Niederehe Monastery

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Monastery church in Niederehe

The Niederehe Monastery is a former Premonstratensian monastery in Niederehe , a district of the municipality of Üxheim ( Vulkaneifel district ) in Rhineland-Palatinate .

location

The monastery stands in the western area of ​​the district at a height of just over 400  m above sea level. NHN . To the north flows the Niedereher Bach, which flows a good 1.6 km further east into the Ahbach , a right tributary of the Ahr. From the Nohner Straße to the north, the Kerpener Straße leads in a southeast direction to the monastery. Also from Nohner Straße, albeit a few meters further east, Loogher Straße runs in a south-westerly direction. A triangular area is spanned by the stream and the two streets, on which the monastery stands in the middle. The area is fenced in by a wall made of uncut stones .

history

12th to 14th centuries

In 1162, three lords of Kerpen received a fundamental commitment from the archbishop of Cologne Rainald von Dassel to build a monastery. The three brothers Albero (1158–1197), Alexander (1168–1197) and Dietrich (1173–1201) and their sisters therefore began planning the building. It provided for a monastery for noble virgins to be built on their allod according to the Augustine rule in the valley of the Niedereher Bach . Between 1162 and 1175, craftsmen first erected the southern aisle of the monastery church, while the brothers brought together numerous properties and other sources of income to ensure the permanent financing of the monastery . Philip I von Heinsberg then confirmed the plans, so that the brothers began to build the monastery "allodium in villa, qua dicitur Ye" from 1175 onwards. Due to a decree by Archbishop Adolf I from 1197, it was not run by an abbess , but by a magistra . The reason was: "So that they don't become proud". She received church patronage and tithe in 1218 . In 1223 the convent was set to 25 nuns in order to “avoid overcrowding the monastery with useless people”. From this year, as well as from the years 1203 and 1218, other donations have come down to us, including land in Bachem and vineyards in Ahrweiler . In 1225 or 1226 the Archbishop of Cologne Heinrich I assigned it to the Steinfeld Abbey . From then on it was subject to the rules of the Premonstratensian Order. Over the years, the property and assets of the monastery have increased through (mostly) gifts and bequests from noble donors and residents. Archbishop Johann I, for example, bequeathed an Eternal Light and five pounds to the monastery . In addition, there was income from the indulgence trade , which the Bishop Aegidius of Jerusalem granted the monastery. The veneration of St. Anthony caused a brisk influx of pilgrims and pilgrims , which brought the monastery further income. Innocent IV placed the monastery under papal protection in a bull dated March 30, 1246 . This not only protected all privileges and indults , but also regulated the admission and resignation of the nuns.

15th to 18th century

In connection with the growing prosperity of the monastery, contemporary sources describe a "decline in monastic discipline and customs", although the latter is not elaborated. The administration worked increasingly carelessly and so the income of the monastery sank; there were even debts. From 1460, for example, it is known that the nuns owed a priest 34 Malter fruits and 18 Rhenish guilders . Attempts at reform remained unsuccessful. At the beginning of the 15th century, for example, Friedrich von Sombreff , a successor to the von Kerpen family, suggested that the monastery be run by Premonstratensian canons from Steinfeld. In the second half of the 15th century - the exact year is given in the various sources as 1461, 1474 and 1475 - a fire devastated the monastery building almost completely and parts of the church. For many believers, this was a sign from heaven that initiated the pressing reforms. After several years of reconstruction, Niederehe Abbey was converted into a male monastery in 1505 at the instigation of the then sovereign Count Diedrich IV of Manderscheid-Schleiden with papal approval, which, however, was still subordinate to the Steinfeld Premonstratensian Abbey, and has therefore now been inhabited by Premonstratensian canons and has been since 1504 the first reinstated prior Heinrich Engelen was subordinate. All existing goods were transferred to the new monastery, as were all inheritances. The reconciliation took place on August 22, 1505 in the presence of the Cologne suffragan bishop Theodorich. Here was high altar in honor of the Trinity , the Virgin Mary and in honor of John the Baptist , leodegar , Arnulf of Metz and the 10,000 martyrs consecrated . An altar in the sacristy and another side altar were also consecrated . The church now had a total of six altars. The restructuring was confirmed by Robert Graf von Virneburg from the county of Virneburg , who was abbot in Prüm at the time, in a document dated September 8, 1507. A few weeks later, on November 11, 1507, the monastery was given by Count Dietrich and himself Mrs. Margaretha 300 guilders as a loan, which had to be repaid annually in installments of 50 guilders each. The count and his wife received two Malter fruits as interest, at the same time they ceded all monies and pensions to the monastery that they received from Berenbach . A prior from Steinfeld took over the management. The restructuring had an effect: the intended economic upturn occurred. In 1514 there was income from Gudenheim, Carlsberg , Nohn , Oberehe-Stroheich , Walsdorf and Arendorf. In 1539 Leudersdorf was added. In 1541 there were considerations to move the monastery to Schleiden. However, the Steinfeld abbot Jakob Panhausen (1540–1582) opposed these plans by the Lords of Kerpen and so the monastery remained in Niederehe.

In 1567 the lords of Manderscheid-Schleiden converted to Protestantism in the course of the Confessio Augustana . While the nave was now used for Protestant services, the choir was reserved for the Catholic parish of Niederehe and the monastery, which was not dissolved. After the death of Count Diedrich IV von Manderscheid-Schleiden in 1593, the county became Catholic again and in 1595 Philipp von der Mark transferred the management of the monastery back to Steinfeld Abbey. Prior Eulenbroich was able to resume services on October 10, 1593. In 1674 the tithe was added from Nohn and in 1720 from Leudersdorf. In 1752 and 1782 extensive renovations and new buildings were carried out, most recently a new construction of the west wing.

19th to 21st century

The end of the monastery as a spiritual institution came at the beginning of the 19th century after the occupation of the left bank of the Rhine by French revolutionary troops during the Napoleonic Wars and the recognition of the annexation by the Peace of Luneville in 1801. In 1803 the monastery in the wake of was secularisation under Napoleon Bonaparte dissolved . The last prior of the monastery, Eberwin Eschweiler, became pastor of Niederehe. The monastery property fell to the French state and was auctioned on June 18, 1804 for 1260 thalers , with the church and parts of the monastery buildings going to the parish. The brewery brought in proceeds of 245 thalers; the monastery mill 360 thalers. The previously Cologne parish became the auxiliary parish of the canton of Lissendorf near Hillesheim and thus belonged to the diocese of Trier.

Since 1991, Niederehe has been the seat of a parish community to which the parishes in Üxheim, Nohn , Oberehe and Walsdorf also belong. In the former monastery church there are regular services as well as organ concerts around four times a year. It is a parish church , dedicated to the holy martyr Leodegar von Autun and open during the day. Guided tours only take place on certain dates or by arrangement. In the 21st century, the former monastery buildings are home to parish facilities and private apartments.

Building description

Monastery church from the south

South of the main nave is the significantly lower aisle. It is the oldest part of the church; its construction is dated between 1162 and 1175 and is popularly called ahle Kirch (old church). Presumably erected as a burial place for those of Kerpen, the patronage was with Saint Leodegar. Around 1200, craftsmen in the late Romanesque style built a hall church made of rubble stones north of the building . The ale church thus became a side aisle and received a groin vault , the western part of which was re-vaulted from 1500 to 1505. It is 2.86 meters wide and received large, rectangular windows in the 18th century.

The choir is easted , has not moved in and has a five-eighth closing . The quarry stones were given a white plaster . Individual elements were given a red-brown paint to create a visual structure, such as the corners of the choir, which look like pilaster strips . In the lower area in each of the five choir fields there is a small arched window, the reveal of which is also emphasized by the paint. At the height of the transom , round arches connect the individual facade elements.

On the north side of the nave, at the eastern end, is a small rectangular extension with an ox-eye on the eastern facade. Above are two arched windows arranged in pairs. The monastery building extends to the north, thus covering the last three clogged windows. The church tower is located on the south side at the transition between the choir and the nave . To the west, the craftsmen built three raised window groups, each with two arched windows arranged in pairs. In the middle is a rectangular gate, to the west, since 1905, two round windows, which are decorated with colored emblems of St. Leodegar. The ship, including the choir, is 33.5 meters long and around 6.5 meters wide. It has four yokes with cross vaults , the belt arches are richly decorated. The western wall is comparatively simple with a large gate that serves as an entrance in the 21st century. A window with a quatrefoil allows light to enter the gallery . The ship has a hipped roof .

The almost square tower is built on to the south of the church. It has four floors ; On the bell floor there are two coupled sound arcades in a round arch opening . It ends with an eight-fold tent roof .

On the north side of the church is the cloister courtyard, which is bordered in the north and west by the former monastery buildings, which have been built at right angles to one another, and which opens to the east towards the village. The north wing was built around 1650. The west wing was almost completely rebuilt in the years 1776–1782 on older foundation walls and is directly connected to the church. Both monastery wings have two full floors above the cellar vault and extended mansard roofs with dormer windows . Like the church, they are made of quarry stone and plastered. The entire complex is white in the 21st century, with the window and door frames and other decorative elements such as window rosettes or corner pilasters being contrasted in color and predominantly in a red-brown color .

Furnishing

Altar and stalls

Look into the choir

The high altar was built around 1700, changed in 1928 and returned to its original state in the 21st century. The tabernacle stands between two twisted columns. On the side is the inscription "Get up and eat, you still have a long way to go" ( 1st Book of Kings 19, 1-8). Above it are two further columns with a crucifix in the middle . They bear a stone relief , which is set in an arched, wooden frame and shows the Descent from the Cross . Two side altars from the 18th century, which were repaired in the 19th century, are missing. Reliefs of Saint Leodegar and Norbert von Xanten were placed in the main field . In 1964 the parish removed a wooden pulpit decorated with cartilage from the 17th century. The two-part choir stalls , each with seven seats, dates back to 1530. The wooden walls are divided into fields with tracery on top . Figures of Mary , John the Baptist and Saints Leodegar and Augustine are placed in the cheeks . The stalls originally stood on the north and south walls of the choir behind a wrought iron grille from 1643, which was decorated with a coat of arms of the Steinfeld Abbey. In 1964 the parish put the pews on both sides of the nuns choir . Next to it are benches from the 16th century, which are decorated, among other things, with the coats of arms and figural reliefs of friars and scholars. During the last renovation, the choir grille was moved to end the nuns' gallery and was shortened from the original 5 meters.

High grave of Count Philipp von der Mark

In the western part of the south aisle is the high grave of Count Philipp von der Mark, who died in 1613, and his wife Katharina von Manderscheid-Schleiden, who died in 1593. A hitherto unknown artist created the work from Belgian marble around 1625 with three-quarter figure relief images of the deceased. At an earlier time it stood in front of the high altar and, as evidenced by an inscription on the foot console, it came into the aisle in 1907. After the pastor Heinrich Josef Pfaffenhausen had the high grave demolished in the 20th century, individual parts of it were lost. On the initiative of the Trier diocese conservator and the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Mainz, however, individual parts of the grave were secured and brought together again. The figure plate is 2.25 m wide and 2.42 m long. The Countess' ancestral coats of arms can be found on the tumba ; the plate with the Count's coat of arms is missing, as is the epitaph. Other epitaphs recall, among others, Katharina von Veyder, who died in 1700.

Further equipment

There are art-historically significant elements on each side of the nave. On the north wall in the direction of the choir, this is a half-length figure of Leodegar about 85 cm high, which was created in the 17th century. It was originally placed to the side of the tabernacle as part of the high altar. In the middle yoke is a 2.65 m high triumphal cross from around 1500. To the west, a figure of Saint Mauritius can be seen on the wall , next to it a horse figure , which probably comes from the branch chapel in Heyroth. On the south side there is an approximately one meter high representation of Antonius from the 17th century and Hermann Joseph von Steinfeld . The latter figure was originally also in Heyroth. The ensemble is completed with Hedwig von Andechs . In front of the western gallery wall, Christophorus is depicted iconographically as a giant with a staff who carries the baby Jesus on his shoulders. The figure is around 85 cm high and dates from the 17th century. The Mother of God came to Niederehe from the open gable of the main altar of the chapel in Heyroth . The figure stands on the eastern end wall in the Antonius Chapel in the southern aisle. In a niche there is a wooden figure from the 18th century showing Judas Thaddäus . Also worth seeing is a wall painting of the Leodegar from around 1500, which was secured during the last renovation. Much earlier, in 1904, the painting in the choir from the 13th century was secured and restored in 1963 in its original color.

organ

König organ in the monastery church in Niederehe

The church organ is the first work of the master organ builder Balthasar König and was built in the Baroque style in 1714/1715 . According to records from the parish archive in Niederehe, König received 285 Reichstaler and two wine deliveries for the work. It is considered the oldest baroque organ or the oldest playable organ in Rhineland-Palatinate and has eleven registers . In 1997/1998 an extensive restoration and partial reconstruction to restore the original condition was carried out by the company Orgelbau Fasen . Due to the restored, authentic timbre, the organ is only suitable for compositions that have no more than three accidentals . The craftsmen moved the instrument to the west wall of the gallery. The prospectus consists of slender side towers that connect a round console.

I main work
1. Portun 8th'
2. Copel 8th'
3. Principal 4 '
4th Fleute dous 4 '
5. Cornet 2 2 / 3 '
6th Super octave 2 '
7th Solcena 2f 2 2 / 3 '+1 3 / 5 '
8th. Mixture 4f 1'
9. Trumpet 8th' B / D
pedal
10. Sub-bass 16 '
11. Octave bass 8th'
12. Trumpet 8th'

Monument protection

The west wing (Im Klosterhof 1 and 2) from 1776, the north wing, which is now divided into residential units (Im Klosterhof 3, 4 and 5), the surrounding wall made of rubble and the current parish church and its inventory are designated as the monument zone "Im Klosterhof 1–5".

tourism

Several marked hiking trails touch the monastery or pass in the immediate vicinity, including the Hillesheim Geo-Path and the Eifelkrimi -Wanderweg. Only a few meters away from the monastery, the Kalkeifel cycle path runs in the valley of the Niedereher Bach as a "theme route" and part of a national long - distance cycle network .

literature

  • Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection (Ed.): Niederehe Monastery in the community of Üxheim (Eifel) , 2nd improved edition 1992, ISBN 3-88094-708-2 , p. 16.

Web links

Commons : Kloster Niederehe  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map service of the landscape information system of the Rhineland-Palatinate nature conservation administration (LANIS map) ( notes )
  2. ↑ Bernd Brauksiepe: Üxheim - Monastery Niederehe. Historical outline . In: Monasteries and monasteries in Rhineland-Palatinate, accessed on March 26, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Heinz Reuter: A light in the Eifel. 625 years of Niederehe monastery ; Heimatjahrbucharchiv Landkreis Vulkaneifel, year 1994, p. 198
  4. ↑ Peter Kees: "Monastery Niederehe in the community of Üxheim (Eifel)", published in the brochure of the same name by the Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, p. 3.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Ferdinand Pauly: St. Leodegar Niederehe. Parish of Niederehe: The St. Leodegar monastery in Niederehe (Eifel) ; updated by I. Berens. Homepage of the parish office of Üxheim-Niederehe.
  6. ↑ a b c d Entry on former Premonstratensian monastery (Niederehe, municipality of Üxheim, Im Klosterhof) in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  7. ^ Ingrid Joester: Abbots and Canons of the Premonstratensian Monastery Steinfeld . Germania Sacra. Supplementary tape 2.2. Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Göttingen 2018, ISBN 978-3-946048-15-2 , p. 287 ( online in Google Book Search).
  8. ↑ a b Travel guide of the Premonstratensian Order to the present and former monasteries in the German-speaking area: Niederehe in Üxheim (Vulkaneifel district) ; Hamborn Premonstratensian Abbey. According to the homepage, the information is without guarantee.
  9. ↑ Bernd Brauksiepe: Üxheim - Monastery Niederehe. History of architecture and art. In: klosterlexikon-rlp. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Entry on former Premonstratensian monastery - Hochgrab (Niederehe, community Üxheim, Im Klosterhof) in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  11. ↑ Thomas Romes: Balthasar-König-Organ in Niederehe a gem of baroque organ building ; Heimatjahrbucharchiv Landkreis Vulkaneifel, 1995, p. 228
  12. ↑ Entry on former Premonstratensian monastery - organ (Niederehe, community Üxheim, Kerpener Straße) in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region ; Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  13. ↑ Christa Conrady, Hubert Fasen Orgelbau: The Balthasar-König-Organ in St. Leodegar in Niederehe (Eifel): Little Queen with a big sound. Disposition ( Memento from October 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Niederehe Monastery ; Vacation in Rhineland-Palatinate / n-etwork GmbH
  15. ↑ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - Vulkaneifel district. Mainz 2020, p. 55 (PDF; 4.6 MB).
  16. ↑ Alfred Bauer (Ed.), Andreas Schüller: Vulkaneifel Natur- und Geopark ( Memento from February 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ^ Holiday region Hillesheim / Vulkaneifel eV: Eifel crime thriller hiking trail ; Website about the Eifel crime trail
  18. ↑ Niederehe on the Rhineland-Palatinate cycle paths.

Coordinates: 50 ° 18 ′ 44.7 "  N , 6 ° 45 ′ 17.3"  E