St. Matthias Monastery (Zellerfeld)

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The St. Matthias Monastery was a Benedictine abbey in what is now the Zellerfeld district in the Upper Harz Mountains . The monastery was founded around 1200 and was dissolved again in 1431. Because of its location in what was then Cella (former name for Zellerfeld), the monastery was also known colloquially as Cella Monastery .

history

The exact date of the founding of the monastery is not known, but it is estimated that this was done around 1200 by monks of the cathedral monastery in Goslar (imperial monastery Simon and Judae). The monastery was founded on the so-called old Harzstrasse , which led from Goslar over the Harz to Osterode and which was also used as a pilgrimage route between northern Germany and Rome. It was in the area of ​​today's Zellerfeld, roughly where an elementary school later stood. The first mention of the monastery comes from the year 1208, in this the abbot Alexander is named as head and his appointment is confirmed by the Archbishop of Mainz. Pope Honorius III. placed the monastery under his protection in 1223.

Earlier mentions of the monastery were Monasterium sancti Mathie apostoli ordinis sancti Benedicti Maguntine diocesis (1249), sente Mathiese to der Tzelle (1271), de Cella , in Cellis and in Cella in monte Hartonis (around 1300). The name Cella is not derived from the Latin term " cella " for the branch of a monastery, but from the name Tzelle for the Zellbach , which in turn has its origin in the Germanic word kellu (swampy water).

The monastery was located in the area of ​​the imperial forest in the Upper Harz, which became the property of the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg in 1235 . It belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Mainz and there to the archdeacon of Nörten . The patron saint was the apostle Matthias .

Ecclesiastically, the monastery belonged to the Archdiocese of Mainz , but the cathedral monastery of Goslar, which belonged to the diocese of Hildesheim , was responsible for the election of the abbot and economic security . The people of Goslar could also dispose of the monastery income. The Archbishop of Mainz was responsible for the confirmation of the elected abbot and his inauguration. This dual affiliation had repeatedly led to disputes over responsibilities. The economically strong town of Zellerfeld also tried to influence the election of the abbot and in 1239 and 1245 contested the election of the abbot with the cathedral monastery in Goslar. The citizens of Mainz were also supported in this demand by the Archbishop of Mainz, but the Zellerfelder demand was rejected both times.

According to a description from 1301, ownership of the monastery extended in the north to Erbprinzentanne , in the west to just before Wildemann , in the south to Buntenbock and in the east to the peacock ponds east of Clausthal . An exact list of the monastery's income has not been handed down, but the monks cleared parts of the surrounding forest and practiced pasture farming on the land obtained in this way. It is also believed that they tried to farm.

The monastery developed into a respected institution of the church and was often entrusted with special tasks by the Pope. It was like that B. entrusted with the settlement of disputes between bishops. The monastery was also given the right to use the insignia of a bishop's hat and staff, and it was also given the honor of sealing with red instead of normal green wax - a special grace bestowed by the emperor.

With the extinction of the Harz mining industry around 1350, the importance of the monastery declined and the monks abandoned it. In a document dated May 3, 1431, Pope Eugene IV ordered the abolition of the monastery, and the remaining properties were assigned to the Goslar Cathedral Monastery. Since then neither the monastery brothers nor the last abbot of the monastery, Abbot Hermann Schünemann, reported, on July 10, 1432 the court posted the repeal at the gate of the monastery.

In the following period the monastery was plundered several times by bands of robbers and fell into disrepair. The first church in Zellerfeld was built on the ruins of the monastery in 1538. This was replaced in 1563 by a larger building, which fell victim to the great fire in 1672 and as its successor, the St. Salvatoris Church , which still exists today, was built from 1675 to 1683 . In memory of the Matthias monastery, a representation of the apostle Matthias was installed in the Catholic St. Nicholas Church, built in 1961 in Clausthal.

literature

  • Herbert Lommatsch: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld . From the career and history of the mining town Clausthal-Zellerfeld. Ed .: Friedrich Seidel. Ed. Piepersche Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1982, DNB  830936823 , The Benedictine Monastery of St. Matthias in Cella, p. 22-25 .
  • Herbert Dennert : Small chronicle of the Upper Harz mining towns and their ore mining / revised. u. exp. by Herbert Dennert . 4th, exp. Edition of the chronicle of the mining town Clausthal-Zellerfeld / by H. Morich. Ed. Piepersche Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1974, DNB  770139108 , p. 3-8 .
  • Lothar Meyer: Introduction to the history of the mining town Clausthal-Zellerfeld . Ed. Piepersche Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 1972, DNB  730371174 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dennert: Chronicle of the Upper Harz Mining Cities , pp. 21–24
  2. ^ Meyer: History of the mining town Clausthal-Zellerfeld , p. 7
  3. ↑ Seidel: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld , p. 22
  4. ↑ Seidel: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld , pp. 22–24
  5. ↑ Dennert: Chronicle of the Upper Harz Mining Cities , p. 4
  6. ↑ Dennert: Chronicle of the Upper Harz Mining Cities , pp. 3–4
  7. ↑ Seidel: 450 years Clausthal-Zellerfeld , p. 23

Coordinates: 51 ° 48 ′ 55.3 "  N , 10 ° 20 ′ 14.6"  E