Franciscan monastery Meiningen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The main building of the monastery today

The Franciscan monastery Meiningen was a monastery of the Franciscan order in the historic old town of Meiningen in southern Thuringia . It was built in the 13th century and disbanded in 1544 following the introduction of the Reformation .

monastery

The Franciscan monastery was located within the Meiningen city fortifications between Meiningen Castle and the lower gate tower directly on the city ​​wall . It consisted of a main building, the monastery church , the cloister , auxiliary and storage buildings, stables, a cemetery and several gardens. After the dissolution of the monastery, the buildings were used in various ways. The main Gothic building has been preserved to this day, with an attic that was changed in the 19th century and was used as a hospital and armory for a long time . The remaining buildings and the church were demolished in 1817, and the Bernhardinum grammar school was built on the site by 1821 . The name Klostergasse on the adjacent street, once called Mönchsgasse , and panels with historical data on the former main building are reminiscent of the monastery .

history

Front view of the main building

The Franciscan monastery was founded in 1239 by Friars Minor of the Franciscan Order founded in 1210, also known as the “Minorites” after their order name ordo fratrum minorum (“Order of the Friars Minor”) and completed in 1242. The sovereign of the town of Meiningen, which belongs to the Würzburg monastery , Bishop Hermann I of Lobdeburg , consecrated the monastery church on May 15, 1242. From 1274 the monastery belonged to the custody of Thuringia of the Saxon Franciscan Province of the Holy Cross and was located in the diocese of Würzburg .

Since the Minorites, as mendicant orders, made their living from alms , they only settled in towns like Meiningen, where they received mild gifts from the lower nobility and wealthy citizens. In their pastoral care, in contrast to the diocesan clergy, they mainly took care of the lower urban population. After the Saxon Franciscan Province was divided in 1518 with other monasteries, which also practiced some less strict interpretation of the rules of the order, the monastery came to the Provincia Johannis Baptistae , which became Provincia Thuringia from 1523 . The Henneberger Land , to which Meiningen belonged from 1542, introduced the Reformation of the church in 1544. The monastery came into the possession of the city of Meiningen, and in the following years it was gradually abandoned.

In 1555 the city established a hospital in the monastery . After the Thirty Years' War the outbuildings were used by shepherds and city servants until they were inhabited by Islamic Bashkirs from 1814 until the demolition . In 1702 the monastery church was re-consecrated as a hospital church after a renovation , and an orphanage was added to the hospital. From 1718 the main building served as a penitentiary before a school teacher seminar was established here in 1780 and an industrial establishment in 1799. After the church and ancillary buildings were demolished, a grain store was set up in the remaining main building in 1818 and a soup house for the poor in 1833. In 1852 it became the armory of the local Meiningen troops of the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen .

literature

  • Hermann Pusch: New contributions to the history of German antiquity, chapter: The Meiningen Franciscan Monastery . Ed .: Hennebergischer Altertumsforschender Verein Meiningen. 29. Delivery. Brückner & Renner Hofbuchhandlung, Meiningen 1919.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Meiningen Views, Staatliche Museen Meiningen, 1982, page 51.
  2. ↑ a b c d e Hermann Pusch: The Meiningen Franciscan Monastery , in Articles of German Antiquity, Issue 29, Brückner & Renner Hofbuchhandlung, Meiningen 1919.
  3. ^ Lexicon on the history of the city of Meiningen, Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, page 134.

Coordinates: 50 ° 34 ′ 13.8 "  N , 10 ° 24 ′ 54.8"  E