Malgarten Monastery

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Gatehouse of the former Malgarten monastery
Former monastery viewed from the Hase
Church of the former Malgarten monastery, viewed from the north
Church of the former Malgarten monastery, viewed from the southeast
Culture barn on the site of the former monastery

The Malgarten monastery is a former Benedictine monastery in the Malgarten district of the municipality of Bramsche in the Osnabrück district ( Lower Saxony ). The monastery itself was founded in 1175 , originally in Essen / Oldenburg in the Cloppenburg district . It existed in Malgarten from 1194 until secularization in 1803 . Today the church and rectory are in ecclesiastical ownership and the former monastery buildings, which are under monument protection , are privately owned.

Foundation in Essen / Oldenburg

The Benedictine convent was founded by the Counts of Tecklenburg ( County of Tecklenburg ). The original monastery, probably a foundation of Count Simon von Tecklenburg and his mother Eilika , in Essen / Oldenburg burned down in 1194. The monastery was then moved to Malgarten Castle, which belonged to the Counts of Tecklenburg.

Monastery in Malgarten

Malgarten Castle, five kilometers northeast of Bramsche on the arm of the Hase River that flows into the Ems , is located on the site of an early medieval fortification. Excavations from 1987 to 1990 indicated a settlement that dates back to the later Roman Empire. The Tecklenburg counts built a castle here, which was converted into a monastery.

Monastery church

The monastery church of St. John dates from the transition from Romanesque to Gothic in the first half of the 13th century. The hall church with baroque furnishings was rebuilt several times. A three-window group dates from the third decade of the 12th century. After a fire in 1490, the nave received late Gothic windows. The church tower is south of the nave. It was originally larger than the present one. A special feature of the church in this region is the baroque stucco ceiling. It is attributed to the sculptor Joseph Geitner. In the choir there are choir stalls from 1605 with flat carvings on the north and south sides. The pulpit (around 1725) with the depiction of the four evangelists on the pulpit and the church fathers Hieronymus , Augustinus , Gregory the Great , Ambrosius and a bishop (probably Benno II of Osnabrück ) on the bell is by Thomas Simon Jöllemann (* 1670). Johann Adam Berner the Elder Ä. probably designed the organ front from the baroque era . The monstrance was made in 1668 by the Osnabrück goldsmith Johannes Sixtus Hartmann.

Monastery building

Of the original three or four wings of the monastery building, only the west wing, the convent wing , has been preserved. It was built around 1230 and significantly rebuilt in the beginning and middle of the 18th century. Remains of late Gothic paintings are preserved on the late Romanesque cloister . In 1991/1992 a fresco was uncovered on the back showing the head and staff of a saint. Presumably this is Saint Jerome. The ceilings of the refectory and the abbess's living quarters in the convent wing were decorated with stucco in 1734 and 1735. A side wing, which was built in 1736, was largely demolished in 1893. A two-storey extension from 1480 has been preserved to the south of the tower. Two late Gothic windows on the ground floor date from the construction period. The stucco ceiling there is the work of Joseph Geitner (around 1750).

Church records

Heinrich Gosmann from Stemwede copied and mapped the parish registers of the monastery church.

Monastery history

After the Reformation , the Benedictine monastery remained, but the number of women religious decreased significantly. The parish of Bramsche became Protestant after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, and monastery life was continued. In 1738 the monastery was elevated to an abbey. It was abolished in 1803.

After the repeal in 1803

The monastery church of St. Johannes became the parish church for the Catholic population from Bramsche, Achmer, Epe, Hesepe, Kalkriese and Sögeln in 1815. The Amt Vörden used the monastery buildings from 1817 for administrative purposes. Between 1937 and 1956, parts of the monastery were used as a school camp by the Möser Middle School from Osnabrück (today Möser Realschule am Westerberg ). In the period from 1986 to 1987 the gatehouse as well as the farm building were used as an association youth training center. After that, the monastery buildings went into private ownership as they deteriorated. The buildings have been completely restored. Since 2000 it has housed the “Gallery in the Malgarten Monastery” as well as dining facilities, a cabinet-making workshop and an office for garden and landscape architecture . The Osnabrück artist Claus Gero Heitmann (* 1950) lived and worked in Malgarten Monastery from 1999 to 2011.

On the first weekend in December 2017, the native Bramsch light artist Oliver Roth organized a “Winter Monastery Lighting” on the monastery grounds.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.noz.de/artikel/285983/maler-claus-gero-heitmann-verlasst-malgarten

Coordinates: 52 ° 26 ′ 51 ″  N , 8 ° 1 ′ 36 ″  E