Franciscan monastery Korbach
The Franciscan monastery in Korbach existed as a monastery of the Franciscan observants in the north Hessian town of Korbach from 1487 to 1566.
founding
The monastery was founded in 1487 by Count Philipp II von Waldeck- Eisenberg, Heinrich VIII von Waldeck-Wildungen and Otto IV von Waldeck-Landau. Philipp announced this intention in the presence of Otto and his brother Wilhelm von Amerforde, provincial vicar of the Cologne Order Province ( Colonia ) of the Franciscans, on July 9, 1487 in Korbach. The construction of the monastery church began in the same year.
The brothers of the Cologne Order Province belonged to the Franciscan Observance Movement , which strived for a stricter interpretation of the rules of the order and the vow of poverty . Little is known about the history of the monastery from the following years, apart from the work of the altar artist known as the Korbach Franciscan painter.
resolution
The monastery did not exist for long, because as early as 1526, the Counts Philip IV of Waldeck-Wildungen and Philip III. von Waldeck-Eisenberg launched the Reformation in the county of Waldeck. However, it took considerably longer than with most other Waldeck monasteries until this one too finally ceased to exist. In 1540 the Guardian Antonius Attendorn was asked to preach and teach the Lutheran catechism , but he refused, and in 1541 the counts threatened to force the Reformation into the monastery. It was not until 1543 that the members of the convent , after repeatedly delaying a decision with excuses, became somewhat more indulgent in view of the sovereign determinacy. Nevertheless, in March 1543, the counts had an inventory of all valuables made to prevent evasion. In May 1543, the Guardian and the old and weak brothers were offered lifelong support, but the remaining six Franciscans and two secular priests continued to offer bitter and hesitant resistance to the dissolution of the monastery. On the other hand, since the imminent end was clear to them, on August 15, 1546, by order of their superiors in the Franciscan monastery in Hamm, they secretly got the most valuable things out of the city. In 1547 the Guardian Attendorn was recalled by his superiors in Hamm and replaced by a strictly Catholic successor. The convent in Korbach held its own until 1566. It was only this year, after the militant Guardian Kaspar Nagel had a serious argument with the Protestant preachers and the township, that the religious were forced to leave the monastery and town.
More than 60 years later, the order made one more attempt to return to Korbach. In January 1628, Emperor Ferdinand II wrote to Count Wolrad IV and Christian , informing them that the Order had filed a lawsuit with the Emperor and asked for help in regaining the monastery in Korbach, and that he wanted to return the monastery and at least the Send a report orders. The counts replied in March 1629 that the abolition of the monastery had been legal and that it was hoped that the emperor would leave it at that. Thereafter, nothing more has been announced on the matter.
Successor use
The monastery buildings, in poor condition after years of neglect, were initially taken over by the city of Korbach, which moved their civic school there.
In 1577 Count Wolrad II. And his son Josias I von Waldeck-Eisenberg founded a humanistic school of scholars that had been planned for years, in which the classical, humanistic education and the languages Latin and Greek were in the foreground. This was relocated to the building of the former monastery on May 7, 1579 and financially secured with the income of the Berich monastery, which was abolished after the secularization .
destruction
The former monastery building was largely destroyed in July 1760 during the Seven Years' War . At the instigation of Prince Friedrich Karl August von Waldeck and Pyrmont, a new school building was erected on the foundations of the former monastery church between 1770 and 1774 along what is now Klosterstrasse. It was inaugurated in 1773 and given the name "Fridericianum". The grammar school, which has officially been called the Alte Landesschule since 1936 , was relocated to a new building on Solinger Strasse in 1971. The district adult education center and a department of the vocational school are now located in the rooms on Klosterstrasse, which were expanded between 1955 and 1957.
remains
Only a remnant of the former cloister is left of the former monastery building : a fountain, flanked to the right and left by two pointed arched windows, and the tombstone of the guardian Jacob Altena.
Several works of art from the former monastery were moved to other churches when it was dissolved :
- The winged altar of St. Nikolai in Korbach, an altar of Mary , dated 1518.
- The Francis altar in Nieder-Waroldern , dated 1519.
- The crucifixion altar of St. Kilian's Church in Korbach, dated 1527.
The name of the artist, a monk from the Korbach monastery, who signed his works with a full-length self-portrait in the religious costume of the Franciscans, is not known and he is therefore referred to in the specialist literature as the Korbach Franciscan painter.
Coordinates: 51 ° 16 ′ 24.6 " N , 8 ° 52 ′ 24.2" E
Footnotes
- ^ L. Curtze, F. von Rheins: History and description of the Church of St. Kilian zu Corbach. Arolsen 1843, pp. 139-140.
Web links
literature
- Victor Schultze : Waldeckische Reformationsgeschichte. Deichert, Leipzig 1903, pp. 378–382.
- Victor Schultze: On the prehistory of the Corbacher Gymnasium. In: History sheets for Waldeck and Pyrmont. Volume 2, 1902, pp. 114ff.
- Louis Friedrich Christian Curtze , F. von Rheins: History and description of the church St. Kilian zu Corbach. Arolsen 1843, pp. 121-140.
- Peter Witzel: The Korbach Franciscan painter and his work. (= Museum booklets Waldeck-Frankenberg. No. 8). Korbach 1988.
- Esther Meier: Art production in the Franciscan monasteries in Korbach and Meitersdorf. (= Dortmund writings on art, studies on art history. Volume 1; Waldeck research. Volume 15). Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-8370-8047-6 .