Marienthal Monastery (Geisenheim)

Marienthal Abbey Church

The Marienthal Monastery is a Franciscan branch near the Marienthal pilgrimage church in Marienthal . It belongs to the diocese of Limburg .

location

The Elsterbach flows through the monastery complex, which is located in a clearing at a height of approx. 200 m . The monastery is connected to the nearby Geisenheim district of Marienthal via Kreisstraße 984 .

Image of grace in the monastery church of Marienthal

History of the monastery

According to tradition, the history of the pilgrimage site began in 1309 with the miraculous healing of the blind hunter Hecker Henn , who had prayed in front of an image of Mary in the forest. The Junker Hans Schaffrait built a chapel in 1313 for the image of the Virgin Mary, a Pietà . Because of the rapidly growing stream of pilgrims and numerous healing reports, the chapel was replaced by a larger church from 1326. The consecration took place on the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary , September 8, 1330, by the then administrator of the Archdiocese of Mainz Baldwin . First secular priests officiated at the church .

In the 15th century the pilgrimage fell sharply until 1463 a convent of the Brothers of Common Life was established at the church. They brought about a spiritual as well as economic upswing through the establishment of a printing works, the seventh ever, only 28 years after Johannes Gutenberg's invention. Due to the influence of the Reformation and the pressure of economic difficulties, the Fraterherren Marienthal gave up around 1550.

In 1568 five Augustinian canons came to Marienthal from the Pfaffen-Schwabenheim monastery ; however, the settlement only existed until 1601.

In 1612 the complex was handed over to the Jesuits . They renewed the buildings and made the pilgrimage flourish again. The plague epidemic in the Rheingau in 1626 in particular led a large number of pilgrims to Marienthal. At the same time the Thirty Years War brought heavy destruction and losses. Then a new baroque upswing set in. It ended with the abolition of the Jesuit order in 1773. The image of grace was transferred to the parish church of Geisenheim . The demolition of the pilgrimage church, begun in 1782, was stopped when a bricklayer was killed during the work. The church remained in ruins and worshipers continued to come there.

In 1846, Prince Metternich , who came from Koblenz, bought the monastery complex and all associated property. In cooperation with the Prussian nobleman and envoy of the Russian Tsar von Maltitz and the Limburg bishop Peter Joseph Blum , a native of Geisenheim, he had the church restored. On the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary, September 8, 1858, the image was brought back to Marienthal, accompanied by several thousand pilgrims, and Bishop Blum consecrated the church.

Since 1873 - interrupted during the years of the Bismarck culture war - Franciscans have provided pastoral care for pilgrims. Their community was elevated to a regular monastery in 1908.