Vogelsang Charterhouse
The Kartause zum Vogelsang near Jülich (lat. Domus compassionis Beatae Mariae in Cantavio prope Iuliacum ) was a Carthusian monastery near the city of Jülich , founded on March 18, 1478 and abolished by the French government in 1802 .
Foundation and development
On the initiative of the Klevian chancellor Hermann von Brakel, the convent of the Geldrischen Kartause Roermond was invited in 1478 to build a daughter monastery near the former ducal Hofstatt Vogelsang , about 1,600 m south of the city of Jülich. This got its name in the sense of the Carthusian piety of Mary after the pity of Mary under the cross (Dutch: "tot onser lieven vrouwen mitlyden" ).
Duke Wilhelm IV of Jülich and Berg and his wife Elisabeth handed over their Hof zum Vogelsang , attested as early as the 14th century, to the Carthusian Order. Other foundations were added. The new monastery was built in almost 50 years of construction, first the enclosure to shield the contemplative monks from the outside world, then the cells for initially twelve monks, the farm buildings and fish ponds. This phase ended in 1527 with the construction of the monastery church.
Vogelsang in the 16th century
During the Reformation , Johannes Justus von Landsberg, who emerged from the Cologne Charterhouse , was the prior of the house. He advocated the need for a fundamental spiritual renewal without, however, going over to Lutheran teaching. His publications made him an important figure in Catholic reform . Although the house was not yet as financially secure as the priors would have liked, it still received other foundations and enjoyed sovereign favor.
Vogelsang in the 17th century
During the Jülich-Klevian War of Succession , the monastery, lying unprotected in the open field in front of the fortress town of Jülich , was repeatedly endangered. Cattle, utensils and church treasures were brought to safety in other places in 1609/1610, and a number of conventuals fled to other Carthusian monasteries, but the monastery itself suffered such destruction and devastation that at first it hardly seemed as if it could be made habitable again. In the Thirty Years War, on the other hand, the monastery did not suffer any major damage, and even slowly returned to a consolidated economic situation from greater poverty.
In the second half of the 17th century, the monastery experienced a heyday under the priors Theodor Monheim and Antonius Basel. Golden and silver church utensils could be purchased, capital could be invested at interest.
Vogelsang in the 18th century
As early as 1696, the monastery was architecturally baroque and the church was decorated. As planned, forestry was added.
Repeal
When in 1794 the areas on the left bank of the Lower Rhine were conquered by French revolutionary troops and incorporated into the Département de la Roer , many of the monks had to flee. Although some of them were able to return in the next few years, the continuation of the strict discipline of the Carthusians was made difficult and ultimately impossible by a series of compulsory legal measures. Despite the legal prohibition, the monastery still secretly accepted a novice, who later took full vows. In August 1802 the Charterhouse was finally closed, the former conventuals were forbidden to wear the religious costume.
Half of the priests returned to their homeland. As far as can be proven, all previous Fathers made pastoral duties available. The last prior of the monastery, Carl Unkraut (1731-1823), who came from the Hildesheim Charterhouse, which had already been dissolved the year before, in 1778 and became prior in Vogelsang in 1796, went to the parish of St. Mary's Assumption in Cologne as a pastor and died there that year 1823. The lands and buildings of the Vogelsang Charterhouse were sold and most of them demolished.
After further destruction in the Second World War , the remains of the facility are now used privately.
See also
literature
- Harald Goder: The Kartause zum Vogelsang near Jülich , Volume 1, construction and equipment, archive and library, historical overview , Salzburg 2000, ISBN 3-901995-25-0
- Harald Goder: The Kartause zum Vogelsang near Jülich , Volume 2, Constitution , Salzburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-902895-07-3
- Harald Goder: Vogelsang / Jülich , in: Monasticon Cartusiense , ed. by Gerhard Schlegel, James Hogg, Volume 2, Salzburg 2004, 646–653.
Individual evidence
- ^ Willi Baumann (Ed.): The Catholic Clergy in Oldenburger Land , Dialogverlag, Münster 2006, pp. 536-538.
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 ′ 48 ″ N , 6 ° 22 ′ 38 ″ E