Hirsau Monastery

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Gate tower of the hunting lodge and castle ruins

The Kloster Hirsau was an important Benedictine abbey in Hirsau in the Black Forest . Usually this means the St. Peter and Paul complex . In a broader sense, however, the name also includes its predecessor St. Aurelius .

Hirsau (formerly also Hirschau ) was at times one of the most important monasteries in Germany. It served the Cluniac reform movement very early as a German base. A number of monasteries were founded here, but also the renewal of existing communities after the so-called Hirsau reform . At the time of its construction in the late 11th century, St. Peter and Paul was the structurally largest monastery in the German-speaking area. During the Palatinate War of Succession , the complex burned down in 1692 and then fell into disrepair.

precursor

St. Nazarius

St. Aurelius II: reconstruction
(Dehio 1887)
St. Aurelius II (on the right Forstmeisterhof) from the southeast
St. Aurelius II: inside

Hirsau was an ecclesiastical nucleus for the northern Black Forest as early as the 8th century with its Nazarius chapel or church built around 765 . The Codex Hirsaugiensis reports on the translation of the bones of St. Aurelius to Hirsau around the year 830. They were temporarily placed in the secluded Nazarius chapel, about whose appearance nothing is known.

St. Aurelius I

Around 830, Bishop Noting von Vercelli brought the remains of Saint Aurelius von Riditio from Milan to Hirsau . Erlafried, a relative of Noting and ancestor of the Counts of Calw , owned property there. First he had a simple hall church built with a retracted rectangular choir. It is unclear whether a Benedictine monastery was planned in Hirsau from the start. It is possible that there was a monastery cell that was later expanded. The first Aurelius monastery existed until around the year 1000, then fell into disrepair and lost its possessions.

St. Aurelius II

In 1049 Pope Leo IX. search and dig up the bones of the saint during a visit. He ordered his nephew, Count Adalbert von Calw, to rebuild the monastery of St. Aurelius. The new building began in 1059. It was a three-aisled Romanesque columned basilica with a transept and apsidal choir closure . The long house extended over four bays . To the west, two massive towers bordered the building. A cloister with a cloister followed to the south .

  • Aureliuskirche, south facade with herb garden

  • Aurelius Monastery, site plan

  • Aureliuskirche, Madonna and Child from Andalusia

  • Aureliuskirche, cornice under Madonna with block frieze

  • Aureliuskirche, Romanesque cube capitals northeast

  • Aureliuskirche, cube capitals southwest

  • Aureliuskirche, east elevation with floor plan of the lost components and monastery museum

After the monks moved to the Peter and Paul Monastery in 1092, St. Aurelius was converted into a subordinate priory .

Aurelius north view of the tower stump northwest

At the end of the 15th century the walls were renovated, but the monastery was closed as early as 1555 in the course of the Württemberg Reformation . In 1584 the cloister and church were largely demolished due to dilapidation, the rest being used for other purposes. Among other things, the church torso served as a stable, barn, gym, garage and warehouse.

The structural elements that have been preserved - the four bays of the nave and the stumps of the two west towers with the vestibule in between - are now covered in the style of a hall church , i.e. without an upper balcony . Inside it closes a wooden ceiling at the top. The passages to the demolished transept are walled up. The central nave closes off a wall to the east with figural low reliefs by the sculptor Otto Herbert Hajek , who also created the altar and tabernacle in 1955 . In 1955 Wilhelm Geyer designed the eight small windows in the nave, two windows in the sacristy and the skylight in the vestibule.

Archaeological excavations took place several times between 1876 and 1989, which provided extensive information about the building history of the Aurelius Monastery.

In 1991 in the so-called Forstmeisterhof (Calwer Straße 6), which is adjacent to the north, the city of Calw and the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Baden-Württemberg set up a monastery museum, which is run as a branch of the Baden State Museum .

In the left aisle of the Church of St. Aurelius there is a wooden sculpture from the early 15th century. How it got to Hirsau is no longer known. The Spanish Madonna figure stands on a stone slab with a block frieze . Mary holds the baby Jesus on her lap and points to herself with her left hand.

Relief Romanesque owl tower on the north side with a wheel symbol

St. Peter and Paul

St. Peter and Paul: floor plan
Castle ruin
Cloister and castle ruins
Cloister and Lady Chapel
Lady Chapel
Gate tower and hunting lodge in Hirsau Monastery
View over the cloister in Hirsau Monastery

Thanks to the exemplary way of life of its monks and the reforms of Abbot Wilhelm (from 1069) Hirsau was very popular. As a result, St. Aurelius quickly became inadequate liturgically and spatially. Frequent floods of the Nagold and possibly also the desire to clarify the claim to power of the church in the investiture dispute made the construction of a larger, more favorably located complex appear necessary. The impulse for the relocation could have been given by the looting by the troops of the Strasbourg bishop Werner II of Achalm , who fell here in 1079 and who was commissioned by King Henry IV to destroy the monastery.

In 1082, construction work began with the leveling of a plateau on the Nagold side opposite Aurelius. The church was consecrated as early as 1091. From 1092 the convent moved from the Aurelius to the Peter and Paul monastery. However, the completion of all the cloister buildings took until the middle of the 12th century. Abbot Wilhelm used Cluny II , the so-called Maiolus building , as an architectural template . This happened analogously to the adoption of the Cluniac monastery rules. The church was a Romanesque, flat-roofed, three-aisled columned basilica with a transept and a rectangular, multi-aisled choir. Their length was initially 70 meters. Her longhouse comprised nine bays. The two western towers, of which only the northern one is still standing, were not originally planned. They were completed in 1120 and originally faced an atrium . This received its basilica roof in a final construction phase. The nave was thus extended by 30 meters to 13 yokes. To the south of the church, around a cloister, the chapter house, chapel, dining room, abbey and other cloister buildings were connected.

As with St. Aurelius, the arrangement of the enclosure buildings largely corresponded to the St. Gallen monastery plan , the ideal medieval image of a Benedictine monastery. In the course of Wilhelm's monastery reform, the Hirsau Plan itself became the basis for the so-called Hirsau Building School with numerous new foundations throughout southern Germany.

In the middle of the 15th century Hirsau experienced a second economic and intellectual boom. It maintained contacts with the Melk monastery reform and in 1458 joined the Bursfeld Congregation , a monastic reform movement.

In 1474, while the abbey church was preserved, the demolition of the Romanesque cloister building began, which was replaced by new Gothic buildings by 1516 . Involved were u. a. the masters Peter von Koblenz , Hans Spryß von Zaberfeld and Martin von Urach .

From 1496 to 1529 Nikolaus Basellius is recorded here as a monk, scribe and librarian . The Benedictine wrote or published various writings. His best-known work is the continuation of the unpublished world chronicle of Tübingen university rector Johannes Nauclerus († 1510), from 1501 to 1515. Nikolaus Basellius edited the chronicle he continued and published it in 1516 as a complete work. Johannes Reuchlin wrote the foreword. Also at the Hirsauer chronicle of Johannes Trithemius Basellius played a decisive role.

In 1536, which was in the course of reformation of Benedictine - Convention dissolved in 1556 converted the monastery of St. Peter and Paul in a Protestant monastery school. In the Thirty Years' War again Benedictine monks returned from Weingarten back. 1630–1651 Hirsau's ownership changed several times between Catholic and Protestant masters.

From 1586 to 1592, the dukes of Württemberg had a three-winged palace built in the Renaissance style instead of the abbey in the south, following the cloister .

Hirsau Marienkapelle east view in front of the Owl Tower

During a siege by French troops under General Mélac in the Palatinate War of Succession , the palace and monastery went up in flames in 1692. Initially only the roofs were mostly missing, the system also increasingly lost masonry by 1808. a. used for the reconstruction of Calw. Only the late Gothic Marienkapelle and the 37 meter high Romanesque north tower ( Owl Tower ) of the double tower facade at the west entrance of the basilica have been preserved in their entirety . The location of the southern counterpart can be seen from the exposed foundation walls. The surrounding walls of the castle and the late Gothic cloister (1474–1503) are still standing. Church and enclosure were only preserved in the foundations. In the east wing of the palace, the famous Elm zu Hirsau grew until 1989 , to which Ludwig Uhland dedicated his poem Ulmenbaum in 1829 .

The Protestant parish of Hirsau has been using the late Gothic Marienkapelle as a parish church since the early 18th century . It was the only building that remained intact after the great fire in 1692. A little later this gem of late Gothic architecture became a Protestant parish church. The monastery library was on the upper floor. From 1888 to 1892, the Württemberg senior building officer Karl von Sauter revised it in the neo-Gothic style . The westwork, net vaults and coloring date from this time, and remnants of the colored glazing from that time have been preserved in the portal tympanum. The glass artist Wolf-Dieter Kohler created the three choir windows in 1970 (left: birth and passion of Christ; right: resurrection and ascension; center: the Lord exalted, judging and coming). The north window of the choir from around 1920 to commemorate the fallen in 1914/18 was designed by the Stuttgart artist Käte Schaller-Härlin , who had lost her recently married husband in the war in 1917.

Between 1875 and 1988, several archaeological excavations opened up the monastery grounds. As a result, at least four construction phases could be verified for the cathedral church.

From 1983 to 1986 the visible building stock was measured photogrammetrically on behalf of the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Baden-Württemberg .

The West Tower (Owl Tower)

The preserved north-west tower - it escaped destruction because it seemed indispensable as a local prison - is a six-storey tower with a square floor plan. It got its name because of the owls that nest under the roof . The frieze of figures that surrounds the tower above the second floor on the north, west and south sides is of great importance in terms of art history. The groups of sculptures are each dominated by bearded male figures, which are shown from the front. The figure frieze of the Owl Tower, according to Dr. Stefan Wintermantel represents the arc of life of a lay brother. The bearded man on the north side, who is characterized as an old man by his forehead and long beard, forms a pair of opposites with the pilaster strip on the south side. The bearer, represented as an atlases , stands erect and with his hands supporting the stone beam at the zenith of his life arch. It embodies strength and vitality while taking on the function of a living building block. The old man on the north side, on the other hand, sits with his hands on his knees, with an empty face and gives the impression of exhaustion. The wheel cross between the boy and the old man is interpreted as the chronological continuation of the life cycle from the child to the end of life. The brother on the west side symbolizes the young man who still has life ahead of him. His gestures with the hand held over his eyes reveal the expectant, curious look into the future of his life. The animal representations are interpreted with the help of the Physiologus , which has been proven to be used in Hirsau and which was widely used from here. The horned animals are identified as antelopes , billy goats and chamois . The lion heads on the four corners of the tower are assumed to delimit the sacred area, although the symbolism of the lion in Christian allegory can be ambivalent.

  • North and west facade

  • South and west facade

  • Detail Atlant south side

  • Detail west side scout

Legal dispute with the Mariental monastery over the sale of the Rietenau community

In the second half of the 13th century there was a legal dispute lasting several years between the Hirsau monastery and the Mariental monastery in Steinheim , in which it was about the sale of the village of Rietenaus and the associated patronage rights to the monastery in Steinheim. On October 6, 1262, the village of Rietenau and a farm in Benningen am Neckar were sold by Abbot Volland von Hirsau to the monastery in Steinheim. The sale of the municipality of Rietenau was not recognized by them. Prior B. of the Holy Sepulcher in Speyer decided, however, that the purchase was legal and that Rietenau went to the Steinheim monastery. The recognition of the rights of the Steinheim monastery was also refused. Thereupon, on October 15, 1265, the provost Otto von St. Wido in Speyer instructed the treasurer in Murr that if the community of Rietenau continues to fail, the community is to be solemnly excommunicated and an interdict will be given to the community would prohibit acts of worship. On September 29, 1270, the sale of the community of Rietenau by Abbot Volland and the Hirsau convent to the Steinheim monastery was certified.

Todays use

The Hirsau Monastery is open for tours. The outbuildings are inhabited or house departments of the municipal administration. Today the Calw tax office is located in the vast majority of the usable buildings. The monastery is one of the state's own monuments and is looked after by the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg . Since 2008 the Calw Monastery Summer in Hirsau has been held every year in the cloister of the monastery .

Abbots of the monastery

Abbot Wilhelm von Hirsau

* = Protestant provosts and abbots

  • Friedrich I., 1065-1069
  • Wilhelm , 1069 / 71-1091
  • Gebhard von Urach , 1091–1105
  • Bruno von Beutelsbach , 1105–1120
  • Volmarus, 1120-1156
  • Hartwig, 1156
  • Mangold, 1156-1165
  • Rupertus, 1165-1176
  • Konrad von Kirchberg, 1176–1188
  • Heinrich I, 1188–1195
  • Marquard von Sennenberg, 1196–1205
  • Luitfried, 1205-1216
  • Eberhard II of Urach, 1216–1231
  • Reginbodo II, around 1234
  • Ernst, (1231) -1245
  • Berthold, around 1258
  • Volpold, (1245-1265)
  • Heinrich II., Around 1260
  • Johann I., (1265) -1276
  • Voland, (1276-1280)
  • Kraft, 1280-1293
  • Gottfried I of Münchingen, 1293–1300
  • Henry III, 1300-1317
  • Eberhard II., 1317-1341
  • Wichard I., 1341-1354
  • Wichard II, 1354-1369
  • Wigand, 1369-1380
  • Gottfried II., 1380-1389
  • Wichard III, 1389-1400
  • Friedrich II. Ifflinger , 1403-1428
  • Wolfram Maiser von Berg, 1428–1460
  • Bernhard from Gernsbach, 1460–1482
  • Georg Maiser von Berg, 1482–1484
  • Blasius Scheltrup from Öttlingen, 1484–1503
  • Johannes II. Hanssmann from Calw, 1503–1524
  • John III Mayor, 1525–1556
  • Ludwig Velderer from Stuttgart, 1556–1560
  • Heinrich Weikersreuter, 1560–1569 *
  • Johannes Parsimonius (Karg) , 1569–1588 *
  • Anton Varnbühler, 1588–1591 *
  • Johannes Brenz , 1591–1596 *
  • Johannes Hutzelin, 1596–1617 *
  • Paulus Ruckher, 1617–1627 *
  • Albert Bauhoff, 1627–1630 *
  • Andreas Geist von Wildeck, 1630–1632
  • Albert Bauhoff, 1633–1634 *
  • Andreas Geist von Wildeck, 1634–1637
  • Wunibald Zürcher, 1637–1648
  • Johann Bernhard Wildersinn, 1651–1662 *
  • Johann Melchior Nicolai, 1662 *
  • Elias Sprenger, 1663–1665 *
  • Christoph Lindenmayer, 1665–1666 *
  • Johannes Schübel, 1666–1669 *
  • Matthäus Esenwein, 1669–1672 *
  • Johann Heinrich Wielandt, 1673–1676 *
  • Jakob Rottweiler, 1676–1679 *
  • Paul Achatius Daser, 1680–1688 *
  • Matthäus Alber, 1688–1689 *
  • Johann Ludwig Dreher, 1689–1694 *

literature

  • Denis Drumm: The Hirsau historical picture in the 12th century. Studies on dealing with the monastic past in a time of upheaval (= writings on Southwest German regional studies . Volume 77). Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2016, ISBN 978-3-7995-5277-6 .
  • Würfel, Maria: Hirsau Monastery as a place of learning . Einhorn-Verl., Schwäbisch Gmünd, 1998. ISBN 3-927654-65-5
  • Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Research and reports on the archeology of the Middle Ages in Baden-Württemberg, Vol. 10. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-8062-0902-2 , ISBN 3-8062-0861-1 .
  • Wolfgang Irtenkauf : Hirsau. History and culture. Thorbecke, Konstanz 1978, ISBN 3799536078 .
  • Hirsau. Monastery of St. Peter and Paul . Reprints from: The district of Calw: A yearbook .
  • Klaus Schreiner: Hirsau. In: Franz Quarthal, Hansmartin Decker-Hauff, Klaus Schreiner (eds.): The Benedictine monasteries in Baden-Württemberg . (Germania Benedictina V) Augsburg 1975, pp. 281-303

Web links

Commons : Hirsau Monastery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Irtenkauf: Hirsau. History and culture. Thorbecke, Konstanz 1959, p. 10 f.
  2. ^ Stephan Molitor: Ut fertur, sub Pippino rege. On the foundation of Hirsau in the Carolingian era. in: Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, Vol. 2, pp. 45-54.
  3. ^ Karl Schmid: Sankt Aurelius in Hirsau 830 (?) - 1049/75. Comments on the criticism of tradition and the problem of founders. in: Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, Vol. 2, pp. 11-44.
  4. ↑ a b Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, vol. 1, supplement 1: Aureliuskloster. Excerpt from the site plan with details of the excavation cuts.
  5. ↑ Irtenkauf 1959, p. 17
  6. ↑ a b Matthias Putze: To the buildings of the Aurelius monastery. in: Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, Vol. 1, pp. 11-62.
  7. ^ Rudolf Wagner: Hirsau St. Aurelius ; Schnell Art Guide No. 705 from 1959, 8th edition Munich / Zurich 1975
  8. ↑ Stefan Kummer: The shape of the Peter and Paul Church in Hirsau. An inventory. in: Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, Vol. 1, pp. 199-208.
  9. ^ Ulrich Pfisterer: St. Peter and Paul in Hirsau. Elements of an interpretation. in: The district of Calw. Ein Jahrbuch 1992. pp. 121-136
  10. ↑ Irtenkauf 1959, p. 33
  11. ↑ Siegfried Greiner: Wolfram Untermaiser of mountain. in: The district of Calw. A 1984 yearbook.
  12. ↑ a b Anneliese Seeliger-Zeiss: Studies on the architecture of the late Gothic in Hirsau. in: Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, Vol. 1, pp. 265-364.
  13. ^ Heinz Scheible: Melanchthons Briefwechsel , Volume 11, S. 118, 1977, ISBN 3772822576 ; (Detail scan)
  14. ^ Wilhelm Kühlmann: Killy Literature Lexicon , 2nd edition, Volume 8, p. 506, Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 2010, ISBN 3110220474 ; (Digital scan of Johannes Nauclerus and the world chronicle published by Basellius)
  15. ↑ Irtenkauf 1959, p. 36 f.
  16. ^ A b Günter Eckstein: Photogrammetric inventory documentation of the monastery of St. Peter and Paul and the ducal castle in Hirsau. In: Der Landkreis Calw: a yearbook 1986. pp. 129–144.
  17. ↑ Elm tree. Poem by Ludwig Uhland (1829)
  18. ^ Albrecht Lass-Adelmann: The Marienkapelle in Hirsau Monastery - collection of material for monastery guides; Contents: history, choir window, inscriptions , library room; ed. Ev. Hirsau rectory, Hirsau 2009
  19. ↑ Evangelical monastery sites in Württemberg ; Magazine in the “Traces” series; ed. Evangelical Church in Württemberg, Ev. Oberkirchenrat; Stuttgart 2018, page 50
  20. ↑ Otto Teschauer: The ruins and their exploration. On the history of the excavations. In: Hirsau: St. Peter and Paul 1091–1991. Theiss, Stuttgart 1991, Vol. 1, pp. 73-138.
  21. ^ "Abbot Volland and the convent of Hirsau sell the village of Rietenau and the patronage rights of the church there to the Predigerkloster Steinheim with the permission of the Bishop of Speyer", October 6, 1262, Württembergisches Urkundenbuch Volume VI., No. 1681, page 82 [accessed on February 24, 2017]
  22. ↑ "Abbot Volland von Hirsau certifies that he has left the village of Rietenau and all its accessories, in particular the patronage rights of the church, to the Steinheim monastery for purchase", 1262 (not before October 6th), Württembergisches Urkundenbuch, Volume VI., No. 1682, Page 82-83. In: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg [accessed on February 24, 2017]
  23. ↑ "The provost of the larger church, the dean and the provost of S. Wido in Speyer testify that the Steinheim monastery bought a mill in Steinheim, the village of Rietenau and a farm in Benningen from Abbot Volland and the convent in Hirsau", Württembergisches Urkundenbuch Volume VI., No. 1728, Page 129, October 1263. In: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg [accessed on February 25, 2017]
  24. ^ "Bishop Heinrich von Speyer approves the sale of the village and the patronage rights of the church in Rietenau by Hirsau Monastery to Steinheim Monastery", Württembergisches Urkundenbuch Volume VI., No. 1741, Pages 140-141, March 1264. In: Baden State Archives -Wuerttemberg [accessed on February 25, 2017]
  25. ↑ "Prior B. of the Holy Sepulcher in Speyer, as deputy of the provost of St. Wido there, issued a controversial knowledge against the latter in a dispute between the Steinheim monastery and the community of Rietenau and instructed the chamberlain in Murr to take possession of the former des claims to set ", Württembergisches Urkundenbuch Volume VI., No. 1757, page 154, August 19, 1264. In: Baden-Württemberg State Archives [accessed on February 25, 2017]
  26. ^ "Provost Otto von St. Wido in Speyer orders the treasurer in Murr to solemnly excommunicate if the municipality of Rietenau continues to refuse to recognize the property, patronage and other rights in Rietenau that have been purchased from Hirsau monastery to Steinheim monastery and to prove with the interdict ", Württembergisches Urkundenbuch Volume VI., No. 1835, Pages 230-231, October 15, 1265>. In: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg [accessed on February 25, 2017]
  27. ↑ "Abbot Volland and the convent of Hirsau sell their village Rietenau with the patronage right there to the Steinheim monastery", Württembergisches Urkundenbuch Volume VII., No. 2171, pages 111-112, September 29, 1270. In: Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg [accessed on 25 February 2017]
  28. ^ Max Wilberg, Regent Tables, 1906, and K. Schreiner, 1975

Coordinates: 48 ° 44 ′ 16.1 ″  N , 8 ° 43 ′ 55.6 ″  E