Marienthal Monastery (Haguenau)
The Marienthal Monastery goes back to a hermitage founded by Albert von Hagenau in 1240 . Around 1250 a monastery was added, the first monks belonged to the order of the Wilhelmites founded in the 13th century . It is located in the part of Marienthal belonging to the French city of Haguenau , about 4 km to the south-east from it.
In 1375, during the Hundred Years War , the statue of Mary venerated in the monastery was destroyed and in 1420 it was replaced by a Madonna and Child donated by Margrave Bernhard von Baden . This wooden statue of the Madonna and a wooden Pietà that was built around the same time became pilgrimage destinations.
In 1460 the building of a new church began, which could be completed in 1520 and during the Peasant Wars in 1525 it was devastated except for parts of the choir and the sacristy. Numerous post-Gothic sculptures ( keystones , reliefs , the death of the Virgin and a holy grave ) by Friedrich Hammer have been preserved from this period . The prior, who had been in office since 1520, joined the Reformation and sold the monastery to the city of Haguenau .
Jesuits had been working in Marienthal since 1617 , and the care of the pilgrimage ended when the Jesuit order was banned in France in 1765.
In 1863, the late Gothic building began to be replaced by the current church; construction was completed in 1866 with the consecration of the new church with the participation of 20,000 pilgrims. In 1889 the church was decorated by Martin von Feuerstein with frescoes on the history of the pilgrimage site. In 1892 the church was opened by Pope Leo XIII. elevated to a minor basilica . The damage to buildings and church windows that occurred during the Second World War was repaired between 1950 and 1984.
The complex still serves as a pilgrimage church and is looked after by Benedictine nuns .
literature
- Walter Hotz : Handbook of the art monuments in Alsace and Lorraine. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1965.
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 46 ′ 47 " N , 7 ° 48 ′ 57" E