St. Johannis Monastery (Hamburg)

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The Johanniskloster on the right bank of the Alster Canal
Memorial plaque for the monastery in Eichenpark , Hamburg-Harvestehude

The St. Johannis monastery in Hamburg is now an Evangelical women's monastery and is a residential complex at Heilwigstrasse 162 in the Eppendorf district . This was built between 1912 and 1914 by the architects Richard Kahl and Ludwig Endresen and is located in a spacious garden on the Alster . 69 self-contained apartments are available for single women over the age of 60. The monastery is managed by an honorary board approved by the Senate . The great convention is formed from the two patrons , that is, the respective first and second mayor of the city, the three board members and the headwoman called the domina . This structure has existed since the Reformation .

The monastery emerged from the Cistercian monastery Herwardeshude, founded by Heilwig von der Lippe in 1246, which was initially on Pepermölenbek in front of the later Altona and was moved in 1295 to the area of ​​today's Harvestehude district . After the Reformation , in 1530 the nuns were housed in the buildings of the previously closed Dominican monastery of St. Johannis in downtown Hamburg, and in 1536 they founded the Evangelical Conventual Foundation for unmarried Hamburg patricians and bourgeois daughters . In 1837 the monastery was relocated to the Schützenwall, later the monastery wall. In 1914 the company moved to its current location on Heilwigstrasse . This street was named after the founder of the monastery in 1870.

Founding history

Column capital from the 14th century monastery building in the Museum of Hamburg History .

The founding of the monastery goes back to Count Adolph IV of Schauenburg and Holstein. Before he took part in the Battle of Bornhöved against the Danes on July 22nd, the name day of St. Mary Magdalene in 1227, he had made the vow to found a monastery in the event of his victory and to live there from then on. In fulfillment of this vow, he founded the Franciscan Maria Magdalenen Monastery on today's Adolphsplatz in Hamburg in 1231 and the Dominican St. John's Monastery on today's Rathausplatz in 1236 , as well as another Franciscan monastery in Kiel in 1242 , where he spent the last years of his life. Adolf's wife, Countess Heilwig von der Lippe, did the same as her husband and founded a Cistercian convent in Herwardeshude on February 24, 1246. This was a spot on a hill above the Elbe , on the Pepermölenbek, which later marked the border between St. Pauli and Altona. Through a donation, Heilwig was able to acquire a farm and a mill as well as a few fields and two other houses for the construction of the monastery. The income from the farm and mill was enough for the livelihood of the small convent. In 1247 the monastery was confirmed by Pope Innocent IV .

In 1293 the nuns bought lands near the villages of Oderfelde and Heimichhude an der Alster from Count Heinrich I von Holstein-Rendsburg , "with bushes, moors, meadows, pastures, bodies of water and all liberties, exempt from all taxes", and in 1295 relocated them Monastery at this place. The reasons given for the move were, on the one hand, the interests of Hamburg, which wanted a free glacis for defense in front of the city gates , as well as the fact that the Mühlbach dried up at the end of the 13th century and the supply of the monastery was no longer guaranteed.

Herwardeshude Monastery

The location of the monastery, drawing by CF Gaedechens on a map from the 19th century

Name and location

The nuns called their new monastery In valle virginum - Jungfrauenthal, which is still reminiscent of the street name Frauenthal today . But the name didn't catch on. Instead, the monastery was still popularly called Herwardeshude after its original location . Harvestehude , the name for the surrounding district, developed from this name . The Hamburg story and saga writer Otto Beneke said: “In the time of Lauf the old village Herwerdeshude on the Elbe disappeared, or at least the name of the same, which was given to the Frauenthal Monastery on the Alster by the people out of old custom, disappeared , which in the end was not called Herwerdeshude at all, from which our Harvestehude finally emerged, which some good Hamburgers, as there is a Winterhude across the street, also call it Herbstehude and not so wrong, because 'Harvest' is the Low German word for autumn . “The new monastery buildings were erected on the Feldmark von Oderfelde, which is now the western part of the oak park . When the property was rebuilt in the 19th century, the exact location was determined and Cipriano Francisco Gaedechens recorded it on a sketch. Accordingly, the monastery buildings were located on today's Klostergarten road and on Harvestehuder Weg east of the confluence of Mittelweg and north of Licentiatenberg up to the Alster. Today's street Frauenthal leads through the western part of the building, which according to the plan was used as an orphanage.

Numerous street names in the area still refer to the monastery at this location. In addition to Klosterstern, Klosterstieg and Klostergarten, the names Frauenthal, Jungfrauenthal and Nonnenstieg, St. Benedictstraße, in honor of Saint Benedict as the patron saint of the monastery, and Heilwigstraße, in memory of the founder of the monastery, can be traced back to this origin.

Relationship with the city of Hamburg

Since its foundation, the monastery was both under protection and in economic relations with the Counts of Schauenburg and through this was in contact with the administration of Hamburg. In 1305 monastery governors were appointed from the city council, who, for example , took care of the disbursement of the grain pensions to the monastery. From this tradition, the mayors of the city of Hamburg are still born patrons of the monastery.

In 1310 there was a contract between the city of Hamburg, which took over the protection of the monastery, and the nuns, who undertook to clear the land near the city from buildings. In a further contract, the Hundebek , which originated in Grindelwald near today's university campus and flowed into the Alster about 200 meters south of the current jetty at Alte Rabenstrasse , was defined as the border between the monastery and the city. The villages of Oderfelde and Heimichhude were laid down. Hamburg's interests were military; for reasons of defense, the area in front of the city fortress was to remain undeveloped. From then on it was used for agriculture.

From the 14th century the function of the monastery developed to educate and teach young women from the upper class. For the payment of a certain pension, the daughters should be taught "mores and virtutes". This resulted in a personal proximity of numerous Hamburg citizens to the monastery in Herwardeshude. But the lifestyle of the women in the monastery also largely adapted to that of the women from the city, which in the 15th century led to problems with church authorities.

Land acquisition

In contrast to monasteries, the incomes of the nunnery did not come from their own management of their numerous estates, but from the collection of tithe , interest and rent from the property. As early as 1250 the still young monastery had bought land on the Gorieswerder and around 1275 thirteen Hufen land in nine Stormarn villages and a fish justice on the Bille . "Already in this first phase of its development the Harvestehude Monastery had enough capital and contacts for a slow but steady build-up of property." The area bought in 1293 included the Grindelwald , the Schlump and the Schäferkamp and stretched in the north to the Isebek . In the 14th century, the active acquisition of land and legal goods continued. Among other things, the monastery acquired a farm in Ottensen and the villages of Alsterdorf , Eimsbüttel , Eppendorf and Winterhude on the Alster , as well as the Tarpenbeker Moor and the Alsterzoll near Eppendorf. Ownership was also added further away: twenty-four acres of land in the Stader Elbmarschen, a jug in Bramfeld , land in the Haseldorfer Marsch and more on the Elbwerdern. In 1385 the village of Bilsen was added with all goods and rights, especially valuable logs. In 1400 the Eppendorfer St. Johanniskirche was incorporated into the monastery . With this, the land acquisitions of the monastery were largely completed, it owned a land area many times larger than the city of Hamburg itself.

Community grave of the
conventuals of St. Johannis Monastery , Ohlsdorf cemetery

resolution

From 1525, the Reformation in Hamburg increasingly prevailed, Johannes Bugenhagen was called to the city and worked out a new church order. The Cistercian women resisted a reform, in 1530 there was a scandal. The nuns, known by Bugenhagen as the lying brides of God , were driven out of Harvestehude, the buildings were destroyed and demolished on the instructions of the Hamburg council and the citizenship. The Dominicans in the St. Johannis City Monastery at today's Rathausmarkt were also expelled in 1528. The now vacant building was offered to the homeless women by the city on the condition that they convert to the Protestant faith and no longer call themselves nuns. A short time later the house was occupied by nineteen converted nuns under the abbess Caecilia von Oldessem , who was henceforth called the Virgin Domina . In 1536 the Evangelical Conventual Foundation for unmarried Hamburg patricians and bourgeois daughters was founded. In addition, a recession determined that the large estates of the former Herwardeshude monastery should be preserved and administered under the monastery foundation. With this, the old Herwardeshude monastery was converted into a Protestant women's housing estate, and from then on the monastery income was used to accommodate and support unmarried Hamburg bourgeois daughters.

St. Johannis Monastery

The monastery administration has hardly changed since the recession of 1536. The foundation was represented by the honorary patrons and heads. The patrons were appointed by the mayor from among the members of the Senate or provided by the mayors themselves. The chiefs were appointed by the great convention , which consisted of the cartridges, chiefs and the dominatrix. The management was held by the monastery clerk, who was subject to the instructions of the chief. The inner monastery order was and is the task of the dominatrix.

St. Johannis Monastery around 1590, detail from a copper engraving

First location at Rathausmarkt

The building, which was assigned to the women in 1530 after they were expelled from Harvestehude, dates back to the founding of the monastery by Count Adolf IV in around 1235. It was on the dirt wall , on the site of today's town hall and its forecourt, and the monastery church of St. Johannis, which could still be used as a Protestant church, was part of the inventory. They shared this house with the school founded by Bugenhagen in 1529, the learned school of the Johanneum .

View through Behind the Wide Gable to the wide east gable of the St. Johannis monastery church and the adjacent monastery buildings, lithograph around 1825 by Peter Suhr

The conversion into the Protestant conventual monastery, which granted unmarried Hamburg citizens' daughters a flat and a pension, was organized in accordance with Hanseatic customs, the virgins had to be bought by their relatives: “When entering the expectant's register, a first installment was due, for the 'promotion' to conventual the second payment. Often the 'monastery letter' was given in the cradle as a sponsorship gift. At the time of the marriage, the deposited assets went to the monastery. "

The occupation by the French from 1806 to 1814 brought the monastery foundation into considerable financial difficulties, since many of its villages and farms had been burned down in front of the city wall. Napoleonic troops used the monastery church as a warehouse. In 1829 it was demolished because it was in disrepair. Since the old monastery building was also becoming increasingly dilapidated, the monastery acquired a new building on Schützenwall, later the monastery wall, in 1836.

Second location Klosterwall

New monastery by Carl Ludwig Wimmel on today's monastery wall, around 1840

The new building constructed by Carl Ludwig Wimmel , into which twenty conventuals and eighteen widows from the old Johanniskloster moved in 1837, was considerably more spacious. It offered space for 60 conventuals and also had its own widow's house on Steinstrasse with ten apartments. The new building and the move were financed through numerous sales from the foundation's property. At this location, too, the street names indicate the location of the former monastery, next to the monastery wall and the Johanniswall, the street Klostertor reminds of the gate that existed from 1853 to 1861 in the immediate vicinity of the monastery.

After the Vorwerk Harvestehude , the area between Rothenbaumchaussee , Isebek and Hallerstraße, had been sold to a consortium for four million marks in 1866 , the monastery founded the educational institutions of the St. Johannis Monastery on Holzdamm in 1872 with this money . They included a high school for girls , a kindergarten and a seminar for teachers , and later further training courses were added. At the end of 1881 the convent school was attended by 742 female students and 92 seminarians. In 1923, due to the changed political situation and the economic situation of the monastery, the institution was transferred to the high school authorities and housed in a new building designed by Fritz Schumacher at the Berliner Tor . The Holzdamm 5 building in the ensemble with Rautenbergstrasse 1 - located directly next to the Hotel Atlantic - is a listed building and today houses the state commercial school .

Third location in Heilwigstrasse

The area around the Klosterwall became an inner-city area of ​​interest from 1900 with the construction of the Hamburg Central Station . In 1911, the convent sold its premises there to the finance deputation for 2.5 million gold marks and had a new building complex built on Eppendorfer Heilwigstrasse. It was planned by the architects Kahl and Endresen in the English country house style and is based on monastic models. The most striking thing about it is the clock tower at the entrance area and the layout in the style of medieval cloisters, all corridors have direct light, the entrance hall is laid out with white marble and the stairwells are made of oak. The residential complex is located on an 11,000 square meter property with a screened garden and bank reinforcement facing the Alster. On July 11, 1914, the then patron, Mayor William Henry O'Swald , inaugurated it as the Evangelical Ladies Monastery of St. Johannis . It still exists today:

“Depending on the vacancy, new residents are taken in and pay a reasonable rent. Each lady has a self-contained apartment (different sizes) and takes care of herself. The neighborhood help is exemplary. We feel obliged to a Christian humanistic way of life. [...] Mindful of the monastic roots, let us strive for a future-oriented living orientation in the present. "

- Homepage of the St. Johannis Monastery

Neighboring St. John's Church

About 250 meters northwest of today's monastery building is the St. John's Church , which was administered from 1400 to 1832 by the monastery and the monastery foundation.

Overview of the property

The monastery’s once large basic assets, which were transferred from the Herwardeshude monastery to the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530, have dwindled significantly over time. Some of the urban and rural properties were sold as early as the 17th and 18th centuries. After the French era and with the move to the new building on Klosterwall, the foundation began to sell additional properties. As for the City of Hamburg were the areas for the planned urban expansion of great interest, the Senate decided to take over the magisterial rights in 1826, 1830, most of the monastery lands were in the newly founded Mansion machinations incorporated the Geest and marsh land. In 1866 the land was transferred to the city, which committed itself to a perpetual annual pension to the church, and in many cases it was sold on to private investors.

possession Acquisition / possession Sale / loss annotation
Alsterdorf 1803 acquired after negotiations with Denmark in exchange for Bilsen; from 1831 under the administration of the Geestlande rulership
Old Herwardeshude 1246 before 1530 bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Bahrenfeld before 1350 before 1530 bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Barmbek before 1300 individual goods, one hooves of the brothers Heynrich and Meynrich of Heynbroke bought
Bassenfleth before 1350 individual goods; became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Bilsen 1385 1803 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Bramfeld before 1300 individual goods, four and a half hooves bought by the Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke brothers
Duvenstedt before 1300 Bought individual goods from the Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke brothers
Eimsbüttel 1339 as early as 1275 a hoof was bought by the brothers Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke; became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Eppendorf 1343 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Gorieswerder 1250 individual goods, first acquisition of the monastery; After storm surges in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Gorieswerder was divided into several Elbe islands; became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Grindel 1293 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Great Borstel before 1350 1836 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530; 1836 Sale to the hunter Wehling
Halstenfleth before 1350 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Harvestehude 1293 1866 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530; from 1831 under the administration of the Geestland rulership; Sold to a private consortium of monasteries in 1866
Kirchsteinbek before 1300 Bought individual goods from the Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke brothers
Lemsahl before 1300 individual goods, bought two and a half from the brothers Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke
Lokstedt 1383 before 1530 bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Mellingstedt before 1300 Bought individual goods, a hoof from the Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke brothers
Niendorf 1383 before 1530 bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Ohlsdorf 1366 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Osdorf before 1300 Bought individual goods, two hooves from the Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke brothers
Othmarschen before 1400 before 1530 individual goods; bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Ottensen before 1400 before 1530 individual goods; bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Schäferkamp 1293 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Schiffbek before 1300 Bought individual goods from the brothers Heynrich and Meynrich von Heynbroke, including fishing rights to the Bille
Schlump 1293 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Tinsdal 1348 before 1530 individual goods; bought back by the county of Holstein-Pinneberg before 1530
Twielenfleth before 1350 individual goods; became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530
Wellingsbüttel before 1450 1484 Property of the diocese of Bremen, 1430–1484 pledge property of the monastery,
Winterhude 1365 1831 became the property of the St. Johannis Foundation in 1530; from 1831 under the administration of the Geestlande rulership
Hamburg,
Bergstrasse
1478 Inner-city property, donated by Johann Schreye
Hamburg,
Katharinenstrasse
before 1530 Inner-city property with a brewery, through inheritance
Hamburg,
Kattrepelstaven
before 1530 Inner-city property with a brewery, through inheritance
Hamburg,
Bonehauerstrasse
before 1500 Inner-city property with a brewery, through inheritance
Hamburg,
New Castle
before 1500 Inner-city property with a brewery, through inheritance
Hamburg,
Rosenstrasse
before 1500 Inner-city property with a brewery, through inheritance
Hamburg,
Stekelhörn
before 1500 Inner-city property with a brewery, through inheritance

literature

  • Christian Hanke, Reinhard Hentschel: Harvestehude - Rotherbaum in transition. Hamburg 1993, ISBN 3-929229-09-9 .
  • Felix Rexhausen: In Harvestehude. Notes from a Hamburg district writer. Hamburg 1979, ISBN 3-920610-26-1 .
  • Wilhelm Schwarz: But'n Dammdoor. From the past of the Hamburg district Harvestehude-Rotherbaum. Hamburg (around 1930).
  • Silke Urbanski : History of the Harvestehude Monastery “In valle virginum”. Economic, social and political development of a nunnery near Hamburg 1245-1530. (Dissertation), Münster 1996, ISBN 3-8258-2758-5 . P. 1 ff. In the Google book search
  • Jonas Ludwig von Heß : Hamburg described topographically, politically and historically , Volume 3, Verlag (the author), 1811, Harvestehude from page 55 full text at InternetArchive.

Web links

Commons : Kloster St. Johannis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Heike Angermann: Diedrich Becker, Musikus. Approaching a musician and his time. 2013 ( online) (PDF; 2.3 MB) p. 80
  2. Hamburg Chamber of Commerce (pdf; 30.95kb)
  3. Silke Urbanski: History of the Harvestehude Monastery "In valle virginum". Economic, social and political development of a nunnery near Hamburg 1245-1530 , Münster 1996, p. 19
  4. ^ Wilhelm Schwarz: But'n Dammdoor. From the past of the Hamburg district Harvestehude-Rotherbaum , Hamburg (undated, around 1930), p. 5
  5. Otto Beneke, Hamburgische histories and sagas, Hamburg 1886. No. 27 Digital full-text edition in wikisource , accessed on October 1, 2010
  6. Silke Urbanski: History of the Harvestehude Monastery "In valle virginum". Economic, social and political development of a nunnery near Hamburg 1245-1530 , Münster 1996, p. 21
  7. Silke Urbanski: History of the Harvestehude Monastery "In valle virginum". Economic, social and political development of a nunnery near Hamburg 1245-1530 , Münster 1996, p. 35
  8. Silke Urbanski: History of the Harvestehude Monastery "In valle virginum". Economic, social and political development of a nunnery near Hamburg 1245-1530 , Münster 1996, p. 20
  9. Silke Urbanski: History of the Harvestehude Monastery "In valle virginum". Economic, social and political development of a nunnery near Hamburg 1245-1530 , Münster 1996, p. 25 f.
  10. Die Welt: Damengesellschaft mit Domina , article from January 3, 2001 , accessed on October 2, 2010
  11. Homepage St. Johannis Monastery , accessed on October 2, 2010

Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 27 ″  N , 9 ° 59 ′ 45 ″  E