Calendar Brotherhood in Werl
The calendar brotherhood in Werl was a medieval calendar brotherhood of wealthy citizens of Werl for the purpose of cultivating Christian sociability, charitable tasks, communal worship and the care of a solemn burial.
history
brotherhood
A date of foundation has not been passed down, in a document from 1419 the brotherhood was mentioned in the notarization of legal transactions, but it already existed before. The caland was a social factor of particular importance as women could also be members. There are 21 female members in 1524. The management was always the responsibility of a dean , the assets were administered by chamberlains, some of whom were laypeople or clergy. The calendar books were also kept from these. The brotherhood was a supra-parish institution, it was not under the direction and supervision of the pastor in Werl .
The brothers often met for several days on calendar day. The hospitality was the responsibility of the conductors named, who were also called hospites in Werl . They had to entertain the members at their own expense and were then allowed to hold themselves harmless through a collection.
The evening before, Vespers were sung by Our Lady in front of donated altars, followed by the Office of the Dead, including lauds . Then the brothers went in procession across the cemetery to the ossuary . Then they gathered in an inn, where after dinner the psalms Miserere and De profundis were alternately prayed with the Oratio missa pro defunctis . Intercession for the dead was very important. The following day, which was at six o'clock in the morning Matins held on Sunday. Then there was a mass for the dead and one for Our Lady . Then the procession went to the ossuary, which was presumably near the tower of the provost church. A third procession with the holy of holies took place in front of the high mass , during which each brother had to make a donation. This money was used to pay for the masses and four large wax lights.
In the 1620 calendar book, members were required to pay a florin in order to secure plentiful intercessions after their own death . The memory of the dead, in which all the brothers had to take part, was kept in front of the Kaland Altar. One must piously grant someone else what one wishes to receive in the flames of purgatory after one's own death .
The Calendar Brotherhood went out in the middle of the 18th century
Discovery of the calender altar
In 1956 the so-called rifle altar was renovated in the provost church of St. Walburga . After younger layers of paint had been removed from the base above the predella , an inscription painted in dark color became visible. The year has not been deciphered with absolute certainty and is probably 1620. Underneath, the words Fraternitas Calendarium can be read; thus the altar is not, as has been assumed for over a hundred years, the rifleman, but the Kaland altar. In a traditional festival calendar from the 17th century, an altar by the Kalandsbrüder to St. Appolonia mentioned.
Important Kalandsbrothers
- Gerhard Kleinsorgen (1530–1591)
- Jorgen Bock , multiple mayor in Werl and treasurer of the Kalandsbruderschaft in the 16th century.
- Johann Kaspar Christian von Mellin (1664–1723), Mayor of Werl and Colonel of the Erbsälzer
literature
- Rudolf Preising : The Werler Kaland and its members. A picture of the social stratification of the Werl bourgeoisie of past centuries (= writings of the city of Werl . Series A. Historically scientific articles. Issue 3). Dietrich-Coelde-Verlag, Werl 1958, DNB 453841341 .