Hildegard (daughter of Ludwig the German)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fresco by Paul Bodmer in the cloister of the Fraumünster with the daughters of Ludwig the German

Hildegard (* 828 ; † December 23, 856 or 859 ) was a daughter of the Carolingian East Frankish King Ludwig the German and his wife Hemma .

Hildegard was born as his first child one year after her father's marriage to the count's daughter Hemma. After 844 she became abbess of the Münsterschwarzach monastery , which was founded in 780 as an own monastery of the Carolingian ruling family.

Interior view of the Fraumünster , pictured is the founding legend of the monastery

On July 21, 853, Ludwig the German founded the Fraumünster monastery in Zurich , which Hildegard took over as abbess; Her younger sister Bertha became her successor in Münsterschwarzach . A legend tells of the founding of the new monastery that the two sisters moved into Baldern Castle on the Albis in order to lead a secluded, godly life there. On one of their hikes to Zurich, where they wanted to pray in the chapel consecrated to Felix and Regula , a deer with glowing antlers led the two through the forest and finally showed them a place where they should build a church. Ludwig the German followed this divine invitation.

The only thing that is historically certain is that he re-founded a monastery that already existed at this point, gave him considerable land ownership and the right to his own jurisdiction and transferred it to Hildegard.

Hildegard died as Abbess of Fraumünster on December 23, 856 (according to other sources, 859); here too Bertha followed her.

literature

  • Gerhard Hartmann, Karl Schnith (ed.): The emperors. 1200 years of European history. Marixverlag, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-86539-074-9 , p. 70.
  • Peter Vogelsanger: Zurich and its Fraumünster. An eleven hundred year history (853–1956) . NZZ Libro, Zurich 1994, ISBN 3-85823-515-6 .

Web links

Predecessors Office Successor
Bleeding Abbess of Schwarzach am Main
after 844–853 		Bertha
––– Abbess of Fraumünster
853–856 / 59 		Bertha
personal data
SURNAME Hildegard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter of King Ludwig the German, abbess
DATE OF BIRTH 828
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 856