Gotteszell Monastery (Lower Bavaria)
| Gotteszell Monastery | |
|---|---|
 The former abbey church of Gotteszell |
|
| location |
 Germany Bavaria |
| Lies in the diocese | Diocese of Regensburg |
| Coordinates: | 48 ° 57 '49.7 " N , 12 ° 57' 55.8" E |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
700 |
| founding year | 1285 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1803 |
| Mother monastery | Aldersbach Monastery |
| Primary Abbey | Morimond Monastery |
The monastery Gotteszell (lat. Abbatia Cella Dei ) is a former abbey of the Cistercians in Gotteszell in the Bavarian Forest in the diocese of Regensburg . It was a subsidiary of the Aldersbach Monastery from the filiation of the Morimond Primary Abbey - Ebrach Monastery .
history
The monastery consecrated to Maria and St. Anna was founded in 1285 as the youngest Bavarian Cistercian monastery by knight Heinrich von Pfelling, who gave the monastery his Maierhof in the Achslach . The settlement of the monastery was confirmed by his brother-in-law, the Regensburg bishop Heinrich II von Rottenegg in 1286, who removed the monastery from the Geiersthaler parish association.
The monastery received large donations from the Bavarian dukes Ludwig III. , Stephan I. and Otto III. who transferred the castle and the market place Ruhmannsfelden to the monastery . In 1320, Gotteszell Monastery was elevated to an abbey, the first abbot was the previous administrator of Berthold Monastery. In 1339 construction began on a larger church dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In 1345 the monastery was issued a letter of freedom by Emperor Ludwig IV .
In the following years, Gotteszell became a center of devotion to Saint Anne, whose veneration was widespread in Germany in the 15th century. In the 15th century a period of decline followed for the monastery, at the end of the century there was only one monk in the monastery. The following able abbots Achatius Einspeck (1596–1611) and Michael Kössler (1611–38), however, managed to bring the monastery back up. In the Thirty Years' War there were new setbacks, a fire in 1629 caused great damage to the church and buildings of the monastery. In 1633/34 the Swedes invaded Gotteszell, the abbot was captured, tortured and mutilated. In 1641 there were renewed Swedish incursions.
As a result, Abbot Gerhard Hörger began a century of splendor for the monastery. With Abbot Bonifaz Hildebrand , a scientifically highly educated personality, and under Abbot Wilhelm I. Pertl , the sciences as well as the study of philosophy and theology were strongly promoted. Abbot Wilhelm II Grafsturm had the collegiate church decorated with stucco and frescoes in 1729, and a painting of the Assumption of Mary by Cosmas Damian Asam was created on the east wall .
The successors of Wilhelm Grafsturm were opposed by the hostile spirit of the Bavarian state government. In the course of secularization , the monastery was dissolved on March 24, 1803. The former abbey church was rededicated as a parish church, the elementary school was set up in the former so-called court room and the former abbey floor served as the rectory from then on. The dilapidated parts of the monastery complex were demolished, the remaining buildings went into private ownership.
buildings
The former monastery church and current parish church of St. Anna is a three-aisled, transeptless basilica that was built around 1339. After a fire on March 24, 1629, the often interrupted reconstruction began. From 1729 the Asam brothers redesigned the church in Baroque style . In 1830 a major fire destroyed parts of the church and the monastery buildings. Then the west tower was made of granite stones. Purification in 1889 removed parts of the baroque interior.
The choir fresco of the Assumption by Cosmas Damian Asam was also painted over and only exposed again in 1940. The other paintings on the walls are from the year 1889. The high altar from the 17th century hides the miraculous image of Anna herself in a halo . The tabernacle with two side reliefs and two worshiping angels was made by the sculptor Joseph Deutschmann . The pulpit and some side altars also date from the Baroque redesign.
Of the monastery buildings, only the southern and parts of the western wing of the monastery have been preserved. A polygonal oriel tower from the late 17th century stands on four pillars next to the gateway. To the west of the church is a calvary complex .
Varia
The story “The Prelate's Treasure ” (1895) by the folk writer Maximilian Schmidt is about the former Gotteszell monastery and a treasure hidden when the monastery was closed.
Web links
- Gotteszell Monastery , basic data and history: Gotteszell - Cisterze in the Regental in the database of Monasteries in Bavaria in the House of Bavarian History
- Page on www.gotteszell.de