Johanniterkommende Hohenrain

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Johanniterkommende Hohenrain

The former Kommende Hohenrain of the Order of the Hospital of St. John in Jerusalem ( Johanniter ) in the municipality of Hohenrain in the canton of Lucerne was one of the oldest branches of the Johanniter in what is now Switzerland . From the Commandery ( Kommende ), first mentioned in 1182/83 , partial buildings from the late 12th and 13th centuries and thus the structure of a medieval order castle have largely been preserved. At the present time, the Kommende is owned by the Canton of Lucerne and, according to the Swiss inventory of cultural property, is considered a cultural property of national importance.

history

Established in the 12th century

The earliest mention of the Johanniter as hospitalis sancti Johannis in Hohenrein ( Hospitaler of Saint Johannes in Hohenrain) in a deed of donation from 1182/83, according to which the Johannitern zu Hohenrain was bequeathed an estate in Schongau by the heirs of Ludwig von Malters . From this it can be concluded that Johanniter must have founded a branch in what is now Hohenrain a few years earlier. Even before the end of the 12th century, the seat of the Lords of Hohenrain-Wangen, who were in the service of the Barons of Eschenbach , was probably located at the place of the Kommende Hohenrain . Although there are no contemporary sources, it can be assumed that Rudolf von Hohenrain-Wangen bequeathed his ancestral seat - probably a simple residential tower - to the Order of St. John and entered the order himself. The von Hohenrain-Wangen family lived from then on in what is now Kleinwangens .

Area growth from the 13th century

The Kommende Hohenrain is located on a hill on the then important route from Baden through the Seetal to Lucerne , which continued on to the Gotthard route. In addition to trading the medieval road network was also for pilgrimages significant. The coming sheltered friars who were preparing for the fight in the Holy Land and offered shelter and care for pilgrims. For this the order received donations and alms . Since the religious orders of chivalry were not subject to the jurisdiction of the bishops and abbots, who were often subject to the interdict for political reasons , the religious, in contrast to the priests, could dispose of the sacraments at any time . This in turn made them attractive for the donation of goods by the nobility. There is evidence that the Kommende Hohenrain received donations from the Counts of Habsburg , the Counts of Kyburg , the Barons of Eschenbach and the Lords of Lieli . The obligation to pay interest on the mortgaged goods - such as the allocation of land to free farmers - generated additional income. With increasing wealth, the Johanniter were able to acquire further surrounding areas or exchange remote possessions for land adjacent to their own territory. In the late 13th century, the Johanniter in Hohenrain owned goods in Hohenrain, Kleinwangen, Günikon, Ober- and Unterebersol, Ferren, Ottenhusen and Ibenmoos as well as the church patronage in Hohenrain, Kleinwangen, Römerswil , Aesch , Dietwil , Abtwil and Seengen . In this contiguous area, the Kommende Hohenrain held the lower jurisdiction ( Twing ).

Dependency from the 15th century

The economic decline of the Johanniter was already apparent in the 14th century. On the one hand, the popes increasingly restricted the privileges of the religious orders of knights and, on the other hand, the taxes within the order rose. The administration of their own property in Hohenrain suffered from the lavish habits of life, the ongoing legal disputes and the constant absence of the commander who either fought in the Holy Land or stayed at the religious chapters. Due to the political closeness of the Johanniter to the House of Habsburg, which also had the patronage of the Kommende Hohenrain, the relationship of the Johanniter in Hohenrain to the city of Lucerne deteriorated noticeably, especially after the battle of Sempach . Finally, the indebted Kommende Hohenrain concluded a castle rights contract with the city of Lucerne in 1413 , after which it was henceforth under the protection of Lucerne. This made the Johanniter in Hohenrain taxable against Lucerne. Lucerne was now able to appoint a governor in Hohenrain in the absence of the Komtur and jurisdiction outside the comming walls was taken over by the Vogt of Rothenburg , who was appointed by Lucerne . In 1472 the Johanniterkommende Reiden came under the administration of Hohenrain. In 1523 the Lucerne Council examined the administration of the Kommende Hohenrain, as the Komtur zu Hohenrain had ceded some goods to the reformed Bern against payment. As a result, Lucerne took over the administration of the coming party. During the First Kappel War , Lucerne stationed strong troops in Hohenrain to fend off a possible attack on Zurich . After the Second Kappel War , the Catholic towns tied those coming to the order even more closely and appointed bailiffs as administrators. However, in 1542 Lucerne returned the Kommende Hohenrain to the Order of St. John with the conditions to pay off the debts, to maintain the buildings and to accept Lucerne citizens in the order. However, these conditions were not implemented and the situation was always desolate. In 1644, Franz von Sonnenberg from Lucerne became Commander of Hohenrain. He was later appointed Grand Prior of the German Johanniter.

Dissolution in the 19th century

With the great upheavals of the Helvetic Republic of 1798 and the associated dissolution of feudal rule , the Kommende Hohenrain lost its jurisdiction and the basic charges - the taxes that the population had to pay up to now - were lifted. This year the coming of the new district was assigned to Hochdorf and from 1803 it was run as an independent municipality in the new Hochdorf district. With the new state order of Napoleon Bonaparte , the Order of St. John lost all of its lands in 1803. The order itself was not dissolved, however, which prevented Lucerne from completely taking over the coming. In 1806, however, Lucerne seized the Kollatur in Hohenrain (which subsequently left it to the municipalities in 1879) and bought up debts of the coming. On August 1, 1807, Lucerne finally liquidated the Kommende Hohenrain due to the indebted condition and its management was transferred to the Lucerne Chamber of Finance. The last Komtur was left on the commander until his death in 1819, but no longer had any rights. After that, parts of the buildings were temporarily used as an office building. After the internment of the Bourbaki army in 1871, interned soldiers were brought to Hohenrain and found temporary accommodation in the rooms of the former Johanniterkommende.

building

Building the coming

The main part of the Kommende Hohenrain consists of the tower "Roten" and the church of St. John the Baptist (Johanniterkirche). Between the tower and the church stands the Moserhaus, named after the innkeeper of the same name who looked after the castle tavern there in the 19th century. In the north is the gatehouse (tenant house) above the inner gate with the attached former rectory. In the south is the Komturhaus, which contains the former living quarters of the Komture. The coming was enclosed with a circular wall, which is still visible in the northwest on the only remaining round tower.

Tower red

As a simple residential tower, the Roten tower was probably built from 1150. At the latest around 1300 there was a protruding wooden heightening under a hipped roof. By 1490 the tower was expanded to its present form. Currently there is a library on the ground floor, a paneled room on the first floor, the historic knight's hall with frescoes and pictures on the history of the Order of St. John on the second floor and a Gothic room with a vaulted wooden ceiling with inscriptions from the 16th century on the top floor.

Church of St. John the Baptist

The Johanniterkirche, probably from the end of the 12th century based on a Carolingian hall church , was first mentioned in 1230. In 1694 the church was rebuilt in the Baroque style and in 1899/1900 it was provided with stucco in the Rococo style. In 1963 the parish ceded the Johanniterkirche, which remained the parish church of Hohenrain until 1965, with the rectory and the surrounding area to the canton of Lucerne. The baroque interior with the pulpit and the three altars from the 18th century with their statues of Mary and saints made of stucco marble have remained unchanged to the present day. In one of the altars there is a relic depicting a Johanneshaupt, the original of which from the 15th century is in the Ottenhusen chapel.

Todays use

From 1847 the historic buildings served as a cantonal institution for the deaf and dumb and from 1942 also as a home for children. A first extension was built in 1961 and a second in 1980. The institution, which was renamed Cantonal Special Schools in 1966, continues to use part of the former Johanniterkommende Hohenrain under the name Heilpädagogisches Zentrum (HPZ). The HPZ is responsible for the administration and leasing of the historical premises. The Roten tower is also home to the school and community library.

A vineyard thrives on the south-western slope of the Kommende Hohenrain. Viticulture was practiced in Hohenrain from the middle of the 14th century to 1860. In 1975, this tradition was revived by the Cantonal Agricultural and Machine School, which has been based in the Canton of Zurich since 1969 - which is now called the Vocational Training Center (BBZ) - and since then wine has been produced under the name Johanniterkommende Hohenrain.

Since the year 2000, the “Verein Turm Roten” has maintained a partially changing exhibition on the top floor of the building that gives it its name, each with a local theme, which is open to the public for viewing on selected days.

See also

literature

  • Peter Ziegler: Hohenrain (upcoming). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Gottfried Boesch: Hohenrain in the Middle Ages. History of the Malteser Komturei Hohenrain from its foundation to the post-Reformation period (supplement to the annual report of the Kantian higher educational institutions 1949/50) , 1950.
  • Hohenrain community (ed.): 800 years of Hohenrain. 1182–1982 (Festschrift) , 1982.
  • Louis Carlen (ed.): History and law of religious orders of knights. especially in Switzerland. In: Freiburg publications from the field of church and state (Volume 30). Universitätsverlag, Freiburg 1990, ISBN 3-7278-0702-4 .
  • Peter Ziegler: History of the Swiss commander of the Order of St. John. Published by the Swiss Commandery of the Order of St. John, 1999.
  • Stefan Jäggi: Johanniter and German Order in the Lucerne Seetal. In: Yearbook of the Historical Society Lucerne 25 , 2007.

Web links

Commons : Johanniterkomturei, Hohenrain  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ziegler, Hohenrain (upcoming) .
  2. ↑ Boesch, Hohenrain im MA , pp. 15–22.
  3. ↑ Boesch, Hohenrain im MA , pp. 23–51.
  4. ↑ Boesch, Hohenrain im MA , pp. 53-105.
  5. ^ Ziegler, Hohenrain (upcoming) .
  6. ^ Johanniterkommende Hohenrain website of the Turm Roten association.

Coordinates: 47 ° 10 '45.9 "  N , 8 ° 19' 6.5"  E ; CH1903:  666,693  /  225759 Price