Graefinthal Monastery
The Gräfinthal monastery is an Olivetan convent, which arose from a defunct Wilhelmitenkloster , as well as a regional Marian pilgrimage site . It belongs to the diocese of Speyer and is located in the municipality of Mandelbachtal in Saarland .
history
Wilhelmitenkloster
Gräfinthal was built in the middle of the 13th century when Countess Elisabeth von Blieskastel founded a monastery here. The founding by the counts of Blieskastel is undisputed today, the death of Elisabeth von Blieskastel in 1273 is also passed down, as is her burial in Graefinthal. In the monastery church there is a medieval tumba with a reclining female figure. Whether it is the donor's grave is not certain, but it is likely. According to legendary tradition, the countess was previously healed of an eye disease by prayer in front of the miraculous image of a hermit who lived on the nearby Brudermannsfeld , which is why she donated the monastery out of gratitude. This miraculous image is likely to be the unique Vesper image “ Our Lady with the Arrows ”, which was then placed in the Graefinthal monastery church as a shrine and has been in the Holy Cross chapel at the Blieskastel pilgrimage monastery since the monastery was dissolved .
The monks, hermits from the order of Wilhelm von Malavalle - so-called Wilhelmites - settled this wasteland of the Letschenbach valley and from then on supervised the pilgrimage to the "Madonna with the Arrows". The settlement was one of the few monasteries of this order on German soil and, when it was dissolved, the last one that still existed in the Reich .
In the course of its eventful history, the monastery complex was repeatedly destroyed or damaged. The Gräfinthal monastery experienced a heyday with extensive construction activity in the first half of the 18th century. An important sponsor at the time was the expelled King of Poland and later Duke of Lorraine Stanislaus Lesczynski , who lived in exile in Zweibrücken from 1714 to 1718 and had his daughter Anna, who died in 1717, buried in the monastery church of Graefinthal. The reconstruction of the convent building (portal with the date 1714) and the monastery church itself (west portal dated 1719) by Jonas Erikson Sundahl (1678–1762), on behalf of the King of Poland , also fell during this period . The queen, Katharina Opalińska (1680–1747), personally dressed the miraculous image in a solemn ceremony with a richly decorated cloak. Also from Maria Leszczyńska (1703-1768) of the second daughter of the Polish king and queen, who was from 1725 even Queen of France will be handed a special affection for the monastery Gräfinthal and visits to the Sanctuary.
After the monastery was dissolved
The Graefinthaler Wilhelmiten-Konvent existed until 1785, was dissolved at its own request, converted into a secular canon monastery and moved to Blieskastel with the "Arrow Madonna" . The vacant monastery, from which the remaining pieces of equipment were auctioned in 1793, gradually fell into disrepair.
Major parts of the interior furnishings of the monastery church (pulpit, confessionals, paneling) created by the regionally significant artist Johann Martersteck (also Madersteck) in the years 1733–1736 were later transferred to the Catholic Church of St. Markus zu Gersheim-Reinheim , where they are now the special ones Attractions include. The former high altar of Gräfinthal is located in the new parish church of St. Paul zu Blieshaben-Bolchen . The monastery church had received the precious baroque furnishings under Prior Wilhelm Gouvy (1695–1751), who was also the Provincial of the Flemish province of his order.
In 1803 Jean-Baptist Mathieu, merchant and later mayor of Sarreguemines , bought the now ruinous property in order to set up a silk factory, which, however, had to cease operations soon after. In 1809 Mathieu had the largely preserved choir of the monastery church rebuilt into today's chapel, in which he was also buried in 1842; the nave remained in ruins. In 1888 a committee founded for this purpose purchased the chapel in order to give it back to the church as a donation. From 1901 the chapel property became the property of the Catholic parish of Blieshaben-Bolchen. After the original miraculous image “ Our Lady with the Arrows ” was transferred to Blieskastel in 1786, a statue of Mary from the 15th century, called “Mary on the Crescent Moon”, acquired from Jean-Baptist Mathieu has been venerated there since 1810 . In 1946 the roof structure of the chapel collapsed, and on July 9, 1948 the church and pilgrimage were reopened by the Speyer bishop Joseph Wendel .
Others
Gräfinthal was with the nearby Wörschweiler Monastery a center of the meanwhile largely submerged viticulture in the region. The Palatinate native writer August Becker stated in his 1858 book “The Palatinate and the Palatinate” (at that time the area belonged to the Palatinate (Bavaria) ), the “Mother of God wine”, which thrives on the slopes around the ruins of the former Gräfinthal monastery the best of the blieswines .
A secret meeting took place in the rectory of Graefinthal in autumn 1952 between the then Saarland Prime Minister Johannes Hoffmann (1890–1967) and the representative of Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer , Adolf Süsterhenn (1905–1974), whereby Hoffmann was guaranteed the office of Saarland Prime Minister if he is ready to join the Saarland to Germany. Johannes Hoffmann strove for a Europeanised Saarland and rejected this request. When in the Saar referendum in 1955 , the majority of the population rejected the Saar Statute negotiated between Germany and France and thus the Europeanization of the Saar, Hoffmann resigned his office and in 1956 withdrew completely from political events.
present
Since the beginning of the 1980s the Diocese of Speyer tried to establish a contemplative Benedictine religious community. This endeavor was crowned with success when the then owner of the former monastery in Graefinthal died and she bequeathed her property to the Abbot of Vaals in her will . On July 11, 1993, the Gräfinthal monastery was repopulated with Benedictines , and in 1999 it was elevated to a priory of papal law. The Graefinthal Priory is currently trying to rebuild the monastery building on the historic site. In 2009 the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the monastery church was laid. From 2010 to 2012 archaeological excavations took place in the church ruins, during which the burial place of Anna Leszczyńska (1699–1717) of the daughter of the Polish king and later Duke of Lorraine Stanislaus I. Leszczyński was believed to have been found.
After the excavations have been completed, the renovation of the chapel, which has been closed due to dilapidation, should continue. Most of the costs of around 500,000 euros are financed by a federal grant of around 400,000 euros. The order's own share is largely financed by the Speyer diocese.
A solution was also found for the tense personal situation of the order in Graefinthal. In 2014 there were three of the monks and the elderly prior needed care after a fall. After years of unsuccessful attempts to find offspring, the Graefinthal Convent joined the Olivetan mother abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore near Siena in early May 2014 .
In May 2014 the Abbot General of the Olivetans, Diego M. Rosa OSB, paid a visit to Graefinthal for the first time. After getting an idea of the new branch on site, he traveled on to Speyer to see Bishop Karl-Heinz Wiesemann . There he thanked the diocese for the financial support in the renovation of the chapel. In addition, Diego M. Rosa visited the grave of Emperor Rudolf von Habsburg in the cathedral. He had made the later founder of the Monte Oliveto Monastery, Giovanni Tolomei , a knight in the 13th century.
The connection to the Benedictine branch order of Monte Oliveto was associated with a change of color for the Graefinthal monks. They wore black religious clothing until 2014, and white since then.
Graefinthal is one of the official pilgrimage sites of the locally responsible diocese of Speyer. Moreover, it is pilgrimage at the Saarland part of the Way of St. James -Etappe Hornbach - Metz, resulting in Hornbach in the Palatinate St. James followed.
tourism
The Gräfinthal pilgrimage site is one of the Saarland's religious and cultural-historical sites. The historically shaped ensemble in the middle of a grown cultural landscape makes the unusual place one of the most popular excursion destinations in the Bliesgau . The existing gastronomy also contributes to this.
At the Gräfinthal monastery in Letschenbachtal, there is the Gräfinthal natural stage , an open-air stage that has been used for amateur theater since 1932. Every year around 15,000 spectators attend the plays for children and adults.
The 22 km long “Gräfinthaler Weg” circular hiking trail begins in Gräfinthal, which runs from Gräfinthal to Blieshaben-Bolchen , where the altar of the former Gräfinthal monastery now stands in the Church of St. Paul . From there it continues via Frauenberg and Habkirchen to Reinheim (Gersheim) . There, in the parish church of St. Markus (Reinheim), there are other furnishings from the former Gräfinthal monastery church, such as the Samson pulpit and the confessionals. From Reinheim it goes via Bebelsheim to Brudermannsfeld , where the Graefinthal monastery, according to the legend of the Brudermannsfeld, has its origin, and via the seven pain stations back to Graefinthal.
In Buchholzweg near Gräfinthal there is a Nature.Fitness.Park , signposted by the Mandelbachtal tourist office , in which u. a. Nordic walking can be practiced on three excellently signposted routes .
literature
- Contributions to the history of Gräfinthal (Saarpfalz Blätter für Geschichte und Volkskunde, special issue 1994).
- Franz Xaver Remling : “Documented history of the former abbeys and monasteries in what is now Rhine Bavaria” , Volume 1, 1836; Scan from the source, chapter on the Gräfinthal monastery.
- Gabriele Oberhauser: "Pilgrimage sites in Saarland" , Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag, 1992, pages 128–142, ISBN 3-925036-67-9 .
- Verkehrsverein Mandelbachtal eV (Hrsg.): We make theater - The natural stage Gräfinthal Mandelbachtal 2009
Web links
- Literature on Graefinthal in the Saarland Bibliography
- Website of the Graefinthal Priory
- Private homepage with excerpts and a summary of documents from the former “Princely von der Leyenschen Archiv Waal” on the secularization of the Wilhelmitenkloster Gräfinthal in 1786 and the immediately preceding events.
- Legends about the Graefinthal monastery
Individual evidence
- ↑ Website of the Gräfintahl monastery with a close-up of the church
- ^ About Elisabeth's monastery foundation and her family environment
- ↑ On the Counts of Blieskastel and Castel
- ↑ Source on the foundation of the monastery and the burial of the founder there
- ↑ Ursula Kaiser: "... after Gräffenthal to Our Dear Women Altar ...": the pilgrimage and hiking trail from the Saarbrücken district of Eschringen to the Gräfinthal monastery. Saarbrücken-Eschringen, 2006
- ↑ Thomas Meyer: The so-called ›Gräfinthaler Mirakelbuch‹. (Term paper) Tübingen 2002
- ^ Gabriele Oberhauser: "Pilgrimage sites in the Saarland" , Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag, 1992, page 136
- ↑ On the connection between the French queen and the Gräfinthal monastery
- ↑ To Johann Martersteck ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Source on the church inventory from Gräfinthal in Reinheim
- ↑ Source on the location of the former high altar
- ^ Wilhelm Gouvy in the portal "Saarland Biographies" ( Memento from May 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ On the decoration of the monastery church by Johann Franz Madersteck on behalf of Prior Wilhelm Gouvy, from: Karl Lohmeyer: “Die Sagen der Saar” supplementary volume
- ↑ Photo of today's image of grace; Votive tablets donated to the wall on the left
- ↑ Gabriele Oberhauser: "Pilgrimage sites in the Saarland" , Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag, 1992, page 141
- ↑ Source on the secret meeting in Gräfinthal, 1952
- ↑ Gräfinthal as a place of pilgrimage in the portal of the Diocese of Speyer ( Memento from January 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ fernwege.de: The Way of St. James on Saar and Blies to Metz
Coordinates: 49 ° 10 ' N , 7 ° 7' E