Dominican monastery Gdansk
The monastery of St. Nicholas was a branch of the Dominican order in Danzig 1227-1835.
location
The Dominican monastery was located at the St. Nikolai Church on the northwestern edge of the right town on the city wall. The church has been preserved, as well as an underground brick cellar of the monastery and an ossuary . The market hall (Hala Targowa) is now located on part of the former monastery grounds.
history
prehistory
As early as the 10th century there was a cemetery at this point, which belonged to the Viking settlement on the Long Market. The first stone Nikolaikirche was built there by 1180 at the latest .
middle Ages
The first Dominicans came to Gdansk in 1226, eight years after the order was founded. In the following year, Duke Swantopolk II of Danzig gave them the St. Nicholas Church and the surrounding square, along with fishing rights in the Vistula and Baltic Sea and other rights and possessions. The monastery was the first mendicant order monastery in the Duchy of Pomerania and the later Teutonic Order of Prussia. It belonged to the Polish Dominican Province. It was given further donations and foundations by the respective sovereigns (dukes of Pomerania, grand masters of the Teutonic Order, and kings of Poland), the bishops, the council and citizens of the city of Gdansk and remained the most important monastery within the city walls in the Middle Ages. It was directed by a prior.
16th Century
In 1525 the monastery was stormed during a Reformation uprising and the monks were expelled. In the following year they could return after the intervention of the king. In 1539 the facility was damaged in a fire. In 1564 the monastery was handed over to the military as a Protestant (garrison) church. At that time there were still two monks living there. In 1567 it was returned to the order after the king intervened. In 1577 they were expelled again and returned the following year.
Since then, the Nikolaikirche has been the only Catholic church in the predominantly Protestant city. Since around 1597 the rectory was used by the Jesuits as their center in Gdansk.
19th century and dissolution
In 1807 the church was used as a hospital during the Napoleonic occupation. In 1810, after the Prussian reconquest, the authorities forbade the admission of new novices. In 1815 the monastery complex was badly damaged by Russian artillery fire
After the death of the last Dominican monk in 1835, the complex was handed over to the city in 1835. The church became a parish church, the monastery buildings were used by craftsmen. These were demolished in 1839/40. A large market square was set up there in 1881 and the market hall was built in 1894.
Since 1945
The Nikolaikirche remained largely undamaged in 1945, as the only sacred building in the city center. In that year Dominicans came from Lviv (Lemberg) and founded a monastery that has existed to the present day.
Since 2004, archaeological excavations have discovered a Romanesque vaulted cellar of the monastery, as well as an ossuary .
literature
- Richard Stachnik: St. Nikolai - Danzig: 1227-1927. Commemorative publication for the 700th anniversary of the founding of the Gdańsk Dominican Monastery. the history of the Dominican monastery. the St. Nikolaikirche, its construction and its equipment. West Prussian Publishing House, Danzig 1927.
Web links
- Dominikanie Encyklopedia Gdańska (Polish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Romanesque cellar Archaeological Museum Gdańsk, access is directly at the market hall (the refectory shown is only constructed virtually; German)