Good melates
The Good Melaten is a former hospice and medieval leprosarium in Aachen . According to the excavation results, it was founded in the 8th century on the Königsstrasse to Maastricht . It served as a quarantine station for lepers and lepers until 1550 . The name is derived from mal'ladre , the "illness of Lazarus". It is a geological and archaeological ground monument of the city of Aachen and is also known as the Aachen leper house ( Leprosorum Aquensis Leodiensis Diocesis ).
location
Gut Melaten is located in close proximity to the Aachen University Hospital , on what was then the Königsstrasse between Aachen and Maastricht. The courtyard complex, to which a pond also belonged, was well isolated at the gates of the city of Aachen, as it was feared that the rest of the population would be infected by lepers.
history
Gut Melaten was first mentioned in a document in 1230. The medieval leprosy station belonged to the Diocese of Liège and played an important role in the history of the Aachen hospital until 1966. The lepers and other sick people who were housed on the estate earned their livelihood with agricultural work and begging on the main road, which is why Gut Melaten was intentionally built on the via regia , the former Königsstraße .
The farm's tasks were the management and religious care of the sick, who presumably lived in wooden huts on the premises of the farm and were buried behind the chapel belonging to the farm after their death . During excavations, special burials were also found there , indicating that those executed were buried here on the nearby Gallows Hill. This is indicated by the different postures. Vyiener Kalk , a limestone marl from the Limburg chalk board , was used to disinfect and preserve the bones of the dead .
It is believed that the manor was still run as a hospital after 1550 , before it was ultimately used entirely for agriculture. In 1557, a tenant of the estate was first mentioned by name. Nelles Ortmann and his housewife Anna farming at that time the yard . On July 23, 1703, eight horses, seven cows and one cattle were registered at Gut Melaten.
In 1787, the last known burial was carried out at Gut Melaten. In memory of the buried, a cross was donated by the Melaten Society and sponsors, which was erected in 2011 on the former burial ground outside the property.
On May 28, 1895, the city council decided to "lay down" the dilapidated Melaten chapel. It was partially canceled in June. At the end of 1896 the chapel was finally demolished down to the foundations. She is reminded of a cross that was erected in place of the previous altar and bears the inscription: “In memory of the Melaten Chapel, which was abandoned because of the threat of collapse, this cross was erected on the site of the altar. 1897 "
In the 1950s, a farmer Kappertz ran the farm. Today Gut Melaten belongs to RWTH Aachen University .
Excavations carried out by Egon Schmitz-Cliever from 1969 to 1973 confirmed the function of the facility at Gut Melaten as a leprosy station.
The Melaten-Gesellschaft Aachen eV, founded on February 22nd, 2008, has since endeavored to maintain and care for the Melaten architectural and ground monument and its natural environment. Some of the goals of the so-called Melatenfreunde are
- to create a place of encounter and communication at the site of the former Melaten chapel in the long term,
- to restore the medieval cemetery to a worthy condition.
Karlsgarten
At Gut Melaten, the Karlsgarten was created after the Capitulare de villis vel curtis imperialibus Charlemagne. In terms of their importance, the plants in the Karlsgarten are equivalent to a medieval pharmacy. They were not so much food as they were remedies for the people of the Middle Ages.
literature
- Egon Schmitz-Cliever : Topography and building history of the Leprosorium Melaten near Aachen . In: Sudhoffs Archiv 56 (1972), pp. 197-206.
- Egon Schmitz-Cliever: The medieval Melaten Leprosarium near Aachen in the Diocese of Liège (1230–1550) . In: Clio medica 7 (1972), pp. 13-33.
- Egon Schmitz-Cliever: On the osteoarchaeology of medieval leprosy: Result of a test excavation in Melaten near Aachen . In: Medizinhistorisches Journal 6 (1971), pp. 249-263.
Web links
- Website of the Melaten-Gesellschaft Aachen e. V.
- Entry on Gut Melaten in the " KuLaDig " database of the Rhineland Regional Association
- Press release on the 2016 publication
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 '44.1 " N , 6 ° 2' 47.8" E