Lorch Monastery
The Lorch Monastery is a former Benedictine abbey in Lorch in Baden-Württemberg ( Germany ). It was the house monastery of the Hohenstaufen .
history
middle Ages
The Lorch Benedictine monastery was founded around 1102 by Duke Friedrich I of Staufer and his family. The so-called founding deed has meanwhile turned out to be a forgery from the second half of the 12th century, but should essentially reflect the facts correctly. Lorch was subordinate to the Pope , as was customary for monasteries under the Hirsau Reform , but the Staufers retained the bailiwick .
The beginnings of the lordship of Lorch Monastery were modest, regardless of the power of its founders. The founding equipment of the Benedictine monastery initially comprised the Hohenstaufen property in Lorch and individual properties around the Hohenstaufen and north of the Rems . In addition, the Hohenstaufen gave their monastery remote ownership. This certainly included Ebermergen near Harburg . Further ownership in the Ries is possible. Possibly from the Salians , ie from the dowry of the imperial daughter Agnes , the wife of Frederick I, the goods on the Albuch near Bolheim and perhaps also those around the hamlet of Hohenlohe on the Härtsfeld . From 1140 to 1208 the abbey served as one of the tombs of the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
The forces were initially directed towards the construction of the church and closed buildings. It was not until 1139 that the transfer of the deceased Staufer from the collegiate church to the new monastery church could be considered. Thanks to the support of King Konrad III. the monastery made good progress.
The situation of the monastery in the later Staufer period can be described as good. At the turn of the 13th century, the abbey church was provided with decorative pillars and a tower over the crossing , which also made the Staufer burial place visually effective from the outside.
The Hohenstaufen collapse meant acute danger for the monastery: former ministerials claimed individual rights, which could mostly be redeemed with money. The attack of Count Ulrich I of Württemberg was even more dangerous . He tried to take over the bailiwick of the monastery. Even Walter II. Schenk von Limpurg called advocacies about different places monastery. Ultimately, however, none of them could enforce their claims. The monastery found support from the Lords of Rechberg . In addition, Lorch was able to rely on a system of mutual support from the neighboring monasteries such as Murrhardt , Komburg and Anhausen , just as the abbot came to help them with disputes.
After the Habsburg King Rudolf I was elected as king , he placed the Lorch Monastery under the reign of the empire in 1274. As a result, it was drawn into its conflicts with Count Eberhard I of Württemberg. The Benedictines got into a quandary because they wanted to expand their estates around Stuttgart-Münster , in the middle of the center of power in Württemberg. The result was the entering into a protective relationship with the Count in 1291, immediately after Rudolf's death.
At the beginning of the 14th century the abbey fell into a serious crisis. On the one hand, their area was devastated by the frequent military campaigns in the country, on the other hand, the foundations declined noticeably in terms of size and number. A last major transfer concerned goods in Bietigheim , Bissingen and Hohenhaslach in 1279 . The monastery was now forced to sell its property, with Bolheim, Dettingen am Albuch and Erpfenhausen losing an entire complex of goods. The low point was reached around 1329: Pope John XXII. had to order Abbot Kuno von Gundelfingen, who had already resigned, to continue to serve as a nurse.
The arduous renovation went hand in hand with a change in the leading circles in the monastery. Lorch came under the influence of the East Swabian noble families Schechingen , Woellwarth and Arberg .
The increase in power of Württemberg in eastern Swabia ultimately meant that the abbot and the convent could not evade its rule, even if the monastery was nominally under the bailiwick of the empire for a long time. The interests of the Remstal monastery were soon so closely linked with Württemberg that there was no longer any possibility of independent territorial formation. The goods policy now aimed to round off the manorial rule north of the Rems through barter campaigns with other monasteries and the purchase of strategically important points such as Leineck Castle . Another goal was the expansion in the wine-growing areas on Enz and the middle Neckar . In particular, viticulture and trade now emerged as a source of money. Towards the end of the 14th century, the monks had given up the expensive direct management of their wineries around Stuttgart. With the economic recovery there were clear signs of a religious and cultural upswing. The affiliation with the Melker Reform initiated by Count Ulrich V in 1462 fitted seamlessly into this overall picture and met with little resistance. The noble abbot Nikolaus Schenk von Arberg was soon replaced by the middle-class Jodokus Winkelhofer.
The reform resulted in lively construction activity, which, together with the count's demands for money, caused a new financial crisis. The monastery responded by renewing and intensifying its rights, which in turn provoked the anger of its subjects.
The monastery had gradually sold its possessions on the Ulmer Alb and on the Härtsfeld, i.e. outside the Württemberg sphere of power. Abbot Georg Kerler compensated for the involvement in the state with an active country-class policy. In the power vacuum during Duke Ulrich's minority , he was offered the perspective of imperial immediacy again for a historical moment , but it was not used consistently enough. Under Abbot Sebastian Sitterich, Lorch returned to close cooperation with the Duke. Perhaps the Benedictines recognized at that time that their means of power were too small. In Poor Conrad in 1514 and the Peasants' War in 1525, this then stepped clearly evident. The monks were plundered by the rebellious farmers and the buildings set on fire. The monastery found it difficult to recover from the damage. In addition, it was already threatened by secularization , as the Württemberg states saw it as an easy way out of the duchy's debt crisis. Although the Habsburgs still held their hands over the prelates (and had the protection paid dearly), the return of the expelled Duke Ulrich in 1534 meant the introduction of the Reformation , the expulsion of the monks and compulsory administration for Lorch. Nothing was changed in the structure of the manor, as the duke was interested in keeping it as a special estate over which the estates had no influence. The administrators did nothing about the debts that had accumulated since 1525. Through the Augsburg interim , the monks were allowed to return in 1548. The renovation was successful under the new abbot Benedict, but the days of the Benedictine monastery were numbered.
reformation
In 1556, Duke Christoph abolished the Benedictine abbey and ordered the establishment of a monastery school , which was financed from the income of the manor. The last Catholic abbot died in 1563, in the future the duke appointed evangelical abbots to manage the former monastery. They had the right to vote in the Württemberg state parliament and were soon referred to as prelates .
In 1583 - probably due to the poor economic situation of the monastery - the monastery school was closed by order of Duke Ludwig von Württemberg together with the monastery schools in Anhausen and Denkendorf , and from then on the students attended the school of the Adelberg monastery .
Early modern age
During the Thirty Years War , Catholic monks came to Lorch twice, but could not last long. Since 1727 the title of abbot has been linked to the Chancellery of the University of Tübingen . It was only with the elevation of Württemberg to a kingdom and the associated reorganization of the national territory in Napoleonic times that the monastery office was also dissolved. It went on in 1807 formed Oberamt Lorch (from 1820 Oberamt Welzheim ).
National Socialism
In 1932, the Protestant Württemberg regional church made the rooms of the monastery available for a Protestant farmer's school . From autumn 1934, the Nazi state banned the church from using the rooms, dissolved the farmers 'school and instead set up a National Socialist farmers' college . It was financed by the Reichsnährstand , taught the blood-and-soil ideology and existed until 1945.
From 1937 the monastery church was declared a "Staufer memorial and ... place for National Socialist celebrations". Celebrations of the NSDAP and the SS were held here, as well as National Socialist "marriage consecrations", " youth consecrations " and from 1940 also "hero celebrations" for fallen soldiers. The common model of these celebrations was the glorification of the Hohenstaufen, in whose tradition the National Socialists saw themselves.
building
The monastery church is a Romanesque pillar basilica with a transept and a separate crossing . On the west side stood two round stair towers, the north of which collapsed in the 15th century. The southern tower was restored in 1881 and one story increased. Today it significantly shapes the silhouette of the entire complex. A crossing tower, which was erected around 1200, disappeared again at the end of the Middle Ages, perhaps as a result of the fire damage in the Peasants' War in 1525. For a long time , the choir carried a roof turret . Two grave chapels for the noble families Woellwarth and Schechingen , which had been separated in the transverse arms, were removed again in the 19th century in favor of the spatial impression. The tombs are or are now on the outer walls of the church building. The Romanesque choir, originally round on the inside and flat on the outside, was replaced by a longer Gothic 3/8 choir after the reform in 1462 . Since the cloister was on the east side and not, as usual, on the south side of the church, the choir was stepped in a stepped manner so that the cloister could pass under the choir closure. Like the cloister, the cloister buildings were on the east side, so that a strictly axial structure with a monumental effect was created, despite the comparatively small dimensions. The model for this was perhaps the Heiligenberg monastery near Heidelberg . Today only the north wing of the enclosure is preserved. It is discussed again and again whether there could be connections to Maria Laach Abbey , where the church has a similar basic concept and where the first abbot Harbert supposedly came from. The so-called abbey was built at the beginning of the 16th century as the representative residence of the prelate and still has beautiful coats of arms on the facade. In addition, considerable remains of the old fortifications have been preserved, including an old defense tower. The farm buildings were converted into a retirement home.
Art treasures
According to records from the 16th century, the monastery must have owned a great many relics and works of art. The library should also have been very extensive. Because of the Peasants' War and the Reformation, hardly anything has been preserved. The Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart keeps the so-called Lorcher Choir Books , three splendidly furnished choir books (two antiphonaries and one gradual ), which were written in 1511/12. One of the main artistic works in the monastery church is the late Gothic Staufer tomb , which was created in 1475 by an unknown sculptor from Göppingen. Probably around 1530 the pillars were provided with the Staufer portraits that are still visible today. Despite several overpaintings, the formal language of the Renaissance is easy to recognize.
There are also numerous tombs of members of the von Schechingen and von Woellwarth families as well as abbots from the 14th to 16th centuries in the church. A remnant of the originally unpainted choir stalls has been preserved in the St. Afra Church in Täferrot , where it was added to its choir in 1565. It was painted there in 1683 and supplemented and renovated in 1906.
Todays use
Lorch Monastery is open for tours. It is one of the state's own monuments and is looked after by the State Palaces and Gardens of Baden-Württemberg .
The 130 m² Staufer round picture by Hans Kloss, completed in 2002, is located in the chapter house of the monastery .
A Staufer stele has stood in front of the entrance to the monastery since 2008 . It was inaugurated on the 800th anniversary of the death of Irene von Byzantium , wife of the Staufer King Philip of Swabia , who is buried in the monastery.
Also at the entrance to the monastery is the Staufer falconry monastery Lorch .
Abts list
Abbots before the Reformation
- Harbert 1102? -1124?
- Force 1135-1162
- Heinrich 1171–1194
- Werner around 1200
- Frederick I 1239
- Conrad 1251
- Ulrich (I.) 1260-1284
- Gebzo 1290-1303
- Friedrich (II.) 1308-1328
- Kuno von Gundelfingen 1329-1330 (continued to serve as the custodian of the monastery until 1332)
- Ulrich (II.) 1333
- Ludwig von Stubenberg 1333–1371 († 1374)
- Volkart (I.) von Schechingen 1372–1389
- Volkart (II.) Von Woellwarth 1391–1399
- Johannes von Schechingen 1400-1412
- Wilhelm Schenk von Arberg 1414–1441
- Volkart (III.) Von Schechingen 1443–1461
- Nikolaus Schenk von Arberg 1462–1477 († 1479)
- Jodokus Winkelhofer 1477-1480
- Georg Kerler 1481–1510, came from a family of bakers, coat of arms with pretzel in the southern transept
- Sebastian Sitterich 1510–1525, coat of arms with five flying parakeets at the north-western end of the church on the pillar
- Laurentius Autenrieth 1525–1548 († 1549), came from a miller's family, coat of arms with millstone
- Benedikt Rebstock 1548–1563
Evangelical abbots
- Georg Udal 1573–1576
- Abel Weinlin (Vinarius) 1577–1602
- Jacob Magirus 1602-1624
- Melchior Nicolai 1625-1627
- Jakob von Grab 1627–1630
Catholic abbots at the time of restitution in the Thirty Years War
- Friedrich Kohler (administrator) 1630–1632
Evangelical abbot
- Johann Jakob Albich 1633–1634
Catholic abbots at the time of restitution in the Thirty Years War
- Friedrich Kohler 1634–1639
- Vincentius Haug 1639-1641
- Placidus Rauber 1641-1648
Evangelical abbots
- Wendel Bilfinger 1651–1661
- Johann Jakob Müller 1662–1669
- Johann Christian Hengheer 1669–1671
- Christoph Wölfflin 1671–1680
- Joachim Martini 1683–1697
- Georg Burkhard Knebel 1699–1703
- Michael Förtsch 1703–1705
- Johann Wendel Bilfinger 1707–1713
- Christoph Zeller 1713-1727
- Christian Matthäus Pfaff 1727–1756
- Jeremias Friedrich Reuss 1757–1777
- Christian Friedrich Sartorius 1777–1785
- Johann Friedrich LeBret 1786–1805
- Christian Friedrich Schnurrer 1806
Sources and literature
swell
Most of the documents and stock books that have been preserved are in the Stuttgart Main State Archives under the call numbers A 499 and H 102/45. For the Red Book of the Lorch Monastery (around 1500), which was badly damaged in the Second World War, and the genealogical forgeries by Hansmartin Decker-Hauff, see the note from Konrad III. (HRR) .
Individual evidence
- ^ Peter Koblank: Staufer graves. Only a few of the most prominent Hohenstaufen are buried in Germany. on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
- ↑ Eckart Häußler, Ingrid Häußler: NS-Bauernschule im Kloster Lorch , in: Manfred Schramm (editor), history workshop of VHS Lorch (publisher): City and Kloster Lorch under National Socialism , Schwäbisch Gmünd 2004, ISBN 3-936373-15-9 , P. 103 ff.
- ↑ Manfred Schramm: Lorch Monastery - Staufer Memorial and Nazi Consecration Site , in: Schramm, p. 109 ff.
- ↑ www.schloesser-magazin.de ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Website of Hans Kloss with detailed documentation of the Staufer round picture
- ↑ Lorch Monastery 2008 on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ Peter Koblank: Staufer falconry monastery Lorch on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
literature
The articles in the Germania Benedictina and in the Württemberg monastery book provide a first introduction:
- Klaus Graf in: Wolfgang Zimmermann / Nicole Priesching (Hrsg.): Württembergisches Klosterbuch. Monasteries, monasteries and religious orders from the beginning to the present, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 3-7995-0220-3 Online .
- Wolfgang Seiffer, in: Franz Quarthal (arrangement): The Benedictine monasteries in Baden-Württemberg, in collaboration with Hansmartin Decker-Hauff, Klaus Schreiner and the Institute for Historical Regional Studies Tübingen (Germania Benedictina 5), St. Ottilien 1975, ISBN 3- 88096-605-2 .
Two anthologies are fundamental:
- Felix Heinzer u. a. (Ed.): 900 years of Lorch Monastery. A Staufer foundation from departure for reform. Contributions to a conference of the Württemberg History and Antiquity Association […] on September 13 and 14, 2002 in Lorch (VKBW), Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-17-018276-5 .
- Peter Wanner (Red.): Lorch - Contributions to the history of the city and monastery. Heimatbuch der Stadt Lorch, 2 volumes, Lorch 1990 (contributions by Klaus Graf, Hermann Kissling, Hermann Ehmer and others). Vol. 1 is online at Heidelberg University Library
Web links
- Official website of Lorch Abbey
- Benedictine Abbey Lorch in the database of monasteries in Baden-Württemberg of the Baden-Württemberg State Archives
- Klaus Graf: Staufer traditions from Lorch Abbey (PDF; 7.1 MB)
- Klaus Graf: Staufer traditions in Lorch Abbey (PDF; 2.2 MB)
- Lorch Monastery
- 3D model of the Lorch Monastery on sketchfab.com. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
Coordinates: 48 ° 47 ′ 55.5 " N , 9 ° 42 ′ 11.4" E