Mittelmünster Monastery (Regensburg)
The monastery means Munster is a former convent of Benedictine nuns in Regensburg in Bavaria in the diocese of Regensburg . The monastery, consecrated to St. Paul, was founded in 983 by St. Wolfgang , Bishop of Regensburg. The extinct monastery and all its possessions were converted into a Jesuit college in 1588 . After the dissolution of the Jesuit order in 1773, it was converted into an episcopal foundation. In 1781 it became the seat of the seminary . In 1809 the complex was destroyed by the effects of the war.
location
The Mittelmünster monastery was located in the old town of Regensburg between Fröhliche-Türken-Strasse in the east, Obermünsterstrasse in the north, St.-Peters-Weg in the south and Obermünsterstrasse with the Reichsstift Obermünster in the west. The name of Jesuitenplatz still bears witness to the existence of the monastery, which was taken over by the Jesuits after its dissolution in 1588 and completely destroyed in 1809 .
History as a women's monastery and women's monastery
The Bishop Wolfgang von Regensburg founded the St. Paul Monastery under the rule of St. Benedict and consecrated it on June 29, 983. This foundation should be exemplary for the monasteries Ober- and Niedermünster , whose canonesses were bound by less strict rules. However, the project did not prove successful. The offspring of the monastery came mainly from the nobility, whose members did not want to forego their freedom and viewed the monastery primarily as a supply institute. Little by little, the way of life resembled the other two Regensburg monasteries instead of setting an example for them. This development was formally accepted when the monastery was recognized as a secular women's monastery in 1497. The number of canonesses in the following 100 years, also as a result of the Reformation , steadily declined from eleven canonesses in 1472 to five in 1555 and two in 1588. Even the simple rules of the canonesses were no longer observed 1588 came to the abolition of the monastery by Pope Sixtus V.
History as a Jesuit monastery and seminary
In the following years, monks of the Jesuit order moved into the buildings of the monastery . The Regensburg magistrate rejected a Jesuit monastery in Regensburg. It was not until the 1580s that the Jesuits were able to convince the Regensburg magistrate with the help of the Bavarian Duke Wilhelm V the Pious. On January 9, 1587, the foundation of a Jesuit monastery in the old nunnery was confirmed by the papacy. In 1591 the monastery church was partially demolished and rebuilt according to plans by Giuseppe Valeriani . After the renovation, the monastery church appeared as a single-nave wall pillar church. The result was a monastery school, which in 1591 already had 200 students. As the number of pupils continued to increase, the convent building in which classes took place was expanded several times in 1609 and 1619. In 1633, during the Thirty Years' War , the Jesuits left Regensburg for a year. They were forced to leave the city by the Swedish troops, who had conquered Regensburg in 1633 and occupied it for a year until 1634, because of their Evangelical Lutheran creed. In the 18th century the monastery was renovated and expanded. For example, a new observatory was built .
In 1773 the Jesuit monastery was closed, the building was transferred to an episcopal foundation and from 1781 onwards it was used as the diocese's seminary. In 1809 the monastery burned down during the conquest of Regensburg by French troops when the entire south-eastern city area caught fire. The ruins of the monastery were then torn down. the basement rooms were preserved and are now used by discos . The above-ground square, where there is also a large parking garage, bears the name Jesuitenplatz and has been rebuilt since 2018 after the demolition of the western, former perimeter development. Immediately to the west is the Obermünsterplatz with the Obermünsterstift . On the area adjoining it to the south, west of the parking garage on Petersweg, there are the buildings of the diocesan administration and the diocesan library, newly built around 1960.
Web links
- Mittelmünster Monastery (Regensburg) , basic data and history: The Mittelmünster in Regensburg - only one street sign has remained in the database of monasteries in Bavaria in the House of Bavarian History
Coordinates: 49 ° 0 '57 " N , 12 ° 5' 48" E