Gertrud von Hackeborn

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Gertrud von Hackeborn (* 1232 near Halberstadt ; † early 1292 in Helfta ) was a German Cistercian and from 1251 until her death abbess of the Helfta monastery . She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and counts next to her sister Mechthild von Hackeborn and the hll. Gertrud von Helfta and Mechthild von Magdeburg are among the most important representatives of German mysticism . Her feast day in the liturgy is November 15th .

Life

Like her younger sister Mechthild, Gertrud came from the East Saxon noble family von Hakeborn . Both came as convent students to the Cistercian convent of Rossdorf, founded in 1229/1234, northwest of Eisleben on the property of the Counts of Mansfeld . Gertrud became abbess there as early as 1251. Possibly because of a lack of water in Rossdorf, but probably also for political reasons, in 1258 she moved the convent to Helpede or Helfta, southeast of Eisleben, within the sphere of influence of her own family. Her brothers had created the conditions for this through a property foundation.

In the four decades of her abbatical status, Gertrud worked hard for the economic and disciplinary consolidation of the monastery and for the education and spiritual life of the sisters. She had the library and scriptorium expanded and encouraged the sisters to copy and color and study spiritual writings. Especially through the hll. Gertrud and Mechthild von Helfta and Gertrud's sister Mechthild von Hackeborn, Helfta became a center of mystical spirituality radiating across Europe.

The foundation of the daughter monastery St. Maria and Gertrud in Hedersleben, also donated by Gertrud's family in 1262 with twelve sisters from Helfta, testifies to the growth of the convent .

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personal data
SURNAME Gertrud von Hackeborn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gertrud von Hakeborn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Cistercian, abbess of Helfta, saint
DATE OF BIRTH 1232
PLACE OF BIRTH near Halberstadt
DATE OF DEATH 1292
Place of death Helfta