Bethlehem Monastery (Bergheim)
The monastery Bethlehem was founded in 1648 and in 1655 inaugurated the Franciscan monastery in the forest of Ville 1.5 kilometers southwest of Oberaußem at Bergheim in the Rhineland. It was laid down in 1806. A branch of the Elisabethinnen with the same name was established on the site in 1898/99 , which lasted until 1964 and was demolished in 1967 because of the brown coal mining there .
prehistory
Around the year 1500 the historically attested forester Jakob Kremer erected a wooden cross and built a small chapel for a miraculous image at the place of a sacrifice in the forest. Even then the place was probably called Bethlehem (House of Bread / Host). According to tradition, Kremer built a wooden chapel near the old Frankfurt – Cologne – Aachen road (on the Ichendorf – Thorr –Gruben map) after a vision for the miraculous image . As the news of miraculous healings spread in the area , the chapel became the destination of numerous pilgrimages around 1520 , especially after the plague raged in the area. In 1608 the now dilapidated chapel was rebuilt as a brick building by order of Duke Johann Wilhelm . In 1637, Franciscans in the strict form of recollects (retired people) were called to look after the sanctuary, which was very popular ; they initially lived in Bergheim near the Georgskapelle . The daily arduous journey made them apply to found a monastery near the image of grace. In 1639 this was granted by the duke, who also made the property in the ducal forest available.
Franciscan monastery
The first monastery buildings were built in 1655, and the church was consecrated in 1665. In 1720 a larger monastery wing was built. At the beginning of 1637 there were two to four monks for the chapel, in 1643 there were 12 and 1664 there were 16. The main task was to look after the pilgrims: around 1000 in 1645 and as much as 20,000 in 1700. By the end of the monastery, the pilgrimages fluctuated around 50 per year and the number of communicating pilgrims between 10,000 and 40,000.
In 1802 the monastery was closed during the French period , the last mass was held in July. In 1806 the monastery and the church were sold for demolition, only the new building from 1720 and the wall surrounding the complex remained. The building was used as a farm until 1835, after which the property fell into disrepair. By order of the Bishop of Aachen Marc-Antoine Berdolet, the miraculous image was brought to Bergheim, where the pilgrimages continued, the other statues and cult objects were distributed to the neighboring churches. Some of the monks also stayed there as pastors.
The epitaph of Count Erich-Adolph von Salm-Reifferscheidt († 1673), which was originally set up in Bethlehem, can still be found today in the church of the Nikolauskloster near Jüchen .
Elisabethinnen
In 1898 the Elisabethinnen bought the monastery property from the Paffendorf Baron von dem Bongard, which had belonged to him since 1835. In 1899 the Bethlehem estate was purchased. The first sisters moved in before Christmas. Part of the buildings were demolished, including the building of the economy . The church approval for the establishment of a branch of the order in the mayor's office Bergheim received the sisters from Cologne Archbishop Antonius Hubert Fischer on January 25, 1899. Purposes were
- the care and care of fellow sisters and other people in need of relaxation and
- a housekeeping school for young women ("household pension").
Before the purchase of the property, the Elisabethinnen were expressly assured that the lignite opencast mine , which was in its infancy , would hardly develop any further. In September 1900 the first public service took place in the newly founded monastery. The remains of the old monastery were quickly expanded into a large property with a chapel, gardens and park. As a result of the rapid industrialization at the turn of the century with its increasing energy requirements, the Fortuna mine grew rapidly; the neighboring miners' settlement "Fortuna" (also founded around 1898) as well as Oberaussem , Bergheim and other neighboring villages grew .
The Fortuna settlement initially had no church of its own; many believers came to the monastery for Sunday mass. A church was only built in Fortuna from 1921 to 1923. Its namesake was St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners.
The kindergartens in Oberaussem and Fortuna were run by sisters from the monastery from 1920 to 1939. The National Socialists forbade this in 1939.
The Second World War brought major changes for the monastery. The power plants and the lignite plants in the immediate vicinity of the place were the target of many air raids, the monastery and the place were not. In 1939, a flak unit of the German Wehrmacht was stationed in the monastery. An observation post was set up on the roof of the monastery. During the air raids on the Fortuna power station, the residents of destroyed houses were housed in the monastery. In 1944 the war situation in the west worsened; the monastery was increasingly occupied by the military. A whole flak staff with high-ranking officers was billeted in the monastery itself; the crew of a nearby munitions house was fed in the monastery. As the front drew closer, the streams of refugees through Fortuna grew larger and longer. It was also considered to evacuate the monastery and Fortuna completely. The thunder of cannons grew louder every day; the front moved ever closer to the monastery and Fortune. From the monastery one saw a sky in the southwest in the evening, which was reddened from the glow of fire from burning villages and farms.
In the Bethlehem Forest, the residents of Bergheim, Oberaussem and Fortuna had to dig trenches; anti-tank barriers were erected in the villages. The ridge from Bedburg to Horrem was to be developed into a line of defense following an order from the German Wehrmacht . The Bethlehem Monastery was to be the main base here. The rapid advance of the Americans prevented these plans. The flak staff quickly withdrew across the Rhine. Only a small crew had to stay behind at Bethlehem Monastery, it was said, to ensure the defense of the Erft bar. In the meantime the Americans were advancing from Elsdorf across the Erft . On February 28, 1945 they entered Bergheim and Quadrath. One day later, on March 1st, the Americans came to the Bethlehem Forest early in the morning. The fight for the monastery was hard and bitter. Since the Allies did not know how strong the German resistance would be, the advance was preceded by a strong artillery fire. The remaining German soldiers, especially in the monastery, fought fiercely, and there was senseless bloodshed. On Friday, March 2nd, the Americans then moved into the Bethlehem monastery, in Fortuna and also in Oberaussem; a first lieutenant and 12 soldiers gave themselves up. The monastery had suffered badly. It had to be completely evacuated on the orders of the Americans and then served the occupation troops for a short time as accommodation.
After the end of the war, life in the Bethlehem Monastery returned to normal very quickly. Since the monastery was located in the lignite mining area of the Bergheim open-cast mine and Rheinbraun had decided to also mine the lignite stored under it, the monastery was closed by the order in 1964 and sold to Rheinbraun in 1966. In 1967 the monastery buildings were demolished. The monastery grounds, the adjacent Bethlehem Forest and the place "Fortuna" were 'dredged away' in the 1980s.
literature
- Helmut Zander : Bethlehem Monastery , in Köster and pens in the Erftkreis . Ed. Vom Erftkreis, Rheinlandverlag Pulheim-Brauweiler, 1988, pp. 43-63
Web links
Individual references / comments
- ↑ Section after Zander
- ^ Allmang, Georg: History of the former regular tertiary monastery St. Nikolaus. Fredebeul & Koenen, Essen, 1911; 7th chapter.
- ↑ The Elisabethinnen section is based on the elaboration by Ulrich Reimann that can be viewed under web links
See also
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 41 ″ N , 6 ° 40 ′ 0 ″ E