Johannes Bertels

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Statue of Johannes Bertels on the old Sauerbrücke

Johannes Bertels OSB (* 1544 in Löwen ; † June 19, 1607 in Echternach ) was abbot and historian.

biography

Bertels came to Luxembourg with Abbot Lysius at the age of seventeen . This became head of the local cathedral abbey , Bertels entered this Benedictine monastery and after the death of Lysius in 1574 his successor as abbot. In 1595 King Philip II appointed him abbot of the imperial abbey of Echternach . A year later, Abbot Johannes was brought to Nijmegen as a prisoner after his abbey had previously been sacked by the Dutch. He was released again by paying a ransom of 16,000 thalers.

Works

Bertels wrote catalogs for the abbots of Münster in Luxemburg and Echternach as well as a Historia Luxemburgensis , which was published in Cologne in 1605 , in Amsterdam in 1635 and in Luxemburg in 1856. This work is considered the first book on the history of the country. Bertels also wrote a Deorum sacrificiorumque gentilium descriptio (Cologne 1606).

In addition to his writings, 88 drawings by Bertels have been preserved that illustrate his work on Luxembourg and the property registers of his abbeys and are now kept in the Luxembourg National Archives. These drawings are particularly noteworthy because for the most part they show small, rural locations, of which (unlike major cities) no other early views have survived. However, their topographical accuracy should not be overestimated, as they are often very summarized.

Some of the drawings were used as stamp motifs; the series went on sale on December 7, 1998. The four stamps show local views of Bech, Ermsdorf, Steinheim and Itzig as motifs. Bertels itself can be seen on a Luxembourg postage stamp issued on March 4, 1985.

Bridge figure

A statue of Johannes Bertels stands as a bridge figure on the Old Sauer Bridge between Echternach and Echternacherbrück .

literature

  • Michele C. Ferrari: "Sancti Willibrordi venerantes memoriam". Echternach scribes and writers from the Anglo-Saxons to Johann Bertels. An overview. Luxembourg 1994 (= Publications du Center luxembourgeois de documentation et d'études médiévales , 6.)
  • Pierre Kauthen : Johannes Bertels, Echternach, chapter from the Historia Luxemburgensis, translated by Pierre Kauthen. In: Analecta Epternacensia, contributions to the library history of the Echternach Abbey. Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg, Trier City Library, Luxembourg 2000, p. 101-173.
  • Pierre Kauthen: Lettres de l'abbé Jean Bertels à son cellérier Jean de Luxembourg. Traduction: Pierre Kauthen. Notes et commentaires de Pol Schiltz. Sources epternaciennes, vol. 2nd ed. Oeuvre Saint-Willibrord, Trier 2016, 115
  • Johann Schötter:  Bertels, Johann . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 511 f.
  • Alphonse Sprunck:  Bertels, Johann. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, ISBN 3-428-00183-4 , p. 149 ( digitized version ).
  • Paul Spang: Bertels Abbas delineavit (1544-1607). Les dessins de l'abbé Jean Bertels. Comment le premier historien du pays de Luxembourg a vu et dessiné notre région européenne et les hommes qui y vivaient. The drawings by Abbot Bertels. How the first historian of Luxembourg saw and painted the country and the people of our European region . RTL edition, Luxembourg 1984

Web links

Commons : Johannes Bertels  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://stamps.luxcentral.com/LuxStamps1998.html#Bertels
  2. ↑ http://stamps.luxcentral.com/LuxStamps1985.html#Medallions.I
personal data
SURNAME Bertels, Johannes
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bertels, Johann; Bertels, Jean
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Abbot of Münster and Echternach
DATE OF BIRTH 1544
PLACE OF BIRTH Lions
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1607
Place of death Echternach