Carmelite Monastery of St. Josef (Regensburg)
The Carmelite Monastery of St. Josef in the old town of Regensburg is a monastery of the Discalced Carmelites who have been working in Regensburg without interruption since 1635. During the secularization of the monastery between 1812 and 1836, there were always two friars in the monastery who continued to produce the popular Carmelite spirit. After the difficult phase of secularization at the beginning of the 19th century, the monastery was revived in 1836 and continues to this day. The high baroque monastery church of St. Josef also belongs to the monastery .
history
Carmelite prehistory in Regensburg
The first convent of the older observance, which came to the city around 1290 and built the St. Oswald monastery, left Regensburg after around 80 years and founded the Carmelite monastery in Straubing .
Settlement of the Discalced Carmelites and construction of the convent in the 17th century
Discalced Carmelites came to Regensburg for almost 300 years . In 1634, Emperor Ferdinand II appointed two representatives of this order to the Free Imperial City of Regensburg. The Discalced Carmelites were the fourth order , after the Franciscan Reformates , the Capuchins and the Jesuits , that was brought here in the course of the Counter-Reformation . So in January 1635 the Spanish Father Joseph and the German brother Matthias temporarily moved into the premises of the Johanniterkommende St. Leonhard . This had previously been used as a military hospital and disease hospital.
The purchase of a house on today's Bismarckplatz , in which a Carmelite monastery was to be built, was prevented in 1640 by the Protestant imperial city, which was a thorn in the side of another monastic community within its walls. A year later, in 1641, the former Bamberg and Freising Bishop's Courts , both exterritorial, and the former Gasthaus zum Weißen Lamm were bought on the Alter Kornmarkt for a total of around 20,000 guilders . This action was also strongly promoted by the Catholic imperial family. On August 24, 1641, the first Holy Mass was celebrated in the former Kastulus chapel of the Freising Bishop's Court. Emperor Ferdinand III. and his wife Maria were there, as well as on October 12, 1641 for the laying of the foundation stone for the monastery.
Due to the enormous interest burden, however, numerous further donations in money and in kind were necessary from the emperor, other members of the high nobility and the city of Regensburg (which, however, donated secretly) in order to be able to complete the monastery building in 1655. It was not until 1653 that the ruinous old buildings could be demolished and the new building started. After overcoming further financial difficulties, a high baroque monastery church could be built from 1660, which was completed in 1673. It had already been consecrated a year earlier . The consecration of the high altar and three side altars donated by Emperor Leopold I , which no longer exist today , was carried out in 1693.
The climax of monastic life and secularization
With the growing pastoral duties, the convent also grew rapidly. At the beginning of the 18th century lived ten to fifteen professed and novices in theological studies , three to five wickets brothers and about the same number of staff in the Regensburg Convention. The reputation of the Carmelites in the city grew noticeably, above all through their selfless work in nursing the sick during the plague epidemic in 1713. While the convent initially provided for itself primarily by collecting alms, the financial situation improved considerably as the Carmelite spirit developed around 1720 . This is still an important economic pillar of the monastery today.
The climax of Carmelite life in Regensburg, which can be seen in the first half of the 18th century, was quickly followed by descent. During the general secularization in Bavaria in 1802/03, the monastery remained in existence for the time being, as Regensburg remained an independent principality under Karl Theodor von Dalberg . However, this passed to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1810 . The Carmelite Church was therefore closed on November 3, 1810. The monastery was granted a hiatus of almost two years before the convent was dissolved on August 13, 1812. Only the former prior of the monastery, Father Avertan Riedl, and his brother Candidus Walcher were allowed to stay in a part of the former monastery in order to continue to operate the now Royal Melissa Spirit Institute with two monastery servants on state account . The remaining convent buildings were used as a prison, while the monastery church served as a toll hall . The original interior was lost. The high altar made of red marble was sold to the parish of Schärding in Upper Austria .
The monastery was re-established in 1836
On November 4, 1836, the monastery church and part of the convent buildings were ceremoniously returned to the Carmelite Order. King Ludwig I had previously approved a “Discalced Carmelite Hospice in Regensburg” on the intercession of his Interior Minister Eduard von Schenk . As early as 1835, Brother Candidus had been renovating the monastery church on the order of the order. This was furnished with pieces of equipment that were bought from various churches and consecrated on November 24, 1836. The newly founded monastery was initially only occupied by Brother Candidus and Father Maximilian Pfister, the successor from Würzburg to Father Avertan, who died in 1828. With effect from May 17, 1839, the convent was rebuilt under the prior P. Maximilian.
In 1847, the monastery buildings were completely returned, with the exception of the former monastery brewery, which was now privately owned. The Hotel Karmeliten was later operated in this building for a long time , before it was demolished in 2012 in favor of a new building with almost 180 apartments and luxury apartments. The remaining monastery buildings and the monastery church could only be finally removed from state ownership in 1903.
Founding of the Regensburg Carmelites in the 19th and 20th centuries
The new construction of the Carmelite life in Regensburg was very successful, as a site in the Kumpfmühl district was acquired as early as 1851 . In the years 1898 to 1900, a seminary for the next generation of religious orders and a neo-baroque church, the Theresienkirche, were built there . Around sixty pupils were accommodated there during his wedding. While the monastery and church of St. Josef were only slightly damaged in the bombing of the Second World War , the branch in Kumpfmühl was largely destroyed. Reconstruction began in 1945. However, the study seminar was closed in 1975, and in 1985 the affiliated monastic community as well. In 1920 the Sisters of Mary from the Carmel from Linz were given a piece of land on Landshuter Strasse. There they founded the Theresienheim, a dormitory for girls and young women in training and studies. Later several institutions were added, including old people's homes, distributed throughout the diocese of Regensburg. As early as 1889, the convent founded a monastery on the Kreuzberg in Schwandorf , in which fathers of the Indian order province have lived since 2009.
In order to be prepared against a possible dissolution of the convention in the course of the Kulturkampf , the Regensburg Carmelites founded branches abroad from 1875. In 1876 they established a convent in Geleen in the Netherlands , from which several other foundations in the Netherlands later went out. In 1905 the Regensburg Carmel also established a convent in the United States . Since then, Carmelites have been taking care of the pilgrimage to the national shrine to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians on Holy Hill in the state of Wisconsin .
description
The convent buildings form a multi-wing complex that extends south and east of the Carmelite Church of St. Joseph. The three-storey saddle and hipped roof buildings are essentially arranged around two inner courtyards . The gate building, an elongated, eaves gable roof structure, extends towards the old corn market . The four-winged convent building with cloister is located south of the church . The sacristy tract with an integrated church tower creates the connection to the factory building on the east side, where the popular Carmelite spirit is produced. The sacristy tract in particular contains older parts of the Freising Bishop's Court, which date from the 13th century.
Carmelite Spirit
The monastery became known through the Genuine Regensburg Carmelite Spirit, invented by Father Ulrich Eberskirch OCD, a pharmacist, in 1721. Since that time it has been continuously produced in the Regensburg Carmelite Monastery and sold from there. Even during the dissolution of the monastery from 1812 to 1836, two religious were allowed to stay in Regensburg to restore the Carmelite spirit. The recipe is closely guarded; only two brothers of the monastery know it. It is a "pure distillate made from all-natural spices and herbs". It is used for stomach ailments, flatulence, insomnia, fainting, heart failure, rheumatism, neuralgic pain and for disinfecting wounds both internally and externally. However, caution should be exercised when consuming because of the high alcohol content.
literature
- Monastery of St. Joseph of the Teresian Carmelites Regensburg (Ed.): Carmelites in Regensburg - Since 1635. Brochure.
Web links
- Internet presence of the Carmelite Monastery of St. Josef
-
Regensburg, Carmelites (St. Leonhard) , basic data and history:
Peter Morsbach: The Carmelites at the old grain market in the database of monasteries in Bavaria in the House of Bavarian History
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Carmelites in Regensburg - Since 1635. Brochure.
- ↑ a b c Peter Morsbach: The Carmelites on the old grain market . Online at www.hdbg.eu; accessed on February 21, 2017.
- ^ Stefan Aigner: Decision on Wednesday: The Carmelite Hotel will be demolished . Online at www.regensburg-digital.de; accessed on February 21, 2017.
- ↑ Homepage of the Palais Karmeliten am Dom . Online at www.karmeliten-am-dom.de; accessed on February 21, 2017.
Coordinates: 49 ° 1 ′ 6.4 ″ N , 12 ° 6 ′ 4.1 ″ E