Franciscan monastery Geseke

Franciscan monastery

The Franciscan monastery in Geseke was founded in the 17th century by Franciscan observants from the Saxon order province . Mostly they were active in pastoral care. For a long time they also directed the Antonianum grammar school . In 1834 the monastery was closed. The monastery church is now used as the chapel of the Westphalian Clinic for Geriatric Psychiatry Geseke.

History and Development

On December 10, 1637, the Archbishop of Cologne Ferdinand von Bayern gave the Franciscans of the Saxon Order Province permission to set up a branch in Geseke . The city council linked its approval of the founding of the monastery to the condition that the fathers should limit their alms-collecting to one date, the so-called fruit date. But above all, they should build and run a new grammar school.

First, the Franciscans bought two houses in the city, in which they set up a monastery and a chapel. In 1651 the residence was converted into an independent convent . The construction of a church began in 1668. Completed in 1674 in the shell, the completion dragged on for decades due to financial bottlenecks. In 1712 the church was consecrated by Abbot Gregor von Liesborn . The interior design continued until 1742.

The Franciscans included pastoral care among their most important tasks. So they provided permanent temporary help in the two parish churches of Geseke, in Elsen , Wewer , Haaren , Fürstenberg , Wünnenberg , Marsberg , Velmede , Meschede , Körbecke , Horn , Lippstadt , Esbeck, Hörste , Verne and Thüle . In addition, they took care of poor relief and poor feeding.

In relation to pastoral care, school lessons took a back seat for a long time. The "Gymnasium Antonianum" could only be opened in 1687. The reason for this were financial difficulties and disputes with the city administration of Geseke. The main concern here was the provision of teaching materials and the payment of 25 Reichstalers each year for the five professors. Since 1692 the grammar school consisted of five classes. Due to ongoing financial disputes with the magistrate, the order closed the school in 1704. It was only through the initiative of individual citizens that a comparison was made between the magistrate and the convent, so that the grammar school could be reopened in 1717. The financial situation remained critical throughout its existence. From 1727, the Franciscans also offered the provincial study of philosophy with a focus on logic and physics.

The new Hessian sovereigns closed the grammar school in 1804. The school building was then rented for various purposes until it was demolished in 1851. The economic situation of the monastery deteriorated more and more until it was closed in 1834. In 1841 work began on converting the monastery into a sanatorium. Today the former church is used as a chapel for the Westphalian Clinic for Geriatric Psychiatry in Geseke.

In the sources the Franciscan convent 1736 Conventus Gesecanus Patrum Franziscanorum strictioris observantiae ("Geseker convent of the Franciscan Fathers of the strict observance ") is mentioned. Convent superior was the Guardian . Prefects, lecturers and professors of the grammar school are also mentioned.

The Franciscans came mainly from middle-class and farming families from Westphalia and the Netherlands. The convent size was up to 35 people (1735). When it was abolished in 1834 there were 1 priest and 2 lay brothers. The last Guardian died four years later. In 1841 the two lay brothers moved to the monastery in Wiedenbrück , which had not been closed.

The archive was carefully kept. When it was secularized, it was initially sealed, but then the archives were scattered across various archives. The library consisted of 1200 volumes; their whereabouts are unclear.

List of Guardians

1638 Alardus Besken (Praeses) 1648 Petrus van Hoven (President) 1651 Leo Leonis (initially President, later Guardian) 1656 Petrus van Hoven 16 ?? Johannes Reck (year is missing) 1664 Henricus Frandrupff 1666 Ambrosius Sweringh 1671 Modestus van den Venne 1678 Augustin Ostermann 1681 Daniel Horstmanns 1684 Andreas Driever 1687 Ignatius Rabatyn 1690 Arnold Simons 1696 Bartholdus Schenking 1699 Bonaventure Kemper 1700 Nikolaus Borchorst 1703 Clemens Loyer 1706 Chrysostom Budde 1708 Modestus Arnoldi 1711 Ambrosius Höster 1712 Bruno Hüninck 1714 Modestus Arnoldi 1715 Conrad Brünninckhoff 1717 Engelbert Kemper 1718 Hermann Kestermann 1721 Aurelius Bolte 1723 Adrian Otters 1726 Elektus Averdunck 1729 Adrian Otters 1730 Alexius Topp 1733 Casimir Veltwisch

1736 Elzear Scheifer 1739 Hilarius Wulff 1742 Donatus Bönhove 1745 Ferdinand Böddeker 1748 Juvenalis Kinnermann 1750 Apollinaris Preun 1753 Aegidius Blumenberg 1756 Ferdinand Böddeker 1759 Hieronymus Rüschhoff 1762 Amantius Embsmann 1763 Marcellus Brickwedde 1766 Aurelianus Liendt 1768 Norbert Adelmann 1771 Gervasius Evermann 1774 Ewald Böcker 1777 Firmatus Kemper 1780 Olympius Bente 1781 Sigismund Populoh 1784 Bartholdus Wester 1787 Vitalis Doth 1789 Sabinus Schem 1790 Thaddäus Leugers 1792 Theodor Stael 1795 Albert Holtmann 1798 Konradin Kösters 1801 Modestus Brüggemann 1804 Stanislaus Buschoff 1806 Kamillus Orban 1811 Angelinus Wambach 1828–1838 Ludgerus Pult

Literature and Sources

• Didakus Falke: Monastery and grammar school Antonianum of the Franciscans in Geseke . Aschendorff, Münster 1915 ( digitized version )
• Karl Hengst (Ed.): Westphalian monastery book. Part 1: Ahlen - Mülheim. Aschendorff, Münster 1992, ISBN 3-402-06886-9 , pp. 344-349 ( Sources and research on the history of church and religion 2, publications of the Historical Commission for Westphalia 44).

Coordinates: 51 ° 38 ′ 17.8 "  N , 8 ° 30 ′ 36"  E