Amorbach Monastery

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Amorbach Monastery
The monastery church general view
The monastery church general view
location Amorbach Monastery, Schloßpl. 1, 63916 Amorbach, Germany
Lies in the diocese Diocese of Würzburg
Coordinates: 49 ° 38 '34.4 "  N , 9 ° 13' 12.4"  E Coordinates: 49 ° 38 '34.4 "  N , 9 ° 13' 12.4"  E
Patronage St. Mary ; Secondary cartridge: Simplicius, Faustinus, Beatrix.
founding year In 734 the construction of the monastery buildings began. by Benedictines lived in the monastery until secularization
Year of dissolution /
annulment 		1803 in the course of secularization in Bavaria.

The Amorbach monastery in the Odenwald is a former Benedictine abbey and one of the earliest founding monasteries in the Main Franconian area. It was in Amorbach and was abolished in 1803 as part of secularization . The buildings and lands have belonged to the Princes of Leiningen since 1803 .

Facade of the monastery church
The towers of the monastery church

Four Benedictine monasteries were assigned the task of opening up the unpopulated forest area of ​​the Odenwald by the Franconian central authority of the Carolingians : the Lorsch monastery from the west, the Fulda monastery from the north, the Amorbach monastery from the east and the Mosbach monastery from the south. The Amorbach monastery was of the greatest importance for the ecclesiastical, cultural and economic development in the eastern Odenwald.

Patronage: St. Mary ; Secondary cartridge: Simplicius , Faustinus , Beatrix .

history

The origins are in the dark. The foundation is dated to the year 734. In 1734 the millennium was celebrated for eight days. The monastery is located at the intersection of the ancient long-distance traffic route from the Mainknie near today's Miltenberg to Bad Wimpfen am Neckar with the road that leads from Worms am Rhein through the Odenwald to Würzburg . For centuries, the monks' task consisted of clearing and settling a huge forest area, deepening Christianity in the East Franconian area and promoting the Franconian concept of the empire . The property acquired through donation and various rights in numerous villages in the old settled building land initially secured the economic basis.

Before the year 800, the abbey came under the direct protection of Charlemagne and became an imperial abbey . The abbots of Amorbach and Neustadt am Main were sent as bishops in Verden an der Aller to Saxony, which was only subjected to and forcibly Christianized in 804 . Spatto was bishop in Verden (festival: December 16) and at the same time Benedictine abbot in the Amorbach monastery and Neustadt am Main monastery (abbot from 810 to 823).

Around 950 the monastery was involved in the Gorz reform . The Würzburg bishop succeeded in 993 through forged documents that King Otto III. Amorbach (together with four other monasteries in Franconia ) submitted to his suzerainty. The monastery had to cede extensive property of building land to the Würzburg bishops, who enfeoffed the ministerial families with the monastery property . The Amorbach monastery founded the first independent parishes: Buchen , Walldürn and Bödigheim .

Around the year 1000 the monastery probably received property from the Lorsch monastery. Abbot Richard served from 1012 to 1039; From 1018 he was simultaneously abbot in the monastery of Fulda . The monastery was awarded the royal forest mark, later called Zent Amorbach. The abbey provided the first monks for the Michelsberg Monastery in Bamberg, founded in 1015 .

From 1039 to 1091 he was Abbot Ezelin; after 1050 he acquired the Mudauer Odenwald (approx. 100 km 2 ), the woodland between the edge of the populated land in the east and the Itter in the west. The owner of Lohrbach Castle had to sell this silva Otinwalt , whose rights went back to the Reich. The forest was later (1271) amalgamated to Zent Mudau . Under the leadership of the monastery in cooperation - often in competition - with the neighboring aristocracy, the deserted area was settled through planned clearing (hoof settlements).

Watterbacher portable altar, around 1020

In the 11th century the Watterbacher portable altar was created, an important goldsmith's work of the early 11th century, today in the Bavarian National Museum, originally probably created for Amorbach. In the 11th-12th In the 19th century, the monastery property was expanded through donations and purchases. The Amorbach tradition notes were created around 1100. They are one of the most important sources of the high medieval history of the rear Odenwald and the oldest property register of the Amorbach monastery. Goods in 52 locations in the region are listed here.

In 1130 the Hirsau reform took place . Abbot Bruno served from 1150 to 1162. In 1168, Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa transferred the bailiwick of the monastery with extensive lands to his follower Rupert von Dürn, who moved his official residence to Walldürn and established the family of the Lords of Dürn , who owned large estates in southwest Germany for around a century.

In 1256 the parish of Bödigheim was incorporated into the Amorbach monastery. In 1272 Ulrich von Dürn sold the city of Amorbach with the bailiwick of the monastery to Archbishop Werner von Mainz. Secular sovereignty was transferred to the Archbishopric of Mainz , while ecclesiastical sovereignty remained with the Bishop of Würzburg. Bishop Bertold von Würzburg incorporated the parish Hollerbach with all of its income into the Amorbach monastery in 1277.

In 1286 the abbot of Amorbach allowed the knight Weiprecht Rüdt von Rüdenau to build a castle on the limestone rock above the village of Bödigheim. In 1330, Bishop Wolfram von Würzburg placed the newly founded parish of Hausen ( Waldhausen ) with the two branches Oberscheringen and Einbach under the Amorbach monastery.

Abbot Friedrich Feyser was in 1395 the Urbar create the Benedictine Amorbach (freight and right directory). The Klosterurbar gives an insight into the rights of the monastery and the burdens and duties of the dependent farmers.

Abbot Dietrich II. Von Kuntich restored monastery breeding from 1406 to 1428 with a return to the old Benedictine rules. From then on, the monastery was no longer only open to aristocrats, but also to “poor lute child”. Abbot Heinrich II. (A nephew of Dietrich) achieved the economic recovery of the monastery from 1428-1456. In 1448 the monastery mill and the bakery were rebuilt.

Abbot Jakob Zweifel had repairs made to the church from 1517 to 1532. The monastery received income from over 100 places and was bailiff in 19 villages. Numerous parishes in a wide area were subordinate to the monastery and were the basis of its rich tithe income .

During the Peasants' War in 1525 the citizens stormed the abbey alongside the rebellious peasants under Götz von Berlichingen and plundered it.

To an unusual extent for a Benedictine monastery, the monastery also devoted itself to pastoral care in addition to its manorial rule. At times the fathers looked after up to 40 parishes. Parishes in the sphere of influence of the nobility joined the Reformation .

Abbot Theobald Gramlich von Scheringen ensured from 1556 to 1584, also with military pressure, that parishes in his sphere of influence remained with the Catholic Church ( counter-reformation ).

Between 1618 and 1648 ( Thirty Years War ) there were marches, billeting, looting and blackmailing. From 1632 to 1634 the monastery was even closed. The property was transferred to Count Ludwig I. von Erbach .

From 1639 to 1674, Abbot Placidius Fleck officiated. By 1650, many villages were extinct or decimated. Due to the breakdown of the economic basis, the monastery fell into a desolate state. In 1651 there were only 11 monks left.

In 1656 there was a contract between the Würzburg and Mainz monasteries on territorial consolidation. Amorbach came to the Archbishopric of Mainz (now ecclesiastical and secular). Johann Philipp von Schönborn restricted the rights of the Bronnbach and Amorbach monasteries in favor of the prince-bishop's power.

Between 1660 and 1670 the wing of the building facing Schlossplatz with abbot's apartment, cellar and guest house was built. From 1674 to 1713 Abbot Cölestin Mann officiated. At his death in 1713 there were 41 monks.

Amorbach Monastery 1735

Abbot Engelbert Kinbacher served from 1728 to 1753. The 1000th anniversary was celebrated in 1734. From 1742 to 1747 the abbey church was redesigned in the Baroque / Rococo style . The construction manager was the Mainz court architect and General Maximilian von Welsch , the idea was provided by Anselm Franz Freiherr von Ritter zu Groenesteyn , and the plans were implemented by the engineer manger Alexander Jakob Schmitt under the influence of the Mainz architect Johann Valentin Thoman . From 1743, Franz Häffele was entrusted with the construction management for the renovation after the plans by Johann Maximilian von Welsch had been given preference. This is evidenced by the large fresco by the fresco painter Matthäus Günther in the nave of the abbey church, which shows Häffele as a construction manager with a measure of length and a three-cornered corner . The floor plan followed that of the old church (cross shape). The three-aisled nave was now wider than the two towers that were retained. The towers received new domes. The choir was extended. The new building was taller and received more light from larger windows. The transept received two bell towers. The Wessobrunn stucco workers Johann Michael Feichtmayr and Johann Georg Üblhör as well as the Peißenberg fresco painter Matthäus Günther, who headed the Augsburg Catholic Academy, worked artistically . Abbot Hyazint Breuer was in office from 1753 to 1778, and Abbot Benedikt Külsheimer was the last abbot of the monastery from 1778–1803. In 1782 the church received the largest organ in the world at the time , it was built by the Stumm brothers from the Hunsrück. The work comprised more than 5116 pipes and a carillon.

A new convent building was built between 1783 and 1786. Only a few years before the end of the Old Kingdom, the abbey built a new library and a ballroom (Green Hall) in the Amorbach braid style, a variant of early classicism.

Modern times

In 1803 the abbey was secularized . The 24 monks had to leave the monastery. The princes of Leiningen received the monastery property as compensation for their ancestral lands in the Palatinate , which had fallen to France in the Revolutionary Wars . The spacious buildings of the abolished abbey were the reason that Amorbach was chosen as the residence of the new principality. The abbey church, which was Catholic until the monks were expelled from the monastery, served the Princely House as an Evangelical Lutheran court church from 1803.

From 1803 to 1806 there were border skirmishes and looting in the interplay between the Counts of Erbach and the Princely House of Leiningen. The former monastery garden was redesigned between 1805 and 1817 by Friedrich Ludwig Sckell into a landscape park in the English style, the so-called lake garden.

In 1806 the young Principality of Leiningen was mediatized by the Grand Duchy of Baden . In 1810 the area around Amorbach came to the Grand Duchy of Hesse and in 1816 to the Kingdom of Bavaria .

Library and ballroom (Green Hall)

In the bookcases you can find the 35,000-volume library of the Princes of Leiningen.

Protestant church

The former monastery church has been an Evangelical Luth since 1861 . Church. King Max II gave his approval. Today's church is under the patronage of the Prince of Leiningen.

Parishes

The Amorbach Monastery was the patron saint in the following parishes and had the right to appoint a parish in:

  • Amorbach
  • Bödigheim
  • Book
  • Eberstadt (separated from Buchen in 1350)
  • Hainstadt (separated from Buchen in 1340)
  • Hesselbach (chapel)
  • Hettingen (separated from Buchen in 1353)
  • Hettigenbeuern (separated from Buchen 1306)
  • Hollerbach (separated from Bödigheim in 1277)
  • Kirchzell
  • Limbach (separated from Hollerbach in 1426)
  • Mudau (probably separated from Hollerbach in 1426)
  • Reichartshausen (chapel 1263)
  • Schneeberg (1474 new chapel)
  • Steinbach (1407 chapel)
  • Walldürn
  • Watterbach (1429 chapel)
  • Weckbach (1485 chapel)
  • Weilbach (chapel)

Fronhöfe

Fronhöfe were subordinate to the monastery

  • Otterbach
  • Boxbrunn (Neidhof)
  • Schneeberg
  • Hesselbach
  • Kirchzell
  • Neubrunn (now Ernsttal)
  • Mudau (Atzhof)
  • Book
  • Schloßau (Schöllenbacher Hof)

List of the Abbots of Amorbach

  • Cupid , around 755-767
  • Suitbert , 767-775
  • Patto , 775-785
  • Danko , 785-788
  • (Cortila)
  • (Isinger)
  • Haruch ,? -808
  • Helingand , 808-830
  • Hertulf , 830-841
  • Spatto , 841-861
  • Dietrich I. , 861-870
  • Godebold , 940? -960
  • Giselher , 960-989
  • Otto I. , 990-1012
  • Richard I , 1012-1039 (from 1018 also abbot of the Fulda monastery and died there in 1039. His grave is in the monastery church on Neuenberg ).
  • Walter , 1039
  • Ezzelin , 1039
  • Bruno , 1039-1085
    • John , usurper, 1085
  • Leonhard , 1103-1110
  • ? ,?
  • Bodebald , around 1138
  • Adelhelm , 1140–1150
  • Otto II. , 1157, † around 1162
  • Ludwig , 1162–1168
  • Richard II , around 1197
  • ? ,?
  • ? ,? -1234
  • Gottfried I. , 1234-1256
  • Wipert , 1256-1264?
  • Heinrich I. von Hepffingen ,? -1284
  • Konrad von Schweinberg , 1284-1298
  • Frederick I , 1298-1307
  • Herman , 1308-1312
  • Gerhard , 1312-1316
  • Otto III. , 1316-1318
  • Eberhard Rüdt von Callenberg , 1318–1341
  • Gottfried II of Lurcz , 1341–1373
  • Friedrich II. Feyser , 1373-1397
  • Boppo von Allezheim , 1397–1406
  • Dietrich II. Von Kunnich , 1406–1428
  • Heinrich II. Von Kunnich , 1428–1456
  • Jobst I. von Wilnbach , 1456–1466
  • Johann I. von Babenhausen , 1466–1484
  • Johann II. Schwab , 1484–1503
  • Peter Winter , 1503–1517
  • Jakob Zweiffel , 1517–1532
  • Valentin Eschwing , 1532–1542
  • Matthäus Hamen , 1542–1546
  • Jobst II. Stromenger , 1546–1556
  • Theobald Gamblich , 1556–1584
  • Johann III. Baumann , 1584-1617
  • Erhard Leyendecker , 1617–1635
  • Kraft Brucher , 1635-1639
  • Placidus Fleck , 1639-1674
  • Celestine Mann , 1674-1713
  • Sanderad Breunig , 1713-1725
  • Joseph Haberkorn , 1725–1727
  • Engelbert Kinbacher , 1727-1753
  • Hyacinth Brener , 1753–1778, † 1794
  • Benedict Külsheimer , 1778–1803

(Source: Max Wilberg , Regent Tables, 1906)

Attractions

Abbey church

  • Baroque monastery church with rococo stucco, created by the Wessobrunn plasterers Johann Michael Feuchtmayer the Elder. J. and Johann Georg Üblhör
  • Fresco cycle by Matthäus Günther with a total of 23 bright and colorful frescoes
  • High altar with six marble columns and an altarpiece by Matthäus Günther: Assumption of Mary into heaven
  • Double-barreled, gold-leaf rococo pulpit by the Würzburg wood sculptor Johann Wolfgang van der Auvera
  • Wrought iron choir grille in the early rococo style, which used to separate monks and lay people during prayer
  • Eight-part historical chime, including two sugar loaf bells in the north-west tower, three Gothic bells in the south-west tower and three baroque bells in the south transept tower

Organ of the abbey church

Stumm organ from 1782

The organ of the abbey church is one of the largest preserved baroque organs in Europe. The instrument was completed in 1782 after eight years of construction by the brothers Johann Phillip and Johann Heinrich Stumm (Rhaunen-Sulzbach in the Hunsrück). The housing was built by the Schäfer brothers (Karlstadt am Main).

In the Amorbach work, the largest and most important in the 200-year activity of the Stumm organ building dynasty , which was already highly valued at the time , this ideal of style and sound, a synthesis of southern German and French organ building, was fully realized. The original sound of the imposing work survived almost unscathed for more than two centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, further registers were added according to the taste of the time .

Behind the impressive 16-field prospectus , with its 124 sounding and up to seven meters high pewter pipes, there is the Hauptwerk , Positiv and Echo with original disposition and pipework on the slider drawer reconstructed in 1982. All 14 pedal registers stand freely behind it. Behind it again stands the new Schwellwerk, added in 1982, on three floors . It contains a sensible compilation of registers added after 1868 with a sound character that is indebted to French organ romanticism. With its 66 registers (5116 pipes) and a glockenspiel, distributed over four manuals and pedal , the organ has an inexhaustible wealth of sounds. Not only the high solo qualities of each register, but also the excellent acoustics of the former abbey church make playing the organ a very special experience. The Amorbach Stumm Organ is of international importance.

I Echowerk C – g 3
1. Hollow pipe 8th'
2. Slack 4 ′
3. Chamois horn 4 ′
4th Octave 2 ′
5. Quint 1 1 ⁄ 3  ′
6th Flageolet 1'
7th Krummhorn 8th'
8th. Hautbois Disc. 8th'
9. Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
II Hauptwerk C – g 3
10. Principal 16 ′
11. Bourdon 16 ′
12. Octave 8th'
13. Dumped 8th'
14th Quinta tones 8th'
15th Viol di Gamb 8th'
16. Great octave 4 ′
17th Put it small 4 ′
18th Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
19th Octave 2 ′
20th Cornet V 8th'
21st Mixture VI 2 ′
22nd Cymbal III 1'
23. Trumpet 8th'
24. Vox angelica bass 2 ′
III Positive C-g 3
25th Principal 8th'
26th Lull Travers 8th'
27. Rude 8th'
28. Solicinal 8th'
29 Octave 4 ′
30th Pipe slack 4 ′
31. Quint 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
32. Great octave 2 ′
33. third 1 3 ⁄ 5  ′
34. Mixture IV 1'
35. Krummhorn 8th'
36. Vox humana 8th'
Tremulant
Carillon
IV Swell C – g 3
37. Bourdon 16 ′
38. Violin principal 8th'
39. Flûte harmonique 8th'
40. Bourdon 8th'
41. Viola di gamba 8th'
42. Vox coelestis 8th'
43. Violin principal 4 ′
44. Concert flute 4 ′
45. Piccolo 2 ′
46. Sesquialtera II 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
47. Plein jeu V 2 ′
48. Coarse mix XII-XVI 2 ′
49. Basson 16 ′
50. Trompette harmonique 8th'
51. Hautbois 8th'
52. Clairon 4 ′
Tremulant
Pedal C – g 1
53. Open bass 16 ′
54. Sub bass 16 ′
55. Violon bass 16 ′
56. Octave bass 8th'
57. cello 8th'
58. Super octave bass 4 ′
59. Flute bass 4 ′
60. Mixturbass VI 2 ′
61. trombone 32 ′
62. Trombone bass 16 ′
63. Bassoon bass 16 ′
64. Bass trumpet 8th'
65. Clarinet bass 4 ′
66. Cornet bass 2 ′
  • Pair : I / II, III / II, IV / II, IV / I, IV / III, II / P, IV / P

Convent building

Sea garden

Friedrich Ludwig Sckell: Plan of the Amorbach park

literature

  • Max Walter: The former abbey church in Amorbach. 12th edition, Amorbach: Fürstl. Leiningian domain administration 1990.
  • Hans-Peter Siebenhaar: Mainfranken. Michael Müller Verlag GmbH, Erlangen 2006, ISBN 3-89953-302-X , pp. 236-237
  • Kurt Andermann: The oldest land register of the Amorbach monastery from 1395/97. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2019, ISBN 978-3-17-036522-3 .

swell

  1. ↑ cf. History of Groß-Umstadt or Lengfeld (Odenwald)
  2. ↑ Please state the source (s)
  3. ↑ More information on the silent organ ( memento of the original from December 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.orgel-information.de

Web links

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