Niedernburg Abbey
The monastery Niedernburg Passau is a former abbey of the Benedictines and today's monastery of the English Fräulein in the old town of Passau in Bavaria in the diocese of Passau .
history
Helmut de Boor thinks that Niedernburg Abbey could be the one mentioned in the ' Nibelungenlied ': “The poet [from the 'Nibelungenlied'] also knows that there is a monastery in Passau at the confluence of the Danube and Inn; [...] It is the old Benedictine convent in Niedernburg; one can consider whether the poet had a special relationship with this monastery. "
The monastery was founded in 739 by the Agilolfingers (Duke Odilo or Tassilo III of Bavaria). Niedernburg received in 1010 by Henry II. The imperial immediacy awarded. The Romanesque pillar basilica Heiligkreuz was built in the 11th century. In the middle of the 11th century, the abbess Gisela of Bavaria , sister of Emperor Heinrich II and widow of the Hungarian King Stephen the Holy, was buried here. In the 12th century, the second sacred building was a St.
The monastery Niedernburg was given in 1161 by Friedrich I Barbarossa to the Passau prince-bishop Konrad I von Babenberg , whereby it lost the imperial immediacy again. His successor Wolfger von Erla received from Emperor Heinrich VI. in 1191 also royal tax and bailiwick rights, so that Niedernburg became the own monastery of the Passau bishops and the extensive property of the monastery could form the economic basis for the bishopric of Passau . The abbess was deposed by Wolfger and the management of the monastery was transferred to a dean.
In the 15th century the grave of Gisela, venerated as the Blessed, became the destination of numerous Hungarian pilgrims . Around 1500 the then dean Ursula von Schönstein was appointed by Pope Alexander VI. again raised to the rank of abbess. In 1583, Prince-Bishop Urban von Trennbach opened the convent to citizens' daughters. The two devastating Passau city fires of 1662 and 1680 also destroyed the monastery. The Holy Cross Church and the convent building were quickly rebuilt. In 1780 a girls' school was set up in Niedernburg.
The monastery was dissolved in 1806 in the course of secularization . In the monastery complex a reformatory and employment institute for the police was housed in 1815, an asylum for the insane in 1822 and a home for the deaf and dumb in 1826. In 1836, Bishop Karl Joseph von Riccabona was able to settle English girls in the Niedernburg Abbey, who set up the “Gisela-Gymnasium” , the “Gisela-Realschule” and a student hostel here.
The grave of the blessed abbess Gisela , Queen of Hungary, who is very venerated in Hungary, is visited by many pilgrims.
In October 2013, the English ladies left the monastery because they were too few for ongoing operations and now too old. The church has only been open sporadically since then. The only users of the buildings are now the two Gisela schools and the student dormitory. After the Free State of Bavaria is partly the owner of the property and there is also a heritable building right agreement between the previous users and the Free State of Bavaria, negotiations are being held between the Diocese of Passau and the Free State of Bavaria on the sale of the facility to the Diocese of Passau.
Monastery Church of the Holy Cross
The monastery church Zum Heiligen Kreuz is a Romanesque pillar basilica from the 12th century. The vestibule is even older. The vault is baroque. Separated from the left aisle is the Gothic Erasmus Chapel with baptismal font, wall fresco and Pietà group from 1420. Gothic and Baroque figures can be seen on the nave pillars. In the southern transept there is a monument to the Blessed Gisela and grave monuments from the 14th to 17th centuries. The high altar cross dates from 1508.
The monastery church and the monastery were damaged in a fire in 1662. A late Gothic cloister is attached to the church. On the east side of the monastery stands the St. Mary's Church, built in 1150 but in ruins since 1662.
The grave of Gregorius
According to a legend, an old Armenian archbishop named Gregorius died at noon on September 23, 1093 during a solar eclipse, which was buried in front of the high altar of the Lower Burg monastery church. The grave was found during excavations in 1978. A solar eclipse at around 11:00 a.m. could also be detected for the date handed down . Two lead plates found in the grave , which pass on the life story of Gregorius ( incomplete due to severe corrosion of the plates), identify him as a natione Armenus .
The lead plates found in the grave, as well as the belt buckle made in the Mediterranean area and the pectoral cross are now exhibited in the Boiotro Castle Museum. The bones of Gregorius were buried again in the center aisle of the church in 1982 according to the Armenian rite. Today the grave is marked by a grave slab. It is assumed that Gregorius came to Passau after 1071 in connection with the Byzantine-Seljuk Wars .
According to tradition, Gregorius worked in Passau, among other things, as the teacher of Blessed Englmar .
literature
- Leidl August: 150 years of the institute of the Maria Ward Sisters in Passau-Niedernburg, in: Ostbairische Grenzmarken 29 (1987) 151–158.
- Dehio Georg: Handbook of German Art Monuments, Bavaria II: Niederbayern (Munich 1988) 526-531.
- A. Grüneis, The Kgn. U. Abbess G. and her grave in d. Monastery church v. Niedernburg, in: Annual Report Passau 1953; M. Birgit-Hielscher, Gisela, Queen of Hungary a. Abbess v. Passau-Niedernburg, i: OG 10, 1968; A. Leidl, Die sel. G., Kgn. v. Hungary (around 985-around 1060), in: Bavaria Sancta, III, 1973.
- Mader Franz: Forgotten churches. Profaned or broken churches and chapels in Passau = The Passauer Wolf. Publications on the cultural history of Passau 14 (Passau 2000) 24–31.
- Stein-Kecks Heidrun: The Romanesque wall paintings in the vestibule of the former Marienkirche of the Niedernburg monastery, in: Möseneder Karl (ed.): Art in Passau. From the Romanesque to the Present (Passau 1993) 30–59.
- Niedernburg Monastery, Gisela and Niedernburg Monastery, CD-ROM Passau 2008.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Song of the Nibelungs. After the edition by Karl Bartsch. Edited by Helmut de Boor. 22nd edition. Mannheim: FA Brockhaus 1988. S.VIII.
- ^ Passauer Neue Presse of November 27, 2013, page 17: The heavy legacy of Niedernburg
- ^ Passauer Neue Presse of April 1, 2014, page 17: State and Church negotiate on Niedernburg
Web links
- Monasteries in Bavaria: Niedernburg in Passau - place of pilgrimage for Hungarians (House of Bavarian History)
- Website of the Gisela Schools Passau-Niedernburg
Coordinates: 48 ° 34 ′ 27 ″ N , 13 ° 28 ′ 19 ″ E