Gnadenthal Monastery (Bavaria)

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Exterior view of the Gnadenthalkloster

The monastery Gnadenthal is the parent company of a community of Franciscan nuns , which the Third Order of St. Francis belong. The congregation is called the Franciscan Tertiary Sisters of St. John. The monastery is located in Ingolstadt in Bavaria in the diocese of Eichstätt .

history

The monastery church of St. Johann im Gnadenthal

The monastery is dedicated to St. Elisabeth, the monastery church of St. Johann im Gnadenthal SS. Johannes.

Foundation of the community up to the transition to a convent (1276–1468)

In 1276, the middle-class Ingolstadt women Diemuth Trailacher and Margareta von Puch founded the women's community from which today's monastery emerged. As beguines , the women and their fellow sisters cared for the poor and the sick. Unlike other beguinage communities that generally do not adhere to any rule, Diemuth Trailacher and Margareta von Puch placed their community under the third rule of Francis, which is why they are also called tertiary women . They were not yet bound by a vow at this point. The women's community was therefore not a convention, but a so-called rule house. Diemuth Trailacher became the community's first rule master. Ludwig the Bavarian granted her extensive freedoms and privileges which the Ingolstadt population had to accept. Due to the rapid growth of the community, Margareta von Puch opened a second rule house in 1329, which she was in charge of herself. In 1333 she was also granted the freedom of the community around Trailacher, which ensured the community's economic livelihood. The community continued to grow, so that the expansion of the rule houses into a common large rule house was taken into focus. Since the tertiary women received no wages and only subsisted on the donations and gifts from Ingolstadt, financing was difficult. Their good reputation and good relationship with the city finally made it possible for the city council to pay for the renovation and expansion costs of the rule house . From around the middle of the 15th century, some members of the community wanted to reorganize the community and join the Franciscan monastery in Ingolstadt. The transformation of the Minorites into a Franciscan convent a few years earlier is an example of this idea . This idea was very well received by the spiritual dignitaries of Ingolstadt as well as by the population. As early as the spring of 1468, two superiors from Kieshofen appeared in Ingolstadt to inform the women about their future vows, the monastery rules and life as a Franciscan. However, after this introduction, only four women actually took the veil.

Foundation of the convent up to secularization (1468–1802)

The four New Franciscan Sisters took their vows in 1468. The two Kieshoferinnen and the four former beguines formed the first convent of Gnadenthal Abbey. Elisabeth Proebst became the first superior . The existing Franciscan monastery took over the spiritual direction of the monastery. The Ingolstadt population was fond of the reorganized women's community. Therefore, the nuns only had to collect donations for a few years, so that they could start demolishing the former rule house and building the new convent building as early as 1480. Further foundations, material donations and handicraft aid made it possible for the church to be consecrated on December 30, 1487. Since the burden of debts grew anyway, the twelve conventual women had to secure their livelihood by weaving. Seven of the nuns were later introduced to the cloister in order to lead as dignified a life as possible. The remaining five women still had to be able to leave the monastery for purposes of supply and to solicit alms. A short time later, the nuns were no longer dependent on alms. The entry of wealthy citizens' daughters resulted in plenty of trousseau and inheritances. Examples are the daughter of the Ingolstadt mayor in 1492 or the arrival of the rich Munich citizen's daughter Barbara Ridler. In 1493, the nuns had reorganized their finances to the point that they could buy more buildings and open a brewery. This ushered in the heyday of the Ingolstadt Franciscan convent. The national good reputation of the monastery ensured that the nuns in the monastery received and accommodated many visitors. The visitors brought Gnadenthal additional financial resources.

The Franciscan Sisters of Ingolstadt did not receive the Reformation . During this time, no withdrawals for religious reasons can be verified. The name of the monastery comes from around the same time. Gnadenthal as a name for the monastery is recorded for the first time during the term of office of Oberin Elisabeth Renner (1524–1575) . With the introduction of the Roman breviary in Gnadenthal in 1607, the idea of ​​expanding the cloister was further manifested. Twenty years later, in 1627, this was extended to the entire convent by an electoral decree. The financial situation of the convent made further alms-collecting and work seem unnecessary. Therefore, in 1628 the modalities for the admission of new convent members were renewed. The applicants had to answer twelve questions to ensure that the monastery did not serve as a custodial institution, but that the women entered the monastery out of pure faith.

During the Thirty Years' War , the Gnadenthal Abbey briefly housed the Augustinian convents of Marienburg , Marienstein in Eichstätt and the Benedictine nuns of Hohenwarth . In addition, the Ingolstadt women were also exposed to some direct threats of war. Even in this situation, the economic situation stabilized quickly thanks to donations and handicraft help from Ingolstadt.

1802 until today

In 1802 a so-called monastery commission appeared in Ingolstadt. The convent was largely expropriated. From now on, Gnadenthal served as a central and extinction monastery . The nuns were given the right to live in the convent building until their death. At that time the convention had 32 members. They received annual annuities. A compromise was that from now on they also had to take in 23 Holy Cross Sisters from Landshut, also tertiary women. On November 16, 1829, Gnadenthal was rebuilt with the condition to take over education for girls in Ingolstadt. The school was so successful that it was expanded for the first time in 1860. In 1937 the National Socialists banned school. Therefore, a year later, some nuns emigrated to Brazil and spread the order there. After the end of the war, some schools were re-established, which the Franciscan Sisters continued to run until 2002. Since the 2002/2003 school year, the Eichstätt diocese has been the sponsor of the Gnadenthal schools, the musical Gnadenthal grammar school and the Gnadenthal girls' secondary school.

Gnadenthal in Brazil

Since the sisters were banned from running the girls' school in Ingolstadt in 1937, five nuns emigrated to Brazil in 1938. There they opened a branch in the Santa Isabel region with its headquarters in São Paulo, which now has 16 branches. They run schools, boarding schools, orphanages, hospitals and old people's homes. The Brazilian branch of the Gnadenthal Sisters has also been working on a project in Angola's capital Luanda since 2008 with a focus on education and social service.

Important religious sisters

  • Elisabeth Proebst, first superior of the Gnadenthal monastery
  • Fridolina Lautner , missionary, holder of the Federal Cross of Merit and the Bavarian Order of Merit
  • Euphemia Blaschke, artist
  • Cäcilia ("Gertrud") Wohlmuth (* 1930), Superior General, holder of the Federal Cross of Merit

literature

  • Hufnagel, Joseph: Ingolstadt. Franciscan convent St. Johannes - Gnadenthal, in: Bavaria Franciscana Antiqua, Vol. 5, ed. from the bayr. Franziskanerprovinz, Munich 1961, pp. 225-340.
  • Schickel, Alfred: Festschrift for the 700th anniversary of the St. Johannes im Gnadenthal monastery in Ingolstadt an der Donau 1276–1976, Ingolstadt 1976.
  • Documents from the archives of the nunnery St. Johann im Gnadenthale zu Ingolstadt, ed. by Heinrich Ostermair, in: Collective sheet of the historical association Ingolstadt, Vol. 28, Ingolstadt 1904.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Schickel, Alfred: Festschrift for the 700th anniversary of the monastery St.Johannes im Gnadenthal in Ingolstadt an der Donau 1276–1976, Ingolstadt 1976, p. 21.
  2. ↑ See Schickel, p. 21 .; Hufnagel, Joseph: Ingolstadt. Franciscan convent St. Johannes - Gnadenthal, in: Bavaria Franciscana Antiqua, Vol. 5, ed. from the bayr. Franciscan Province, Munich 1961, p. 234.
  3. ↑ See Schickel, p. 22 .; Hufnagel, p. 235ff.
  4. ↑ See Schickel, p. 22.
  5. ↑ See Schickel, p. 24 .; Hufnagel, pp. 230, 234.
  6. ↑ See Schickel, p. 25ff.
  7. ↑ See Hufnagel, p. 247f.
  8. ↑ See Schickel, p. 32, 35 .; Hufnagel, p. 252ff.
  9. ↑ See Schickel, p. 37.
  10. ↑ See Schickel, p. 40 .; Hufnagel, p. 256.
  11. ↑ See documents from the archives of the nunnery St. Johann im Gnadenthale zu Ingolstadt, ed. by Heinrich Ostermair, in: Collective sheet of the historical association Ingolstadt, vol. 28, Ingolstadt 1904, p. 88 (document XIV).
  12. ↑ See Schickel, pp. 46, 48.
  13. ↑ See Schickel, p. 49ff .; Hufnagel, p. 277.
  14. ↑ See Schickel, pp. 92ff., 100 .; Hufnagel, pp. 330ff., 338.
  15. ↑ St. Johann im Gnadenthal in Ingolstadt .

Coordinates: 48 ° 45 ′ 54.4 "  N , 11 ° 25 ′ 17"  E