Ehrenstein Monastery

Ehrenstein Monastery is a monastery complex in the Wied valley in the northern Westerwald .

location

The monastery is located on the Wied in the Ehrenstein district of the Asbach community (with the postal address of Neustadt (Wied) ) in the Neuwied district . The Mehrbach , which flows directly past the monastery, forms the border with the Altenkirchen district (Westerwald) . Surrounded by wooded ridges in a side valley of the Wied, the monastery is located at an altitude of about 145 meters above sea level . The capital Neustadt of the local parish of the same name is located two kilometers to the west. The ruins of Ehrenstein Castle are in the immediate vicinity of the monastery .

Ehrenstein Castle

General view of Ehrenstein Monastery and Castle

Ehrenstein Castle

history

The castle chapel, which originally belonged to Ehrenstein Castle and is located in the lower castle, was expanded in 1477 by the knight Bertram von Nesselrode and raised to a parish church . In 1486 he had the monastery "Liebfrauenthal" built next to the church, which was completed in 1488 and from then on was inhabited by canons of the Order of the Cross .

During the turmoil of the Thirty Years War , Ehrenstein Castle was destroyed by Swedish troops. The monastery buildings were looted, but were largely preserved. The monastery was secularized by the government of the Duchy of Nassau in 1812 as one of the last Kreuzherrenkloster in Germany at the request of the convent . The abolition of the monastery took place in favor of the mediatized Prince zu Wied-Runkel. The parish was preserved and the last prior of the Knights of the Cross continued to work as a pastor on the spot (died 1824). In the course of the 19th century, parts of the monastery complex were demolished due to disrepair.

In 1893 the monastery was repopulated by Franciscans of the Saxon Franciscan Province ( Saxonia ). The Franciscans looked after the parish and a so-called Demeritenhaus , a correctional institution for clergy who had committed offenses. For this purpose, the monastery buildings were rebuilt. In 1929 the branch was transferred to the re-established Cologne Franciscan Province ( Colonia ).

In 1953, the Archdiocese of Cologne returned the Ehrenstein Monastery to the Lords of the Cross . In 1969 the monastery had to be abandoned because of severe dilapidation . At the instigation of the Kreuzherren Father Werner Kettner, parts of the monastery were removed from 1973 and rebuilt. The annexes from the 19th century were completely demolished and the Gothic building parts of the monastery ( cloister , chapter house , calefactorium ) were extensively renovated. The Kreuzherrenkonvent was rebuilt in the same year. The Knights of the Cross looked after the parish, the monastery accepted guests for retreats. At the beginning of the 1980s, Ehrenstein Monastery served as a novitiate monastery for the German Order Province. However, the convent always remained small.

On December 28, 1998, the Lords of the Cross left Ehrenstein. The convent was canceled by the order's leadership. The parish of Ehrenstein wanted the monastery to be inhabited again. From 1999 to 2007 the Fathers of the Order looked after the Montfortan parish and monastery Ehrenstein. In 2008 the Franciscan Sisters from Waldbreitbach took over the monastery building and expanded it as a conference center.

today

The Kreuzherrenkirche is freely accessible daily from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is where the most important art-historical sights are located, such as the lead glass windows with stained glass from the time of construction , which depict both sacred and secular scenes ( vedute ) and are counted among the outstanding achievements of Rhenish art from around 1470 to 1480. In addition, the late Gothic figure ensemble and the baroque pulpit are worth mentioning. Today Ehrenstein with its church, monastery and castle ruins is a destination in the northern Westerwald. The monastery buildings can only be visited by appointment.

Services are held in the monastery church every Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

literature

Leonie Countess of Nesselrode: The choir windows of Ehrenstein. Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2008, ISBN 3-412-20235-5 .
Stefan Bringer: Ehrenstein . In: Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche Vol. 3, Column 511, Freiburg im Breisgau 1993.
Stefan Bringer: Lords of the Cross . In: Orders and Monasteries in the Age of Reformation and Catholic Reform 1500–1700 vol. 2 (Catholic life and church reform in the age of religious schism vol. 66), pp. 175–192, Münster 2006.
Robert Haaß : The Lords of the Cross in the Rhineland . Bonn 1932. (Chapter Ehrenstein on pages 183–192).
Jo Op de Kamp: Liebfrauenthal Ehrenstein Monastery . In: 50 Years of the Kreuzherren in Germany 1953–2003. Bonn 2004.
Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection (ed.): Kreuzherrenkirche and Liebfrauenthal Monastery in Ehrenstein an der Wied . Rheinische Kunststätten issue 26, 2nd, modified and expanded edition. Text based on Hans Kisky, revised and expanded by Werner Kettner and Bernhard Leisenheimer (Kreuzherren). Cologne-Deutz 1979.
Henri van Rooijen: Liebfrauenthal to honor stone . Siegburg 1979.