Franciscan monastery Attendorn

The Franciscan monastery (" mater dolorosa ") in Attendorn was a re-establishment of the 17th century by Franciscan observants from the Thuringian order province . During the Second World War , the building complex on today's Klosterplatz was destroyed by an explosion.

Monastery church from the southeast (photo from 1901)

Histor. City map of Attendorn

Franciscan Church, site plan, elevation and floor plan (1803)

History and Development

On September 5, 1636, the Archbishop of Cologne, Ferdinand von Bayern, gave the Franciscans of the Thuringian Order Province ( Thuringia ), which was re-established in 1633 after the Reformation, permission to set up a branch in Attendorn . Two years later, the city council agreed, but at the same time emphasized that the fathers should teach the youth in the " liberal arts " and in Catholic doctrine. For this purpose the Franciscans rented a house in the city and also set up a chapel there.

Monastery building

From 1648 to 1656 a church and a monastery were built. The church later had to be demolished and rebuilt as it threatened to collapse due to a construction error. The new monastery church was planned by the builder Ambrosius von Oelde , a Capuchin brother , and consecrated in 1682 by the Cologne auxiliary bishop Johann Heinrich von Anethan . Two serious fires destroyed large parts of the buildings (church, monastery and school) in 1742 and then again in 1783. The church was rebuilt from 1784 to 1790. Numerous members of the von Fürstenberg family were buried here. The monastery could be moved into a smaller version in 1804.

After the abolition of the monastery as a result of secularization in 1822, the town of Attendorn was allowed to use the building, along with the garden, inventory and other accessories, for the town's Progymnasium. Even today, the Rivius grammar school, the highest school in the city of Attendorn, is located there. The monastery church stood empty until 1838 when it was used as an armory by a Landwehr battalion. From 1888 to 1898 it was again without function. In 1898, the Franciscans of the Saxon Order Province ( Saxonia ) rented the church until it was damaged in an air raid in 1945 and then largely destroyed in an ammunition explosion after the end of the war. Despite the protests of some citizens, it was demolished in 1951. The town hall and the headquarters of the Sparkasse Attendorn were built in their place . The portal was retained and is to be rebuilt on Klosterplatz by 2022.

Origin of the Franciscans

The Franciscans came mainly from middle-class and farming families from the Sauerland , the Eifel , the Westerwald , Limburg , Fulda , Utrecht and the Diocese of Mainz . The convent strength was up to 41 people (1783). When it was abolished in 1822 there were still 4 fathers and 4 lay brothers.

high school

The most important tasks of the Franciscans included teaching the catechism and helping with pastoral care in addition to school lessons . In addition, there was poor relief and poor feeding.

For a long time the Franciscans ran a grammar school where they gave humanistic lessons.

The Franciscans began teaching humanism at the school called "Gymnasium Marianum Seraphicum" from 1639. For students who intended to join the order ("fratres studentes"), they made it possible to study philosophy and science here from 1647 to 1783 Theology . The school was established in 1784 in the lower rooms of the town hall. The "fratres studentes", however, had moved to Marienthal with their lecturers a year earlier .

At times there were up to 60 students in the school. In 1803 there were only 25 left. The new Hessian rulers converted the grammar school into a so-called citizen school after 1803.

List of Guardians

In the sources the settlement "Conventus ad beatam Mariam Virginem Dolorosam" (1639) is mentioned. The superior of the convent was the " Guardian " with his deputy, the "Vicarius". Both were elected by the provincial chapter of Thuringia , usually for three years. The student's supervisor was the “Instructor iuvenum”. In addition, prefects of studies, masters and lecturers of the grammar school are mentioned. The following guardians are known from the literature:

1638 Melchior Hoen 1640 Aegidius (von) Brussels 1641 Franz Weyer 1644 Konrad Meelbaum 1646 Aegidius de la Motte 1647 Lambert Weyer 1649 Arnold Fabri 1650 Georg Kühl 1652 Petrus Felden 1653 Bernardin Joachimi 1655 Klemens Vigener 1659 Bernhard Anting 1660 Klemens Vigener 1661 Philip Debus 1663 Klemens Vigener 1664 Johannes Caron 1666 Theodor Warnott 1669 Klemens Vigener 1672 Bernhard Quadbach 1674 Matthias Rüthen 1676 Robert van Heer 1677 Boniface Muth 1680 Klemens Vigener 1681 Nikolaus Penten 1683 Melchior Hellesfort 1686 Leo Raymackers 1689 Alexander Fehr 1690 Matthias Rüthen 1693 Didacus Mincklers 1697 Bernhard Penten 1700 Hubert Quadbach 1702 Konrad Harnischmacher 1705 Rufin Beck 1707 Bonifaz Mutz 1710 Johannes Ernst 1711 Georg Keitz 1713 Johannes Thony 1714 Georg Dolle 1716 Konrad Harnischmacher 1719 Severin Peters 1722 Bruno Bloer 1725 Nikolaus Ernst

1726 Sigismund Stahlhoffen 1726 Capristran little gentleman 1730 Raymund Strecker 1731 Raymund Strecker 1734 Sigismund Stahlhoffen 1737 Raymund Strecker 1740 Vitalis Pingel 1741 Raymund Strecker 1743 Timotheus Schneider 1744 Vitalis Pingel 1747 Anaklet Jung 1750 Raymund Strecker 1751 Benvenut Eickenmeyer 1752 Konrad Koch 1755 Fortunatus Molitor 1756 Beda Gerlach 1758 Marzellus Molitor 1761 Guido Brühl 1762 Guido Brühl 1762 Konrad Koch 1764 Adalar Weymer 1764 Gervas Knood 1765 Regalat Pauli 1766 Regalat Pauli 1767 Canut Otto 1770 Guido Brühl 1773 Raymund Fuchs 1776 Plazidus Lippe 1779 Theobald Veth 1782 Fakundus suitcase 1785 Agapit Schorr 1788 Fakundus suitcase 1791 Agapit Schorr 1792 Florian Egenolf 1794 Ulrich Tadler 1795 Karl Gross 1797 Jakob Stamm 1800 Karl Gross 1803 Cosmas Isphording 1806-1815 Cosmas Isphording 1816–1822 Honorius Kost

Archival material

A large part of the archive and the library were destroyed by the various fires. The archival material is scattered across various archives.

Re-establishment

The Franciscans of Saxonia , who founded a branch in Nuttlar in 1893 , moved to Attendorn in 1898. In 1927 a new monastery was built there, a few hundred meters further north than the previous location. The community was elevated to a convention in 1931 under the direction of a guardian.

In 1998 the Franciscans had to leave Attendorn again due to the decreasing number of confreres. With the departure of the friars , the Franciscan Circle came into being. Numerous members of the former Franciscan congregation joined forces. B. with regular Bible talks or word worship services still today to lay traces of Franciscan life in Attendorn.

People from the Franziskuskreis ensured that the monastery church, built in 1969, remained open for prayer or for special occasions (e.g. weddings). Two years later it was demolished to great protest by the Attendorn citizens to make way for the "Franziskanerhof" senior citizens' home located there today. The spire, which weighs 1.5 tons and is 8.25 meters high, was placed in the middle of a roundabout in the urban area to commemorate the church.

literature

• Karl Hengst (Ed.): Westphalian monastery book. Part 1: Ahlen - Mülheim. Aschendorff, Münster 1992, ISBN 3-402-06886-9 , pp. 46-50, ( sources and research on the history of church and religion 2, publications of the Historical Commission for Westphalia 44).
• Heiko KL Schulze: Monasteries and monasteries in Westphalia. History, building history and description. A documentation . In: Géza Jászai (Ed.): Monastic Westphalia. Monasteries and monasteries 800–1800. Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Münster 1982, ISBN 3-88789-054-X , p. 311 (exhibition catalog, Münster, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, September 26, 1982 - November 21, 1982).

Web links

• Website of the Franziskuskreis Attendorn

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Martin Droste: Monastery church in Attendorn: scene of a great tragedy. May 20, 2020, accessed on July 7, 2020 (German). 
2. ^ Meinolf Lüttecke: Attendorn: Explosion claims 35 dead after the end of the war. June 16, 2020, accessed on July 7, 2020 (German). 
3. ↑ Martin Droste: Less tin and more quality of stay on Klosterplatz. July 13, 2018, accessed on July 7, 2020 (German). 
4. ^ Harm Klueting: Monasteries - Monks and Nuns - Orders and Congregations. In the S. (Ed.): The Duchy of Westphalia. Vol. 2.2 Münster, 2012 p. 972.
5. ↑ http://www.franziskuskreis.de/%C3%BCber-uns/ Franziskuskreis, "About us", sub-item "Origin"; Accessed January 6, 2014
6. ↑ https://www.franziskaner-hof.de/wir-ueber-uns/unser-haus.html Franziskanerhof; Access: May 31, 2018
7. ↑ Report on derwesten.de, accessed: January 6, 2014

Coordinates: 51 ° 7 ′ 32.2 "  N , 7 ° 54 ′ 4.5"  E