Arendsee Monastery

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Monastery church from the east
Monastery church from the south with provost chapel and main portal
Monastery church from the northeast

The Monastery Arendsee ( pronunciation ? / I ) is a former of Benedictine - monastery with the rank of Priory in Arendsee in the northwest of Saxony-Anhalt . The monastery church is assigned to the brick Romanesque. It is consecrated to Maria , Johannes and Nikolaus and is today the parish church of the Evangelical Lutheran parish in Arendsee. Together with the former monastery grounds, the church forms the northernmost point of the Romanesque Road . Audio file / audio sample

history

The monastery was founded by Margrave Otto I at Christmas 1183 . It belonged to the diocese of Verden and should consolidate the rule of the Ascanians . The monastery church was built from brick by Jerichower builders in the late Romanesque style from 1185 , at about the same time as the Diesdorf monastery church . Elements from the Liebfrauenstift in Altenburg and Lübeck Cathedral served as models . The church was consecrated in 1208, but was not completed until 1240. Around 1232, a monastery school for children of nobles was established. The monastery buildings, some of which still exist today, were only erected in the middle of the 13th century. The Arendsee settlement came into being near the monastery from around 1200.

1280 was between the transept , the and the south aisle as an attachment Provost chapel built, about 200 years was increased by one floor later. In 1481 70 nuns lived in the monastery. In 1540 it was secularized by Elector Joachim II and converted into an evangelical women's monastery for nobles. In 1722 the southern apse was demolished. The pen was dissolved in 1813. In 1826 the monastery walls were used to rebuild the city after a fire. The monastery has been in ruins ever since. Between 1850 and 1851 the church was renovated and the furnishings added. A roof turret was placed on the crossing , a group of three arches was added to the south wall, and a pulpit and an organ gallery were installed. The monastery grounds - without the church - were taken over by the city in 1921 and transferred to a development association in 1991 .

Architecture, equipment and use of the church

altar
Nave facing west with organ

The monastery church is a three-aisled, fully vaulted , towerless pillar basilica . With a length of 49.5 meters and an eaves height of around 11.3 meters, it is one of the largest churches in the Altmark . The Romanesque main portal on the south side is seven-part. The church has finely ornamented friezes , such as diamond friezes on the south wall of the transept. Originally there were three apses on the east side , from which the south apse was removed.

The interior is painted light. In contrast, there are the ornaments made of brick. Inside there are unadorned capitals with palmette decorations on the fighters . Facilities include a large altar table from sandstone , which was made in the early 13th century and is in the eastern apse. On it stands a Gothic convertible altar from the 14th century with a central shrine and two wings on each side. The church also has an early Gothic oak crucifix that hangs on the south wall. The polygonal upper part of the simple baptismal font is probably also Gothic. The pulpit is on the north-eastern crossing pillar, the organ on the gallery at the western end of the nave . There are several tombstones and epitaphs in the church .

The monastery church is now the parish church of the Evangelical Lutheran parish Arendsee, which is part of the parish on the Arendsee . The church, cloister and cloister courtyard are often used for concerts and other cultural events. As part of the annual Altmark Music Festival, regular events take place in the monastery church. Around 12,000 people visit the facility every year.

Monastery grounds

Kluthturm
Part of the ruined monastery with a view of the Arendsee

The site is less than 100 meters from the south bank of the Arendsee and about ten meters above the water level. The ruins of the former monastery building north of the church, predominantly brick walls with window openings, encompass the monastery courtyard, in which the former nuns' cemetery is located. Along the north aisle of the church is the only surviving cloister wing , which dates from the late Gothic period and has two floors. To the north is a continuous wall that separated the inner monastery area from the monastery garden, contains a low "humility gate" and later formed the outer wall of the chapter room and the dormitory . Across it, parallel to the lakeshore, there are other walls which, among other things, belonged to the former refectory and the kitchen. In the inner courtyard there is an event stage on which, for example, plays are performed.

To the east of the church there is a cemetery that is still in use today, as well as the former outer monastery area, in which there were farm buildings and fish ponds. Today there are still some walls as well as the completely preserved Kluthturm , probably built in the 15th century , which is used as a bell tower. To the north of the old monastery garden, not far from the lake, there is a white plastered building that used to be a hospital and now serves as a local museum . There are numerous old deciduous trees on the monastery grounds. The street freedom of office leads south past the church and the monastery grounds.

Others

The women's foundation in the Arendsee Monastery plays a role in Theodor Fontane's novella Grete Minde , which is set around 1617. The partner Grete Mindes, Valtin, is buried in the monastery cemetery because the local pastor has refused to give the burial in his cemetery. In the epilogue of the book, two canons are described who learned of Grete Minde's death in Tangermünde and are the only ones to express pity for Grete Minde. A memorial stone on the monastery grounds commemorates Fontane's visit to Arendsee in 1859.

literature

  • Hellmut Müller: The monastery church Arendsee ( large architectural monuments , issue 460). 2nd Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1997, without ISBN

Web links

Commons : Kloster Arendsee  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hellmut Müller: The monastery church Arendsee . 2nd Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1997, without ISBN, p. 2f.
  2. ↑ Hellmut Müller: The monastery church Arendsee . 2nd Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1997, without ISBN, p. 4
  3. ↑ The Arendsee Monastery by Dr. Gerhard Richter (1961) ( Memento of the original from October 28, 2010 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. , accessed January 11, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.altmark-pur.eu
  4. ↑ Hellmut Müller: The monastery church Arendsee . 2nd Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1997, without ISBN, p. 5
  5. ↑ Hellmut Müller: The monastery church Arendsee . 2nd Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1997, without ISBN, p. 20
  6. ^ Donald Lyko: Culture also in the small towns . In: Volksstimme Stendal . July 19, 2019, p. 14 .
  7. ^ Website of the parish am Arendsee , accessed on January 11, 2011
  8. ↑ Hellmut Müller: The monastery church Arendsee . 2nd Edition. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich, Berlin 1997, without ISBN, p. 22

Coordinates: 52 ° 52 ′ 52.2 "  N , 11 ° 28 ′ 38.1"  E