Benedictine convent of St. Gabriel

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The Priory of St. Gabriel is a Benedictine - monastery , which from 1888 to 1918 as "St. Gabriel Monastery" in the Holečkova ulice in Prague - Smíchov existed. After that it was located in Bertholdstein Castle near Fehring in Eastern Styria until 2008 . In October 2007 the Sisters joined the Federation of Sisters of St. Lioba . They have been living in St. Johann near Herberstein (municipality of Feistritztal , Styria) since November 29, 2008 .

From its foundation until September 2007, the Gabriel Monastery belonged to the Beuron Congregation . In October 2007 the convent joined the Federation of Sisters of St. Lioba as an independent priory .

history

Monastery Church of St. Gabriel, Prague-Smíchov

The St. Gabriel Monastery was founded as a foundation by Countess Gabriele Swéerts-Sporck . She was enthusiastic about the Beuron liturgy and, as a benefactor, wanted to use her fortune to found the first Benedictine convent of the Beuron congregation in Prague. Since she died in 1884, relatives realized the deceased's wish. The monastery was subordinated to the Emauskloster and supported by its abbot Benedikt Sauter .

The foundation stone was laid on October 16, 1888. The design comes from the Emautin monk Gislen Béthun, who was also responsible for the construction management. In accordance with the Beuronian understanding of liturgy, the altar was turned towards the people, which anticipated the later liturgical reform. The church consecration by the Prague Archbishop Franziskus von Paula Schönborn took place on April 23, 1891. The monastery was settled with nuns from the Salzburg Benedictine Abbey of Nonnberg . The first nuns arrived in Prague on September 13, 1889.

In 1893 the monastery was elevated to an abbey . The first abbess was Adelgundis Berlinghoff (1849-1922), who was appointed by the Archabbot of Beuron, Placidus Wolter . In 1904 the St. Hildegard Abbey in Rüdesheim , which also belongs to the Beuron congregation, was founded by St. Gabriel .

After the First World War and the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the entire convent had to leave Prague, as it consisted mainly of German-speaking sisters, around a third of whom came from the nobility. With the consent of the Czechoslovak government, they were able to sell the monastery complex in 1919 and take the entire inventory with them.

Bertholdstein Castle in Eastern Styria became the new home. In 1924, six sisters settled in the newly founded Benedictine convent of St. Erentraud in Kellerried . In 1942 the monastery was confiscated by the National Socialists and the sisters expelled. They could not return until 1946.

At the end of 2008, the convent, which had become small, left Bertholdstein Castle and moved to St. Johann bei Herberstein in a small, newly built monastery in the immediate vicinity of the diocesan educational center House of Women (Sankt Johann bei Herberstein) . They are trying to connect the monastic life more with the apostolic life. The reception and accompaniment of guests in the sense of Benedictine hospitality remains her concern.

literature

  • Ulrike-Johanna Wagner-Höher: The Benedictine Sisters of St. Gabriel, Bertholdstein: 1889 - 1919 , St. Ottilien 2008
  • Inge Steinsträßer: Wanderer between the political powers. Father Nikolaus von Lutterotti OSB (1892–1955) and the Grüssau Abbey in Lower Silesia . Böhlau Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-412-20429-7 , p. 72 (FN 4), p. 77 (FN 31) and p. 87 (FN 79)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ photo

Coordinates: 47 ° 12 '52.9 "  N , 15 ° 49' 9.8"  E