Arnstein Monastery

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Arnstein Abbey above the Lahn

Arnstein Monastery was a Premonstratensian abbey on the Lahn , south of Obernhof near Nassau . Until the end of 2018 it was a monastery of the Order of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary ( SSCC ) , known in Germany under the name of the Arnstein Fathers . Twelve Greek Orthodox sisters have been living in the monastery since June 1, 2019.

history

Arnstein Castle

South-west tower and masonry of the former castle
Guided tour of the monastery church with Father Egon Wagner; on the left the pulpit from 1757

The history of the monastery goes back to the second half of the 11th century: In 1052 a castle Arnstein on the Lahn is mentioned for the first time as the seat of the Counts of Arnstein. It is the oldest mention of a castle on this river, of which only the remains of the wall have survived, which do not allow any conclusions about the appearance of the complex.

Arnstein Abbey

In 1139 Ludwig III. , the last Count of Arnstein, converted his castle into a Premonstratensian monastery and entered there himself. His wife lived as a hermit near the monastery until her death . In the same year, the partial demolition of the castle began. 1145 confirmed King Konrad III. the abbey as imperial direct . Since 1236 there was also a branch monastery under the patronage of the Nassau count or princely house , the Keppel bei Hilchenbach .

From 1140 to 1478 the Palatinate village of Bubenheim belonged to the Arnstein Monastery, which in 1163 had today's St. Peter's Church built there by its cleric Gottfried von Beselich , which is considered the oldest Romanesque village church in the Palatinate. The monastery of the Most Holy Virgin Mary and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of the Premonstratensian Choir Women in Beselich was founded by the Arnstein Abbey around 1170 on the Beselicher head . After lengthy disputes between the Premonstratensian Abbot von Arnstein and the House of Nassau-Hadamar, all goods in the Beselich Monastery came into the possession of the Jesuits of Hadamar on October 3, 1652 through a deed of foundation . With the conversion of the princes of Nassau to Protestantism , the abbey under its abbot Petrus Marmagen († 1604) placed itself under the patronage of the Trier archbishopric .

secularization

In 1803 the monastery was closed in the course of secularization . Secular rule fell to the Duchy of Nassau , the ecclesiastical jurisdiction to the Diocese of Limburg, founded in 1827 . In 1817 the Nassau government sold the church and monastery for demolition. H. with the proviso that the buildings would not be used for church purposes.

From 1869 to 1871 a Benedictine priory of the Beuron congregation under Placidus Wolter settled in Arnstein for a short time , but was closed again due to a lack of young people and the dilapidation of the complex.

Monastery church

The church of the monastery is the most impressive medieval building on the lower Lahn, which, visible from afar, combines two architectural styles: the Romanesque of the west towers and the Gothic of the octagonal east towers. Its construction began in 1132 after the old castle walls and rocks were removed. It took 76 years until the consecration in 1208. It is a three-aisled basilica with a transept and a large east choir, to which smaller apses are attached, as well as a west choir. The main and transepts initially had flat wooden ceilings, in contrast to the cross vaults in the side aisles that had already existed earlier.

The large baroque altar from 1760 is the work of an unknown artist. It is made of wood; only the tabernacle and the altar table are made of colored marble. The center of the altar was originally a representation of Mary, which has been lost. In the 19th century it was replaced by a copy of a painting by the Koblenz painter Caspar Friedrich Heising. In its place was a large Sacred Heart relief created by the Aachen sculptor Lambert Piedboeuf in 1924 . The trumpet angels above the relief are by the same artist and are supposed to announce the kingship of Christ to the world. In 1971 the altar was restored.

The church also features the choir stalls from the 13th century, in the south aisle a Romanesque stone altar with a baroque statue of St. Nicholas, further panel paintings and several epitaphs as well as the organ from around 1700. The rococo pulpit is just as valuable as the baroque main altar the year 1757. On the pulpit lid it shows the symbol of the Holy Trinity, the ark with the tablets of the law and the symbols of the four evangelists. The Arnstein coat of arms is attached to the rear wall of the pulpit as well as above the west choir.

In the tower of the north aisle there is a table altar from 1646. The most important work of art is the so-called “Arnstein Cross” from around 1520 with a 2.20 meter wood-carved body.

Arnstein Fathers

In 1919 the first convent of the Arnstein Fathers was established in Germany. The superior and vice-provincial Father Alfons Spix was convicted by the National Socialists in 1942 for repeatedly allowing Polish forced laborers to attend church services and feeding them. He died in the Dachau concentration camp . Father Chrysostomus Lauenroth had already been sentenced to prison in 1936 for alleged foreign currency offenses.

In 1924 a pilgrimage to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was established, which attracts numerous pilgrims every year.

In October 2015 the Arnstein Fathers informed the Diocese of Limburg that they would give up the monastery on December 31, 2018. The reason given was the human and financial resources of the religious order. On December 16, 2018, a solemn divine service took place in the presence of the Superior General Alberto Toutin Cataldo and the Limburg Vicar General Wolfgang Rösch to mark the farewell to Arnstein Monastery.

Greek Orthodox Sister Community

On June 1, 2019, a Greek Orthodox community of sisters moved into the monastery. Since then it has been called "Holy Monastery of Dionysios Trikkis & Stagon". It is registered as an association for the promotion of Orthodox monasticism in Germany at the Montabaur District Court. The traditional pilgrimages to Arnstein Abbey are still possible.

people

  • Ludwig III. von Arnstein (1109–1185), last Count of Arnstein, founder of the Arnstein Abbey
  • Friedrich von Stockheim (1462–1528) , Vogt of the monastery
  • Baron Johann Franz von Marioth zu Langenau († 1726) and his wife Klara Katharina Eleonora von Sohlern († 1704), epitaph in the monastery church
  • Oberamtmann Wilhelm von Staffel († 1530) and his wife Margarete Wolf von Sponheim, double epitaph in the monastery church

Abbot list

  • Godefridus, served as provost 1139-1151
  • Eustachius, officiated as abbot 1151-1180
  • Richolfus, officiated as abbot 1180-1196
  • Herbordus, officiated as abbot 1196 / 1198-?
  • Ensfried, was abbot? -?
  • Heidenricus, officiated as abbot around 1208-1211
  • Anselmus, officiated as abbot in 1211, resigned around 1216
  • Theodoricus, officiated as abbot from 1226-1255
  • Ortwinus, officiated as abbot from 1255-1259
  • Arnoldus, officiated as abbot 1259-1272
  • Hermann, who served as abbot from 1272 to 1276, gave up
  • Johannes was abbot from 1276-1283
  • Hermann, officiated as abbot 1283-1291
  • Winrich, served as abbot from 1291-1297
  • Rorich, officiated as abbot from 1297-1301
  • Heinrich, officiated as abbot 1301-1303
  • Gerhard, officiated as abbot 1303-1307
  • Theodoric, officiated as abbot 1307-1315
  • Robert, who served as abbot 1315-1323, gave up
  • Wilhelm von Staffel, officiated as abbot 1323-1366, grave in the church
  • Gerhard Burschet, officiated as abbot 1367-1368
  • Heinrich von Miehlen, officiated as abbot 1368-1380
  • Arnold von Krummenau, officiated as abbot 1380-1397
  • Petrus Print, officiated as abbot 1397-1399, resigned
  • Johannes von Ulbach, officiated as abbot 1399-1420
  • Ortlieb Donner, officiated as abbot 1420-1447
  • Daniel Rabenold, officiated as abbot 1447-1458
  • Meffried Löner, officiated as abbot from 1458-1473
  • Friedrich Russmann, officiated as abbot 1473-1478
  • Folbert von der Hees, officiated as abbot 1478-1479, tombstone of a relative on the right in front of the church entrance, Johann Philipp Hermann von der Hees, d. 1644
  • Petrus von Selbach-Lohe, officiated as abbot 1479-1489
  • Adam Armbruster, officiated as abbot 1489-1527
  • Johann Bechel, officiated as abbot from 1527-1531
  • Laurentius Bach, officiated as abbot 1531-1545
  • Heinrich Monsch, officiated as abbot 1545-1556
  • Heinrich Schupp, officiated as abbot 1556-1574
  • Emmerich Teufel, officiated as abbot 1574-1592
  • Petrus Marmagen, officiated as abbot 1592-1604
  • Johann Horn, officiated as abbot 1604-1620
  • Johann Bingel, officiated as abbot 1620-1631
  • Wilhelm Eschenauer, officiated as abbot 1631-1663
  • Anton Schlinckmann, officiated as abbot 1663-1697, resigned
  • Petrus Aldenhoven, officiated as abbot 1697-1702
  • Johann Schwenck, who served as abbot 1702-1730, gave up
  • Nikolaus Matzenbach, officiated as abbot from 1730-1760, gravestone left in the church choir, coat of arms on the pulpit
  • Joseph Seul, served as abbot 1760-1776
  • Adam Traudes, officiated as abbot 1776-1778
  • Evermod Sauer, from Ehrenbreitstein near Koblenz, officiated as abbot from 1778-1786, resigned because of an intrigue by Kurtrier, without a successor, last abbot

literature

Hiking trails

Lahnhöhenweg and Lahn-Camino from Wetzlar to Lahnstein , Lahneck Castle

Web links

Commons : Arnstein Monastery  - Collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Orthodox sisters move into the empty Arnstein monastery
  2. ^ Franz-Josef Sehr : 250 years pilgrimage chapel Maria Hilf Beselich . In: Yearbook for the Limburg-Weilburg district 2017 . The district committee of the district of Limburg-Weilburg, Limburg-Weilburg 2016, ISBN 3-927006-54-8 , p. 137-141 .
  3. ^ Klaus Schatz: History of the Diocese of Limburg , Mainz 1983, p. 6.
  4. ↑ Klaus Schatz: History of the Diocese of Limburg , Mainz 1983, p. 15.
  5. ↑ Peter Häger (Ed.): Between departure and stability. Life and work of the second Archabbot of Beuron, Placidus Wolter , Münster 2008, p. 65f.
  6. ↑ P. Gerhard Siedenkamp SS.CC .: Kloster Arnstein an der Lahn . Obernhof. Printing: Gebr. Metz, Tübingen.
  7. ^ Klaus Schatz: History of the Diocese of Limburg , Mainz 1983, p. 273.
  8. ↑ Not an easy decision - Arnstein Fathers leave Arnstein Monastery. (No longer available online.) In: Press release diocese Limburg. October 16, 2015, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved October 18, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Impressions from Arnstein's farewell party. In: arnsteiner-patres.de. December 2018, accessed May 19, 2019 .
  10. ^ Hospitality, retreat, Byzantine chants . Information from the Limburg diocese about the community of sisters in Obernhof. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  11. ↑ Online commercial register . Retrieved March 1, 2020.

Coordinates: 50 ° 18 ′ 37.2 ″  N , 7 ° 51 ′ 6 ″  E