Schönthal Abbey (Switzerland)
The Schönthal Abbey is a former monastery northeast of the pass village Langenbruck in the canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland .
General story
The oldest documentary reference to a Schönthal monk community comes from the year 1145. In a document dated March 2, 1146, the monastery and the name of its founder, Count Adalbero from Frohburg , are mentioned for the first time. The Frohburgers left large lands in the vicinity of the upper Hauenstein Pass to the convent and placed it under the Benedictine order . One of the supporters of the young monastery was Adalbero's relative Ortlieb von Frohburg , who was Bishop of Basel shortly after the monastery was founded. The monastery church was consecrated in 1187. In the 13th century there was a double monastery in Schönthal (first mentioned in 1266), with men and women living in separate houses. The men's convention disappeared before 1300.
In 1367, with the extinction of the Frohburger family, supervisory rights fell to the Waldenburg office and in 1400 came into the possession of the city of Basel. The small convent was handed over to the Servite Order in 1415 . On May 1, 1525 - at the time of the Peasants' War - villagers from the area plundered the monastery.
On May 1, 1529, the Basel council closed the monastery as a result of the Reformation . In 1836 the properties went into private ownership.
Schönthal Abbey has been a cantonal monument since 1967 . After various renovations, including archaeological excavations, the former religious place of worship has been used as a cultural meeting place since 2000 and belongs to Sculpture at Schoenthal . In 2001 a private foundation took over the monastery complex and the 100 hectare farm.
Economic history
The hills and valleys of the monastery area were originally covered with forests. For the construction of the monastery complex, for pasture and cultivation areas, the soil was made arable by the monks and lay brothers , who thus created a livelihood for themselves. A pond above the monastery was probably used for fish farming.
Iron ore mining began in the area around the monastery in the High Middle Ages.
After the Reformation, the church was used as an economic building for almost 500 years. In 1541 the monastery property was transferred to the Basel hospital as a Sennhof . From 1645 to 1682, a brick kiln was operated in the monastery church. The church and the monastery building are still covered with these tiles today. After the brick kiln was moved out, the church was used as a tool room and until 1998 as a wood shed.
- Clearing yards
Several clearing yards were built in the area by Schönthal Abbey. The two farms Gross-Wald and Klein-Wald , first mentioned in 1409, are located in a side valley north of the monastery on the Waldbach. The two courtyards together with the utility buildings form the hamlet of Wald .
The Chilchzimmer courtyard, first mentioned in 1491 , was named because the trees were felled there for the construction of the monastery. It is located northeast on the Chilchzimmerbach. The main building in Chilchzimmer dates from 1571.
The Hof Spittel (hospital) is located northwest of Schönthal. The name suggests the hostel for pilgrims and other travelers that was located at the monastery.
The village of Titterten was ecclesiastically connected to the Schönthal monastery until the Reformation. The village of Bennwil was given to the monastery by Count Hermann II von Frohburg.
Art history
Schönthal Abbey has one of the earliest largely preserved Romanesque churches in the region. The apses were demolished during renovation work in the early modern period. The west facade with the seamlessly offset ashlar masonry, the portal walls, the relief with the cross-bearing lamb and the arched figure niches (tabernacles) on both sides are considered to be the showpiece of High Romanesque architecture in Switzerland. The inscription on the arch reads: + HIC EST RODO.
The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) in the coat of arms of the municipality of Langenbruck is a reminder of the former Schönthal monastery. However, it does not correspond to the old one of the monastery coat of arms; its patron saint was St. Mary. But it appears in the seal of the Benedictine monastery provost in 1225 and also adorns the baptismal bowl from Schöntal monastery, which is now in the church of Bennwil .
The wall paintings inside the church are only fragmentarily preserved. Above the door to the cloister there is a depiction of Christopher from 1210. In today's office space behind the east facade there is a fragmentary representation of an angel from 1430 swinging a smoke barrel.
The bell in the bell tower from the 15th century comes from the Aarau bell foundry .
The documents from the former monastery archive are now in the Basel State Archives.
literature
- Jürg Tauber: Church and space . In: J.-C. Rebetez et al. (Ed.): Pro Deodorant. The diocese of Basel from the 4th to the 16th century . 2006.
- Sabine Sommerer: The former Schöntal Monastery, Schöntalstrasse 158. In: Axel Gampp and Sabine Sommerer: The Waldenburg district. The art monuments of the canton of Basel-Landschaft, Vol. IV. Society for Swiss Art History, Bern 2014, pp. 184–207 ISBN 978-3-03797-115-4 .
Web links
- Official homepage of Schönthal Abbey and the Sculpture Park
- Canton of Basel-Landschaft: cultural monuments in Langenbruck
- Canton of Basel-Country: Gross-Wald estate
- Patrick Braun: Schöntal (BL). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Report and pictures of today's Schönthal Monastery and 'sculpture at schoenthal'
order province of Alemania (until the Reformation)
Monasteries (including branch monasteries): Altlandsberg | Bernburg | Bulau | Erfurt | Germersheim | Grossenhain | Halberstadt | Hall | Hasselfelde | Sky garden | Cologne | Mariengart | Mutzschen | Oßmannstedt | Radeburg | Schönthal | Schornsheim | Stromberg | Vacha
Coordinates: 47 ° 21 '34.3 " N , 7 ° 46' 24" E ; CH1903: six hundred and twenty-five thousand two hundred eighty-five / 245464