Capuchin monastery Aachen
The Capuchin Monastery in Aachen was the branch of the Capuchin Order in Aachen . The monastery was founded in 1614 on the area of today's theater in Aachen , at that time at the "Zimmergraben", and secularized in 1802 and demolished in 1817.
history
Initially was on the aforementioned area Tertiarierkloster the Webbegarden who earned their living with the linen mill, where they had been a total of twelve looms available. This old tertiary monastery on the Zimmergraben, named after the carpenters 'workshops located here, was located in the immediate vicinity of the Christian nuns' monastery , with which it shared a wall. Due to a lack of money and personnel, it was incorporated into the Aachen branch of the Teutonic Order Commander St. Aegidius in 1591 , who in turn wanted to donate it to the Jesuit community of Aachen . After this refused, however, because of the burden of debt on the monastery, the Capuchins received the monastery including seven other smaller houses on the recommendation of the Landkomtur Edmond Huyn van Amstenraedt of the Biesen ballot and with the approval of the city council, whereupon the street was renamed "Kapuzinergraben" has been. Another thirteen old houses in the neighborhood were also acquired by the land commander, which he then had removed in order to make the now free area available to the Capuchins for monastery extensions and a monastery garden to be redesigned. The rather large and water-rich garden between the three-winged monastery complex was surrounded by a high wall and an even higher beech hedge, and inside was equipped with numerous fruit trees. The center of the garden was a fish pond with a fountain, the water of which was drawn from the Aachen Heath through pipes. In the middle of this pond was a small island on which a small chapel was built, which had been dedicated to Rochus of Montpellier . On the inside walls of the monastery facing the garden, the Way of the Cross ran under an arcade.
One year after the takeover by the Capuchins, the foundation stone for the new monastery church was laid on April 23, 1615, where the Servatius Chapel had previously stood. Indulgences had been conferred in this chapel since 1318 and the linen weavers' guild, which had declared Saint Bishop Servatius of Tongeren to be their patron saint, held their church festivals there ever since. The new church of the Capuchins was finally completed in 1618 and consecrated on May 27th by the auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Liège , Stephan Streccius. Later on, religious instruction for the children from the neighborhood was introduced here on Sundays and public holidays.
However, the monastery and church were of such poor quality that the first major renovation work had to be carried out as early as 1633. Since the Capuchin monastery was largely spared from the flames during the great fire in Aachen , relics from the cathedral church and parts of the St. Foillan archive were stored in the Rochus Chapel and the meetings of the city council were held temporarily in the convent building .
At the beginning of the 18th century, the Capuchins decided to redesign their church, which was implemented in 1705 according to plans by the Aachen city architect Laurenz Mefferdatis . In the high altar there, an original painting by Peter Paul Rubens was installed, which a certain Anton Damizaga had given to the commander of the Deutschordenballei in 1621. In 1774, the Capuchins were offered 206 Louis d'or including the production of a good copy for the purchase of this painting, which however did not materialize. The picture remained in the high altar and, for “aesthetic” reasons, was edited by a monastery guard, who had the all too bare breast of the Mother of God covered with paint. When the French took over, the painting was taken to Paris , where it has been lost ever since.
After the secularization of the monastery in 1802, the French planned to set up a thermal bath on the area, into which they wanted to discharge the water from Burtscheid , but this never happened. Instead, the Prussian administration of Aachen, which ruled from 1815, had the entire monastery complex demolished in 1817 and initially set up a bleaching area for neighboring cloth factories before releasing the site for the construction of the new city theater.
literature
- Christian Quix : The former Capuchin monastery. In: Contributions to the history of the city of Aachen and its surroundings. JA Mayer Verlag, Aachen 1838. pp. 83–86 ( digitalized )
- Capuchin Aachen in: Nordrheinisches Klosterbuch. Lexicon of the monasteries and monasteries up to 1815 , part 1: Aachen to Düren (= studies on Cologne church history 37th volume, 1st part). Edited by Manfred Groten, Georg Mölich, Gisela Muschiol and Joachim Oepen, Siegburg 2009, p. 30 and p. 83.
Individual evidence
- ^ Christian Quix : The former Webbegarden monastery. In: Contributions to the history of the city of Aachen and its surroundings. JA Mayer Verlag, Aachen 1838. pp. 83–86 ( digitalized )
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 21.04 " N , 6 ° 5 ′ 13.99" E