Ilmbach Monastery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The monastery in an old view

The Ilmbach Charterhouse is a former monastery of the Carthusian in the same district of Prichsenstadt in Bavaria in the diocese of Wuerzburg .

history

On November 23, 1453, knight Balthasar Fere von Berg and his wife Magdalena von Vestenberg acquired the Charterhouse grounds . They bought an old fortress from Anna von Rotenhan and donated it to the Carthusian Order. In addition, the monks Kreuzberg and Rüdern , as well as courtyards in Gräfenneuses , Gernach , Ober- and Unterspiesheim and Volkach ( Hauptstrasse 48 ) received it.

In 1454 the monastery was recognized by the order, but only received a prior in 1460. The first monks and lay brothers came from Nuremberg , Würzburg , Tückelhausen and Astheim . Ilmbach was still a poor Charterhouse because the foundations did not materialize. Only the Count von Castell bequeathed 52 guilders a year to the monastery.

The German Peasants' War also raged in Ilmbach. In 1525, farmers from Schlüsselfeld ravaged the monastery. The monks could not return until 1527. The constant lack of money moved the brothers in the 16th century to sell several goods in Obersambach.

In the years 1574–1629 the Charterhouse was filled. The monks of the Gruenau Charterhouse joined their friars because their monastery had been dissolved. In 1618 they tried to unite the Carthusians, but failed because of the bishop's resistance. The unusual situation was only reflected in the designation of the prior. He was called "Prior of Grünau and Rector of Ilmbach".

In 1631 the Swedes raged in Ilmbach during the Thirty Years' War . The prior was mistreated by them and died a short time later as a result of the ordeal. After the war, the monastery flourished. In 1639 and 1648 a pond and a mill could be bought. In 1741 the so-called Ilmbacher Hof in Iphofen was acquired . The secularization then ended the existence of the Charterhouse in 1803.

The subsequent owner, Baron Friedel, set up a cheese factory and a sugar factory in the crumbling buildings. In 1836 the remains of the monastery church still existed. The ruins disappeared until 1873. After that, a hunting lodge of the Counts of Schönborn was built on the site . The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation classifies the underground remains of the monastery as a ground monument.

architecture

The portal of the monastery is now in Gräfenneuses

The church, completed in 1456, formed the core of the complex. It had three altars and was located on the grounds of the fortress. The monks had previously celebrated their services in the castle chapel. Outside the moat were the monk cells and a chapel built especially for women, as they were not allowed into the convent church. As a result of the lack of donors, the superiors in the Grande Chartreuse thought about relocating the monastery, but this plan was never implemented.

The renovation of the monastery buildings began at the beginning of the 17th century. In 1609 the church was rebuilt in the German post-Gothic style. It was decorated with a Renaissance gable and onion domes . From 1621 a cloister, new monk cells and an apartment for the prior were built. In 1634 a portal system was built, which in 1750 was redesigned in Baroque style.

Shortly after the dissolution of the monastery, the church, a library, the prior's apartment, the chapter house , remains of the cloister and various farm buildings, as well as eleven hermitages still existed. The portal came to Gräfenneuses in 1848 , where it now serves as a farm gate for a farmer. This last relic of the Ilmbach Charterhouse is recorded by the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation together with the farm under monument number D-6-75-127-43. The state office lists the finds in the area of ​​the former monastery under the number D-6-6128-0111.

coat of arms

Unlike in many other Carthusian monasteries, no coat of arms has survived. However, the design of the emblem exists on several seals. They show, in slight variations over the centuries, Mary with the child in or behind a garden. There are various Latin sentences as transcription: "S CONVENTUS ORTI MARIAE IN ILMBACH CARTUSIENSIS ORDINIS" it reads 1476. In 1541 the seal is transcribed with "S CARITUS ORTI MARIAE I YLMBACH". From the 17th century onwards there are several seal inscriptions with different names.

literature

  • Koller, Michael (Ed.): Carthusians in Franconia . In: Brückner, Wolfgang; Lenssen, Jürgen (Hrsg.): Church, art and culture in Franconia. Volume 5 . Wuerzburg 1996.
  • Hutzler, Georg: The Carthusians and their Ilmbach monastery in the Steigerwald . Scheinfeld 1980.
  • Erik Soder v. Güldenstubbe: Ilmbach , in: Monasticon Cartusiense , ed. by Gerhard Schlegel, James Hogg, Volume 2, Salzburg 2004, 413–419.

Web links

Commons : Kartause (Ilmbach)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Koller, Michael (ed.): Carthusians in Franconia . P. 119.
  2. ^ House of Bavarian History: Ilmbach Charterhouse , accessed on April 2, 2013.
  3. ↑ Hutzler, Georg: The Carthusians and their Ilmbach monastery in the Steigerwald . P. 70.
  4. ↑ Koller, Michael (ed.): Carthusians in Franconia . P. 124.
  5. ↑ Hutzler, Georg: The Carthusians and their Ilmbach monastery in the Steigerwald . P. 50.
  6. ↑ Koller, Michael (ed.): Carthusians in Franconia . P. 120.
  7. ↑ Geodata: Monument number D-6-75-127-43 , accessed on April 2, 2013.
  8. ↑ Geodata: Monument number D-6-6128-0111 , accessed on April 2, 2013.
  9. ↑ Hutzler, Georg: The Carthusians and their Ilmbach monastery in the Steigerwald . P. 81 f.

Coordinates: 49 ° 48 ′ 14.4 "  N , 10 ° 24 ′ 31.7"  E