Geistingen Monastery
The monastery Geistingen was a Redemptorist Monastery in Hennef - Geistingen . It existed in its predetermined function from 1903 to 2006 and was temporarily also the location of a state-recognized philosophy-theological college . The building complex is now used for residential purposes as well as for the private sector. The entire monastery area covers around 14,500 square meters.
founding
Geistingen Monastery was founded by the Low German Province of the Redemptorists. Since the Trier Monastery, which had been in use since 1898, no longer met the space requirements of a university, 19 acres in Geistingen Am Eschenberg were purchased. After the archbishop's approval, the approval of the Prussian government was granted on February 18, 1902 .
construction
The Cologne architect Theodor Roß , who also built the parish church of St. Simon and Judas in Hennef, took on the planning and management . A monastery with a church and a college for 40 religious students were to be built. On March 19, 1902, the foundation stone was laid and the site was blessed.
The first building to be erected was a farm building on Waldstrasse, as this was the only access road. This also resulted in the later postal address Waldstraße (today also Klosterstraße for the area accessible via the main portal on the front).
On June 19, 1902, construction began on the north-south wing, which was ready for occupancy at the end of August 1903. On September 8, 1903, the monastery was consecrated and opened with a ceremony.
Work on the monastery church began on February 13, 1903. She was commissioned and blessed on September 15, 1904. A consecration did not take place until June 17, 1915.
In 1907, the extension parcel to Dürresbachstrasse was bought, which made sense because the front of the building, including the monastery gate, was laid out in this direction.
On July 25, 1910, the foundation stone for the west-east wing was laid. At the end of April 1911 the kitchen and dining room and finally a library at the beginning of October 1912 were installed.
After an increase in the number of students in the mid-1950s, an extension was built. The foundation stone was laid on February 26, 1959, and completed on January 12, 1961. The extension comprised 52 student rooms, three lecture halls, an auditorium and a student chapel.
history
On January 18, 1906, the archbishopric, with the consent of the pastor of Geistingen, gave its approval to open a mass for the parish as well: At the request of the railway and post office officials, on Sundays and public holidays at 5 a.m. and in winter at 5 a.m. : A public mass was held at 30 o'clock.
On July 2, 1941, the monastery was confiscated in order to set up a national political educational institution ( driving school ), and the priests had to leave the premises. However, after tough negotiations with the Gestapo , the city of Cologne managed to house the Elisabeth-Breuer-Stift orphanage from Cologne-Mülheim instead . In September 20 sisters of the Nonnenwerth monastery , 30 employees and 250 orphans moved in. This is certainly one of the reasons why the complex was not bombed by the Allies , while large parts of Geistingen were completely destroyed by American bombs on March 8, 1945.
At the end of June 1945 the courses were resumed. In the further course the Geistingen monastery gained a very good reputation as a place of study and philosophical-theological college . Even Joseph Ratzinger , the future Pope Benedict XVI. During his time as a theology professor in Bonn (1959 to 1963) he regularly visited the Geistingen monastery and used its library. With over 180,000 volumes, it was one of the most extensive theological libraries in Europe until the very end.
Due to the decline in the number of students, a study community was formed with the Steyler Mission University in Sankt Augustin on October 2, 1969 . In addition, there was a general opening for lay people as well as theology students who did not belong to the order or clergy.
On October 1, 1982, the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome approved the degree course in Catholic theology . This made it possible to award the title of graduate theologian. This was followed by state recognition as a university on September 21, 1983 .
Since the number of students fell continuously in the following years and drastically since the beginning of the 1990s, teaching was finally stopped on September 30, 1996 by the management of the Cologne province . The St. Alfons monastery in Würzburg was designated as the new community for education, and the priestly candidates of the order have been studying at the theological faculty of the University of Würzburg since then . Only ten fathers and four brothers stayed in Geistingen Monastery after 1996. The house later served as an education and retreat house, conference center for the Redemptorists and a student residence. In 2001, considerations had already arisen to close the monastery completely. In October 2005 the end of Geistingen Monastery was finally announced. On January 8, 2006, the last service was celebrated. In April the monastery grounds were handed over to the new owners.
In the course of the dissolution of the monastery, the library was also dissolved. The manuscripts and incunabula were given to the Redemptorist Monastery in Heiligenstadt , 12,000 newer titles (from 1850) to the Academia Alfonsiana of the Redemptorist Order in Rome. The largest part was sold from December 2005 on via the Internet auction house Ebay . Almost 200 volumes related to the Middle Ages were acquired for the library of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica .
Further use
The old monastery building, which is under monument protection, was professionally restored and partially rebuilt inside from autumn 2006 to December 2007, and balconies outside were provided. This resulted in over 50 condominiums (a total of 4,300 square meters of living space) that were ready for occupancy in January 2008. In addition, a large underground car park was created for residents' vehicles. The extension, completed in 1961, was demolished.
The on January 8, 2006 profaned - also listed - Church (800 square meters) in 2007 to the full-service agency (BTL marketing, Personal Service & Locations) TIME TRAX Group sold from Witten. This used and rented the interior, which was completely renovated and modernized, from November 2008 to December 2018 for cultural and commercial events. In December 2018, the monastery church was taken over by a free Evangelical Lutheran congregation. Since then, regular services have been held in the monastery church.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hennef-Geistingen - Former Redemptorist Monastery: Historical catalog of the former Philosophical-Theological College of the Redemptorists in Hennef-Geistingen
- ^ Redemptorist Hennef-Geistingen , accessed October 7, 2019.
- ^ Ralf Rohrmoser-von Glasow: The monastery church is sold. Services could be held in the building again. Rhein-Sieg-Rundschau, October 1, 2018, accessed on October 7, 2019.
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 11 ″ N , 7 ° 16 ′ 22 ″ E