House Germete
Haus Germete refers to a former estate in the Warburg district of Germete , Quellenstrasse 8, which was managed by the Berndes family from the 17th to the 19th century and has served as the motherhouse of the Serviam community - Herz-Jesu-Institut - Sisters of Germete since 1926 .
history
The history of the court begins with Matthias Berndes (1604–1678), who was referred to as "diutissime consul hujus pagi" (long-time consul of this district). In inheritance, the farm passed to his descendant, the landowner Johann Franz Philipp Berndes . In 1819 he married Jeanette Antoinette Hennemann , a daughter of Canstein's chief forester Emmerich Hennemann , and his wife Adolphine von Schledorn . Her son Peter Berndes inherited the farm, while her daughter Sophia Maria Berndes married into the Spiegelhof of the Germeter farmer Anton Nolte in 1847 . In 1857 Gut Berndes burned down together with half the village of Germete and was immediately rebuilt by Peter Berndes on the northern outskirts as a modern manor with a detached house, park and separate stables and barns.
In 1886 the Berndes family sold the farm to the manufacturer August Siller , who had the simple manor house converted into a neo-renaissance villa and a park laid out for it. 18 years later a major Franke from Wiesbaden acquired the property and used it as a summer residence together with his wife. In 1918 the farmer and miller Wilhelm Wennekamp bought the house.
In 1922, Pastor Wilhelm Meyer founded the Sacred Heart Institute for family care and pastoral care in Königsborn near Unna , moved by the plight of many single mothers after the First World War . Clementine Tillmann from Germete also joined her. Through mediation and with the guarantee of her father Johannes Tillmann, the institute was able to acquire the farm for 40,000 RM in 1926. In Germete, the sisters took on services in the community such as outpatient nursing, sexton services and the kindergarten. The barn was converted into living, school and utility rooms and was called the Josefshaus . In 1938 sisters were called to Brazil . In the following year, the Secret State Police from Bielefeld ordered the institute to be closed and expelled Pastor Meyer, his 86-year-old mother and the sisters from the Germete house. The estate could, however, be acquired by the Franciscan Sisters of Waldbreitbach and used in the spirit of the founder. After the end of the Second World War, the Germeter sisters bought their mother house back and gradually expanded it as a retirement home, recreation and educational facility. In addition, since 1949 subsidiary institutes have been set up in Santa Catarina and Goiânia in Brazil, since 1978 in Bolivia and since 2002 in Mozambique .
The Josefshaus has been used by Zukunftswerkstatt Ökumene eV since around 2000 as a hostel and conference venue for groups that are involved in the ecumenical movement .
Source and web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 ′ 6.8 ″ N , 9 ° 6 ′ 3.2 ″ E