Spandau. The individual nuns were free to leave the order and, if necessary, to marry. However, the sisters apparently remained together as a - now Protestant - convention. However, they were not allowed to accept novices. In 1552 the convent still consisted of 18 sisters. The school initially continued to exist, but operations gradually came to a standstill when the sisters died out. The administration of the monastery property went to the Spandau office, which had to take care of the remaining sisters. The last nun died in 1598. Among other things, she bequeathed textiles to the Nikolaikirche for use in church services.

There was no new use for the monastery buildings. They stood empty and fell into disrepair, so that Elector Georg Wilhelm ordered the demolition in 1626 in order to expand the city fortifications.

Provost and Prioress

The monastery was represented externally by a provost who was a diocesan priest . He was presumably chosen by the nuns and installed by the Bishop of Brandenburg and belonged to the higher clergy of the diocese; for the first time a provost was named for the year 1251. He represented the convent at the Havelland state parliaments, at diocesan synods and other church meetings, handled legal transactions and financial matters that were binding for the monastery, such as the acquisition of real estate, acceptance of gifts, collection or payment of amounts due. The provost was responsible for all actions towards the nuns. Together with the prioress, he proposed to the diocese that the clergy be appointed to pastoral care, over which the monastery had patronage rights. In addition to the provost, there were priests as spiritual assistants who held the services and looked after the nuns with pastoral care, for example as confessor .

Internally , a prioress (priorissa) was the head of the monastery, towards the end of the 14th century the post of subprioress as deputy to the prioress is also on record. From the beginning of the 16th century the heads of the women were called Abbess , synonymous Domina "Mistress", followed by Prioress and Subpriorin in the order of priority. Spandau thus took over the hierarchy of the neighboring Cistercian abbeys.

Prioresses / Abbesses

The years in which the person concerned is mentioned in a document are given.

  • Margaret (1267)
  • Gertrude (1314)
  • Zacharia of Falkenhagen (1330)
  • Jutta (1352)
  • Margareta of Haselberg (1374)
  • Katharina Rudow (1383)
  • Margareta Domes (Donnis), Subpriorin (1383), Prioress (1405-1410)
    • Margareta Busghow (from Buschow?), Subpriorin, 1405
  • Margaret (1420)
    • Katharina (von) Friesen, Subpriorin (1420)
  • Sophia (von) Greaves (1443)
  • Margareta Hönow (1448–1461)
    • Agnes von Röbel, Subpriorin (1448)
  • Elisabeth Stroband (1488–1499)
    • Gertrud von Bamme, Subpriorin (1488)
  • Anna (von) Hake (1504–1508?)
  • Katharina (von) Barfuß (Barfftes / Barfften), abbess, also dominatrix (1513–1519)
  • Barbara (von) Schapelow, Prioress (1515 under Abbess Katharina), Abbess (1528), Domina (around 1530)
  • Anna Glouß, Prioress (1528 under Abbess Barbara)
    • Dorothea (von) Barfuß, Subpriorin (1528)

Toast

The years in which the person concerned is mentioned in a document are given.

  • Jacob (1251-1267)
  • NN
  • Nicholas (1289)
  • NN
  • Albert (1308-1314)
  • Johannes von Hersfeld (from Hersfelde, Hirschfelde near Bernau) (1317–1330, † before 1332)
  • Wilhelm von Schönhausen (1330–1347)
  • Nicholas (1352-1361)
  • NN
  • Nikolaus Schmergow (Smergow) (1383)
  • Konradus (von) Lossow (1390-1392)
  • Johannes Coln (1405-1410)
  • Johannes Rabenstein (1418–1436)
  • Tillmann Schartow (Hartow) from Magdeburg (1442–1443; previously (1427/28) pastor of Rathenow, afterwards (1451) canon at the collegiate monastery St. Sebastian in Magdeburg)
  • Tillmann Pelle (1444–1463)
  • NN
  • Christian Dames (1488)
  • Johannes Bade (1496 - October 29, 1499)
  • Andreas Hoppenrade from Kremmen , studied in Leipzig in 1477 (November 5, 1499–1521, previously notary at the episcopal court in Ziesar )
  • Melchior (von) Hünike, studied in Leipzig from winter semester 1498, graduation 1500, 1526 Dean of the Spandauer Kalands (1519–1521)
  • Matthias von Jagow (1524, until 1524 assessor at the Imperial Court of Justice in Nuremberg, 1525 canon in Stendal , 1526 to 1544 (†) Bishop of Brandenburg, converted to Protestantism)
  • Konrad Sleys (January 24, 1528, previously under Provost Melchior von Hünike Thesaurar and chaplain of the monastery)
  • Ladewig (1531)

literature

  • Ursula Creutz: History of the former monasteries in the Diocese of Berlin in individual representations. (Studies on the Catholic diocese and monastery history, vol. 38) Benno Verlag, Leipzig 1995, ISBN 3-89543-087-0 , pp. 167-170.
  • Felix Escher : Piety and cultural life in Spandau before the Reformation. In: Wolfgang Ribbe (ed.): Slavic castle - state fortress - industrial center. Studies on the history of the city and district of Spandau. Colloquium Verlag, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-7678-0593-6 , pp. 145-154.
  • Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery of St. Marien zu Spandau and the church institutions of the city of Spandau in the Middle Ages. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 1996, ISBN 3-412-03496-7 .
  • Joachim Pohl: The Spandau Benedictine Monastery of St. Marien in its urban and rural relationships. In: Kaspar Elm (Hrsg.): Wichmann yearbook of the Diözesangeschichtsverein Berlin. New episode 4, XXXVI. Year 1996/1997, pp. 47–94.
  • Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Be.bra Wissenschaft verlag, Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-937233-26-0 , pp. 1182–1191.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wolfgang Ribbe: Spandau. Colloquium Verlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-7678-0716-5 , p. 53.
  2. ^ Felix Escher: Piety and cultural life in Spandau before the Reformation. Pp. 145, 151, 153. Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, p. 1186.
  3. ^ Rainer Fliegner: Spandau. History and stories. Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2007, ISBN 978-3-86680-122-6 , p. 28 (Potsdamer Thor), p. 86 (Klosterstrasse).
  4. ↑ so in the year 1305, Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, p. 1182.
  5. ^ Hans-Herbert Möller: The former Moritzkirche in Spandau. In: Yearbook for Brandenburg State History. Volume 15, Berlin 1962, pp. 59-70, here pp. 60-64.
    Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine convent St. Marien zu Spandau. Pp. 87-91.
  6. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 92.206.
  7. ↑ Ms. theol. lat. fol 375, Peter Knüvener: High medieval sculptures from village churches in Niederlausitz and their reception. In: Anne Germann, Dirk Schumann (ed.): Village churches in Niederlausitz. History - architecture - monument preservation. Lukas Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86732-054-2 , pp. 277-301, p. 284.
  8. ^ Gebhard Streicher, Erika Drave: Berlin city and church. More-Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-87554-189-8 , p. 240.
  9. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 42.
  10. ^ Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, pp. 1183–1185. Felix Escher: Piety and cultural life in Spandau before the Reformation. P. 147.
  11. ^ Klaus Neitmann (Ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume I. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, p. 160.
  12. ^ Felix Escher: Piety and cultural life in Spandau before the Reformation. P. 146.
  13. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 92.
  14. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 179.207.
  15. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 564f.
  16. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. Pp. 533f, 555; Felix Escher: Piety and cultural life in Spandau before the Reformation. P. 147; Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, p. 1182.11877.
  17. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 559f.
  18. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 164; Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, p. 1184.
  19. ↑ Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. P. 170ff.
  20. ^ Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, pp. 1187f.
  21. ^ Joachim Pohl: (Berlin-) Spandau. Benedictine women. In: Klaus Neitmann (ed.): Brandenburg monastery book. Handbook of the monasteries, pens and commander by the mid-16th century. Volume II. Berlin-Brandenburg 2007, p. 1188. Joachim Pohl: The Benedictine nunnery St. Marien zu Spandau. Pp. 144-168.