Darfeld-Rosenthal Monastery
Monastery Darfeld-Rosenthal was from 1795 to 1825 a branch of French Trappists and Trappist in Rosendahl , district Darfeld , in Westphalia.
history
From Switzerland via Belgium to Westphalia
Augustin de Lestrange , who founded a monastery in exile in the La Valsainte Charterhouse in Switzerland after all monasteries were abolished by the French Revolution in 1791 and who sent numerous monks to further foundations, appointed a group under Jean-Baptiste Desnoyers (also: Noyer) to found it in Canada, which she never got to. Instead, she founded Westmalle Abbey in July 1794 , but had to flee again in July 1794 in view of the advancing revolution, which she under Prior Arsène Durand (1761-1804) (Desnoyers had traveled to England) in October to Münster led and from there to the Marienfeld monastery (Harsewinkel) . There, Prior Durand, who had been assigned to Lulworth Monastery in England , took the place of the new Prior Eugène de Laprade , a nobleman who had been the page of Queen Marie Antoinette and had good relations with the nobility in the Diocese of Münster and with Princess Amalie von Gallitzin .
Foundation of the Trappist monastery in Darfeld-Rosenthal
The vicar general of the diocese, Franz von Fürstenberg , supported the Trappists' desire to settle. In October 1795, the Droste zu Vischering family provided the land required to found a monastery on the Rosenthal in Darfeld (today: Rosendahl ), where they owned the Darfeld moated castle , and took on the community during the construction period. The church was completed in May 1796, and on July 31, 1796, the monastery was solemnly moved into. Abbot Lestrange gave the monastery, which initially consisted of nine monks, the name La Maison-Dieu de l'Eternité de Notre Dame de La Trappe (Trappist Monastery of Eternity).
Foundation of the women's monastery
When in 1800 the expellees from the monasteries of La Valsainte and Sembrancher returned after a long hike from Orsha in Belarus and part of them sought refuge in Darfeld, a community of nuns under Prioress Edmond Paul de Barth (1754-1808) founded the monastery on December 28, 1800 Maison-Dieu de Notre Dame de la Miséricorde (Convent of Our Lady of Mercy). The founding community consisted of ten people with novices and postulants. A year later there were 49. Many were turned away, including Anna Katharina Emmerick .
Driburg Monastery and Darfeld-Kleinburlo Monastery
Since the double monastery Darfeld-Rosenthal could only be a temporary solution, the monks but by the authorities, just 3 km away (and from May 1800 vacant) Monastery Kleinburlo was initially denied, they founded on December 9, 1799 Prior Bernard de Girmont the Filial monastery St. Liborius in Driburg (today: Bad Driburg ), but had to give it up again in 1803. It was not until 1804 that the monks were able to lease Darfeld-Kleinburlo monastery for 20 years and move in on November 1st. With that Darfeld-Rosenthal was only a nunnery. François-Marie Van Langendonck stayed with the sisters as confessor and male director .
Darfeld becomes an abbey
In order to escape the arbitrary rule of Abbot Lestrange, the monks elected their prior Laprade as abbot and Armand Lévêque (later Le Gard monastery ) on July 6, 1806 (confirmed by the Pope in 1808 ). Laprade was elected on July 16, 1808 by auxiliary bishop Kaspar Maximilian Droste zu Vischering was ordained abbot in Münster Cathedral. In 1809 Darfeld-Kleinburlo had 26 choir monks, 42 converse and 11 novices.
Development of the Trappist convent
In Darfeld-Rosenthal, Marie Hélène Van den Broeck (1765–1826) was elected superior in 1808 (as the successor to the late Oberin de Barth) . In 1809 the women's monastery consisted of 17 choir sisters, 13 convert sisters and 12 novices. There were 76 children in the educational institutions of both monasteries.
Expulsion by Napoleon
When Napoleon abolished the Cistercian order in 1811 and all monks and nuns able to travel had to leave the two monasteries to go to their hometowns, Abbot Laprade and the majority of the monks went into hiding. A group of monks went to the Berger-Busch estate in Laurensberg (today: Aachen ). The German-speaking sisters under Oberin Van den Broeck went to Cologne and lived in a cloth factory. The French-speaking sisters, led by Elisabeth Piette, went to the Borsut estate (also: Borsu) in Verlaine near Liège. Seven sick sisters stayed behind in Darfeld under the guidance of Sr. Agnès Thuilliez.
Return to Darfeld and Billerbeck
In Darfeld, where the sick made it impossible to evacuate completely, it was possible to keep agriculture going for another year. On April 25, 1812, however, the prefecture decided the final dissolution. In 1814, when Napoleon was defeated, Laprade and some of the religious (but not Borsut) returned to Darfeld, the nuns to Darfeld-Rosenthal, the monks, to whom the small burlo, which had been devastated by fire in 1809, was no longer available to Billerbeck , where they rented the Wasserburg Haus Hameren .
Harassment by Prussia and migration back to France
Under Prussian rule, it was difficult for the French Darfeld monastery to maintain the sympathy of patrons and the population. The government declared the monastery to be closed in March 1815 and only allowed the religious to remain under such drastic conditions (including a ban on appearing outside in habit and accepting novices) that they could hope the monks like them wrote, "to scare away completely from these areas without violent measures". As a result, after the final abdication of Napoleon, French-speaking religious people returned to France with the founding of the monasteries Port-du-Salut , Le Gard and Laval (Sainte-Catherine, later: La Coudre ).
Excerpt from Darfeld and founding of Oelenberg
When Laprade died on June 15, 1816, Darfeld was placed directly under the superior general of the Cistercians and, in order not to provoke the Prussian government, continued as a priory. The Darfeld Prior Petrus Klausener , still appointed by Laprade, was unanimously confirmed by election on February 26, 1819. Darfeld lived peacefully, but there were frequent interrogations and searches, so that finally the German-speaking religious in Alsace also searched for settlement possibilities. In August 1825 they vacated the two monasteries and traveled to the repopulation of the Oelenberg Abbey on September 29, 1925. After the Laurensfeld sisters had also joined the founding community numbered 31 brothers and 34 sisters. Since the sister community kept their Darfeld name until 1895, there is still the Darfeld cemetery with those who died until 1895. The Oelenberg monks founded the Maria Veen monastery in 1888, 25 km from Darfeld in Reken , which existed until 1952.
Remembering Darfeld today
In Rosendahl-Darfeld, the Rosendahler Kreuz memorial commemorates the former abbey, of which no other material remains have been preserved. ( 52 ° 1 ′ 4,4 ″ N , 7 ° 13 ′ 58.5 ″ E ) A partnership has existed between Rosendahl and Entrammes , the location of the Port-du-Salut monastery, since 1970. The celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the monasteries Port-du-Salut (2015) and La Coudre (2016) recalled the origins of both monasteries in Darfeld, a name that is not forgotten among French Trappists.
literature
- Immo Eberl , The Cistercians. History of a European Order , Ostfildern, Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 2007.
- Josiane Ferrari-Clément, Fous de Dieu. Récit d'une odyssée trappiste 1793–1815 , Paris, Cerf, 1998.
- Marie de la Trinité Kervingant, Des moniales face à la Révolution française. Aux origines des Cisterciennes-Trappistines , Paris, Beauchesne, 1989.
- Wilhelm Knoll, 30 years of Trappist settlement in Darfeld 1795–1825. A contribution to the church history in the Coesfeld district , Bernardus-Verlag, Mainz 2012 (main source of this contribution).
- Leopold Janauschek , Originum Cisterciensium. Tomus I , Vienna, Alfred Hoelder, 1877, S. LXXIV.
- Augustin-Hervé Laffay (* 1965), Dom Augustin de Lestrange et l'avenir du monachisme: 1754–1827 , Paris, Cerf, 1998; Diss. Lyon 3, 1994 (passim).
- Bernard Peugniez : Guide Routier de l'Europe Cistercienne. Editions du Signe, Strasbourg 2012, p. 569.
- Peter Pfister : monastery leader of all Cistercian monasteries in the German-speaking area. 2nd edition, Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg 1998, p. 310.
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 1 ′ 5.1 ″ N , 7 ° 14 ′ 10.3 ″ E