Poor Clare Monastery in Brixen
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The Poor Clare Monastery of St. Elisabeth in Brixen ( South Tyrol ) was the first settlement of the sisters of St. Clare in the German-speaking area.
history
The Poor Clare Monastery was built during the lifetime of St. Klara (1193 / 94–1253) founded. The first sisters probably came to Brixen around 1230, because in 1236 there was evidence of a monastery for St. Elisabeth on the city wall. Since then, the sisters have been looked after by the brothers of the attached Franciscan monastery .
The Poor Clare Monastery developed very well over time, and many women from Tyrol joined the order. However, because at the beginning of the 15th century there was a laxity in the observance of the rule of the order , Cardinal Nikolaus Cusanus, as Bishop of Bressanone from 1452 to 1455, successfully tried to reform the monastery. Some nuns fought against him on the side of the monastery, including Maria von Wolkenstein, the daughter of Oswald von Wolkenstein and Margareta von Schwangau . She saw the rights and income of the monastery curtailed. The sisters of the monastery were forcibly put into seclusion by either checking or walling up all entrances to the monastery. Magdalena Gaismair, b. Ganner, the wife of the reformer Michael Gaismair , murdered in 1532, received her training at the Poor Clare Monastery in Brixen. Since the Poor Clares also took the side of the Church in the Cardinal's dispute with Archduke Sigismund the Rich in Coin , the sisters were expelled from the country in 1461. They were accepted into the Poor Clare Monastery in Pfullingen , but were able to return to Brixen in 1464. Maria von Wolkenstein moved to the Poor Clare Monastery in Merano , where she died as abbess in 1478.
Around 1470 the monastery church was gothicised , in 1620 baroque and fitted with an organ. The Franciscan priest and master builder Rufin Laxner expanded the Poor Clare Monastery between 1663 and 1668 and renovated the monastery church from 1680 to 1684. In 1720 six sisters were sent to Hall in Tirol to found a Poor Clare monastery . In 1782 the monastery escaped the wave of repeal under Emperor Josef II , because it was directly subordinate to the Prince-Bishop of Brixen. However, from 1796 to 1797 it was used as a military hospital during the Napoleonic Wars , and from 1806 to 1814 the Bavarian government banned the admission of novices.
Today the monastery houses around 20 Poor Clares , who live in a strictly cloistered state and devote themselves to prayer and work in the house. The sisters also run a host bakery.
According to legend, St. Clare sent the Brixen sisters a sapling from a pear tree. These pears, after being repeatedly grafted over the course of time, still grow in the garden of the Poor Clare Monastery.
Sights in the monastery church
- Antonius chapel with a picture of the saint (around 1657) by P. Antonius Lener.
- Wall painting with scenes from the life of St. Elisabeth (1885) by P. Johannes Maria Reiter
- Pictures on the high altar (donation of alms by St. Elisabeth, 1787) and the side altars (Adoration of the Shepherds; St. Joachim and Anna with Maria, around 1787) by Johann Mitterwurzer
- Stations of the Cross (1773) by Joseph Giner from Thaur
- Prayer choir of the Poor Clares above the church vault
Sights in the monastery
The 25-part Klara cycle. A cycle of pictures on the life of St. Klara by the baroque painter Franz Sebald Unterberger .
literature
- Leo Andergassen (editor): Icones Clarae. Art from the Brixen Poor Clare Monastery. Arte dal Convento delle Clarisse di Bressanone. Diocesan Museum Hofburg, Brixen 1999.
- Siegfried Volgger: The Poor Clare and Franciscan Monastery in Brixen. Bolzano 1996
- Florentin Nothegger: Brixen / Tyrol, Poor Clares - Franciscans. in: Alemania Franciscana Antiqua XVII, 243-254
Web links
- Poor Clare Monastery Brixen - Homepage
- Entry to Poor Clare Monastery Bressanone on medal online
- Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office
Coordinates: 46 ° 42 ′ 42.2 " N , 11 ° 39 ′ 29.6" E