The regent washing his feet (Bavaria)
The washing of the feet by the regent was a custom introduced by Duke Wilhelm the Pious in Bavaria , with which the respective ruler, following the example of Jesus Christ , was supposed to show his humility every year on Maundy Thursday as part of a state act .
General
At the Last Supper , on the eve of his death on the cross , Jesus washed his disciples' feet and dried them with a cloth according to the Gospel of John ( Jn 13 : 1-5 EU ). In the washing of feet , Christ set an example for the apostles . In addition, the act referred to the doctrine that he had already given them according to the Gospel of Matthew ( Mt 20 : 25–28 EU ):
“You know that the rulers oppress their people and the mighty abuse their power over the people. It should not be so with you, but whoever wants to be great with you should be your servant, and whoever wants to be first with you should be your slave. Because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. "
In the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church , the washing of the feet is provided for in the Mass of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. This rite is compulsory in cathedral churches and abbeys . The celebrant of the Holy Mass washes the feet of twelve previously determined believers; the rite belongs to the sacramentals . In the diocese of Milan , at the time of St. Ambrose washing the feet as part of the sacrament of baptism .
In the Middle Ages the custom developed that not only priests but also princes and kings washed their subjects' feet on Maundy Thursday as a sign of humble attitudes in following Jesus Christ.
The court custom in Bavaria
In the German Empire , Emperor Charles V first introduced this custom and it was practiced at the court of the Habsburgs until the end of the monarchy in 1918. A generation later, Duke Wilhelm V, the Pious, took over the custom in Bavaria and here too it was maintained until the abolition of the monarchy. In modern times only the rulers of Spain , France , Austria and Bavaria adhered to the custom of the regent washing their feet. In Great Britain , this resulted in a monetary gift, the Maundy ceremony .
The twelve oldest and most worthy poor men in Bavaria were to take part in the rite of the regent washing their feet. Analogous to the church rite of the washing of feet, they were also called "apostles" because they represented the twelve apostles whose feet Jesus washed. According to the ministerial decree of April 30, 1870, the royal staff of courtiers selected the twelve old men. Specifically, the regulation said:
"The applications for permission to wash feet must be submitted to the district offices or immediate magistrates in whose district the applicant has his permanent residence. Required documents are baptism and birth certificates , property and reputation certificates, medical certificates on the health and fitness of the applicant in general and, in particular, whether the applicant is not afflicted with any foot problems. The requests, together with the documents and reports, from the above-mentioned authorities must arrive directly at the entrance of the royal staff of courtiers five weeks before Easter Sunday. "
At the same time, twelve girls in need were invited, but their feet were not washed. The old men were dressed in a new, black "apostle's robe" and a purple "apostle's hat" at the expense of the state. The girls also received new clothes at the expense of the state treasury. After the feet had been washed, the ruler hung a leather drawstring bag with a gift of forty marks around each of the old men . In addition, they were paid an annuity until the end of their life. Erika von Watzdorf-Bachoff (1878–1963) states in her memoirs that they joke that old men are treated well in the mountains so that they can become “apostles” (as a blessing for the family). In addition to a new robe, the girls received an amount of 15 marks each from the Oberstkämmererkasse after the ceremony.
Traditionally, the state ceremony took place in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz with great pomp. Every congregation or family considered it to be the highest honor when a man was chosen from their circle for the annual foot washing by the regent in Munich.
procedure
In the commemorative biography of Hans Heidelbach for the 70th birthday of Prince Regent Luitpold in 1891, the process of such a foot washing is described in detail. The Prince Regent had attended the high mass at 11 a.m. in the nearby All Saints Court Church and had returned to the residence in a solemn procession. Vespers was sung in the court chapel there and the regent then moved into the Herkulessaal:
"Along the southern long side of this room sat on a dark lined Estrade these materials destined for the foot-washing ceremony, twelve old men in black garb, on his head a purple beret. Her relatives and twelve girls stood further back, the latter, like the twelve old men, having been redressed at the court's expense. After the court clergy had sung the gospel and the gospel book had been handed to the royal highnesses for a kiss, the prince regent handed his hat and saber to the chamberlains on duty and went to the eldest of the men. The chief steward handed the prince regent the jug, the subdeacon held the basin under his bared foot. The regent doused the bared foot of every old man with water and wiped it with the handkerchief that was handed over. When he finished washing his feet, His Royal Highness had his hands watered and his eldest son, Prince Ludwig , handed a cloth to dry them . After the regent had put on the saber again, he went back to the oldest man and hung a drawstring bag with 40 marks around the neck of each of these so-called apostles, while the girls were later given a gift of 15 marks each. His Royal Highness had kind words for each and every one of the old men, as well as for their relatives. "
Prince Adalbert of Bavaria stated in his book “When the Residenz was still a residence” in 1967 that it was a white-blue leather pouch with 20 freshly minted two-mark pieces that were hung around the old men.
Reports
From Ensheim , at that time part of the Bavarian Rhine Palatinate , now part of the Saarland , the 100-year-old Peter Huter took part twice in the Munich foot washing by the Prince Regent Luitpold.
“After the morning service in St. Peter's Church , the people in Cafe Greif drank their morning coffee and set off to the royal residence. While some of the old, already quite shaky men were using the carriages provided, the hundred-year-old Peter Huter from Ensheim marched briskly to the residence. This was followed by a photo shoot and then we went to the “Golden Hall”, where people were served wine, beer or coffee with a small snack. Some preferred warm soup to cold drinks. Everyone was now given the purple apostle dress, a kind of gown with a belt, the purple apostle hat that was put on like a cardinal's hat . This was followed by the [...] washing of the feet "
The Berchtesgaden merchant Anton Adner also took part in the Hoffußwaschung in Munich in 1818 and 1819 , climbed the tower of the Frauenkirche on April 9, 1819 and from then on lived on King Maximilian I's annuity , who also ensured his medical care. This is indicated on his grave monument donated by King Ludwig I in Berchtesgaden with the following inscription: "A cheerful end to a long life, the greater part of which he spent traveling as a secondhand seller with Berchtesgaden goods, the benefits of the king granted him" . The book Character Traits and Anecdotes as Pictures of Kindness and Charity from the life of Maximilian Joseph I, King of Bavaria , published in 1827 , reports on Anton Adner's participation in the washing of feet:
“On the spot he adorned the hat the monarch had given him, according to local custom, with chamois beard and chamois vulture feathers and immediately heard that his most exalted benefactor had chosen him among the 12 apostles of the country for the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday in Munich. When this solemn church festival approached, on which the king, according to the ancient custom of the regents of Bavaria, also undertook the washing of feet with the twelve oldest poor men in the country under the most solemn court ceremony in 1818, he let the old man from Berchtoldsgaden early enough at royal expense and since the way from these border mountains to the residence is quite a long way, five slow travel stops in a comfortable chaise to Munich […] In the one hundred and thirteenth year of life, the old mountain man walked with his other eleven companions to the court and to the church a cheerfulness and quickness as if he were a youth among the others. During his stay he wandered the streets happily and with good cheer, watched the parade of the guard, and even went to the court theater once at the invitation of the king, where, seeing a theater for the first time in his life, he was strangely astonished. Every year at the feast of the apostles he was received by the king with equal grace. "
Web links
literature
- Volker D. Laturell : Folk culture in Munich: essays on customs, musical folk culture, folk dance, costumes, folk theater in a city of millions . Buchendorfer Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-927984-63-9 , p. 180 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
- Werner K. Blessing: State and Church in Society: Institutional Authority and Mental Change in Bavaria during the 19th Century . In: Critical Studies in History . tape 51 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1982, ISBN 3-525-35709-5 , pp. 81 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
- Description of the festivities for Holy Week in Munich and the Munich (reprint from 1905). Munich 2008, ISBN 9780559834905 .
- Friedrich Wilhelm Bruckbräu: Character traits and anecdotes as images of kindness and charity from the life of Maximilian Joseph I, King of Bavaria . Munich 1856, pp. 101-107 ( digitized in the Google book search).
- Andreas Müller: washing your feet . In: Lexicon of Canon Law and the Roman Catholic Liturgy . Volume 2. 2nd, revised, very enlarged edition. Etlinger, Würzburg 1838, p. 913 f. ( Digitized in the Google book search).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ministerial Decree of April 30, 1870, in “Constitution and Administration of all Religious Societies in Bavaria”, by Isidor Silbernagl , 1883, p. 300 f.
- ^ Hans Heidelbach: Biography of Prince Regent Luitpold . 1891, p. 202
- ↑ Prince Adalbert of Bavaria: When the residence was still a residence . Prestel-Verlag, Munich 1967, p. 334
- ↑ Peter HUTER (the "Hundred-year-old Huter") . In: ensheim-saar.de . Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- ^ Helmut Wilhelm, Alexander Wilhelm (ed.): Ensheim. Checkered history of our village through the ages. 1977.
- ↑ Anton Mayer: The cathedral church to UL Frau in Munich . JG Weiß, Munich 1868, p. 363 ( digitized in the Google book search)
- ^ Anton Adner. The oldest in Berchtesgaden . In: Enzianbrennerei Grassl (Ed.): Enzianbote , No. 5. 2009, p. 2 ( PDF ; 874 kB).
- ↑ Character traits and anecdotes as images of kindness and charity from the life of Maximilian Joseph I, King of Bavaria