St. Laurence Monastery

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The St. Laurenz Monastery was a beguinage monastery founded in 1293 in what is now the 1st district of Vienna - Inner City . The existing building stock includes the building complex Laurenzerberg 2 / Postgasse 17 / Fleischmarkt 19 and is largely a listed building. This is surrounded by four streets, the meat market, the Laurenzerberg, the Auwinkel and the Postgasse.

The Laurence Monastery

Thirteenth century

In 1293 aristocratic women, called beguines , founded a monastery on Laurenzerberg.

The Laurenzerberg is a steep drop towards the Danube (today the Danube Canal). The building is probably on the walls of an older city fortification, the Przemysl Ottokar II . was built in 1276 at the Bibertor. The construction of St. Laurenz lasted until 1302.

Today's Biberstrasse is reminiscent of the documented “urbs apud portam Pybronis”. The conversion of the bulwark into a monastery was probably carried out by the Habsburg Duke Albrecht I (1255–1308) or his wife Elisabeth. This explains the existence of the four-story vaulted cellars, which are enormous for a beguinage and which were originally part of the city fortifications.

In 1301, Bishop Bernhard von Passau forced the Beguines to join an ecclesiastical order. They chose the Dominican Order . In 1226 he founded his first Viennese branch in the former Templar residence "Maria Rotunda" , not far from the Laurenzerberg. In 1342 an All Saints chapel is mentioned in the chapter house. The church "Zum heiligen Laurenz" and the nunnery of the Dominican Sisters on the old meat market existed as early as the 14th century, as can be seen from donations from the citizen's wife Margarethe Preuzzl in 1305 and Friedrichs des Schönen in 1327. After the Dominican convent had been swept away by the plague of 1349, the nuns of the Augustinian order came here from Oberer Werd, where they had lived in a small convent.

Fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

In 1411 the monastery was placed under Bishop Georg von Passau because there were disputes between the nuns and their pastors, the Viennese Dominicans. In 1422, the Pope sanctioned the Dominicans' solution of the Laurence Sisters. The spiritual guardianship was assigned to the responsible Viennese bishop, the secular guardianship in economic and property matters to the Austrian sovereigns. In 1424 the Laurence Sisters left the Dominican Union, but continued to live according to the rules of their order. Between 1450/52 the nuns adopted the Augustinian rules and became a women's choir.

Around 1450 the Laurenzerinnen were one of the richest monasteries in Vienna. They gave older people the opportunity to buy food, lodging and care in the monastery ("Meat and fish and other dishes from the Kuchl, one eight-ring wine from the Herrenpründt every day, five Laiberl bread and three loads of wood every year with three or four." Rossen should be led "). In 1503 they were able to acquire a farm next door on the Danube, in which apartments were built for guests.

In 1529, during the first Turkish siege of Vienna , the nuns of the Maria Magdalena monastery fled to their fellow sisters and reunited with them in 1533. Around 1544 there were still twenty nuns living in St. Laurenz, in 1558 only nine.

Sixteenth to eighteenth centuries

In 1586 a visit found scandalous conditions. Not only did the nuns sell off vineyards, fields and silver vessels, they also "feasted on wine without water, read Lutheran books and sang, drank and played with dissolute students".

The earthquake in 1590 damaged the tower and church; the repairs were partially paid for by an imperial donation. The city fire of April 21, 1627 also severely damaged the monastery. The dilapidation has been documented since 1633, in 1638 the bricklayer Hans Gatter was contracted for the new building. The renovation and expansion of the house and order began in 1630 under Superior Polyxena von Muschingen. In 1643 the Auersbergsche Freihaus was bought. To the north of the church, new parts of the building were erected around the two courtyards between which the chapter house was located. A well was dug in the western courtyard, the cloister. A Loreto chapel could be entered from the cloister . A grave chapel was built in the eastern courtyard. The new building was described as a "bright, friendly building with 52 habitable cells, decorated interiors and a beautiful garden" and was completed in 1660. In 1669 the Laurenzers acquired a dilapidated house adjoining their Meierhof. Countess Eva Augustina von Abensperg-Traun was elected superior in 1681. She had the single-nave Gothic church renovated. Allegedly, according to a report by Johann Matthias Testarello della Massa , Canon of St. Stephen, the high vaults were broken down to replace them with more delicate ones. In 1683, during the second Turkish siege of Vienna , the nuns left the city because the monastery and church were badly damaged. In 1781 the church received a new high altar.

Nursing

The monastery had a hospital kitchen and a monastery pharmacy. Susanne Eleonore, née Countess von Sinzendorf, donated 20,000 guilders between 1691 and 1695, which were to be used for the monastery hospital. She set up an infirmary and bloodletting room.

school

In 1775 under Empress Maria Theresa a public girls' school was established in the monastery. The nuns were engaged in upbringing and teaching. A prefect and six teachers taught at the girls' school, plus handicraft teachers. In 1780, Ritta, born Countess d'Eril, was the school's prefect. The teaching staff included the Dominican catechist Father Agapius and the teachers Maria Anna Lechnerin, Antonia Salamin, Clara Thalerin, Angela Reidlin, Barbara Faberin and Salesia Benkin.

Until the monastery is dissolved

Women of higher rank used to retire to this monastery for spiritual exercises during Lent; their donations were welcome income for the monastery. The church had a slender, narrow tower. The high altar was adorned with the picture of St. Laurence von de Harte. At that time, land and houses were bought and the complex expanded to its present size. The Laurence Monastery existed until September 18, 1783, before Emperor Joseph II abolished it as part of the Josephinist reforms . On March 1, 1784, the Laurenzerinnen, 32 choirs and 15 lay sisters, to whom 16 and six sisters from monasteries closed in 1782 came, respectively, left the building on Laurenzerberg. The former order was still wealthy after it was liquidated, it owned three houses in the city and 25 service houses in Vienna, and the proceeds from the sales flowed into the religious fund. The building on Laurenzerberg was sold.

Further history of the building

In 1797 a paint factory opened its branch with the production of verdigris. In 1807 the state bought the building. In 1812 it was decided to build the new Laurenzer building and ordered to "negotiate on site". In 1819 the church was completely demolished and the monastery partially demolished and the area rebuilt. Various works of art came from the church to the Schottenfeld church, which had been built on land belonging to the Laurence nuns. After the demolition of the church, the monastery and outbuildings were converted into a single object in 1816–1819. Part of the solid old vaults, cellars and main walls were used for the new building.

The building complex now resembled its current appearance. The book censorship moved into the new building, later various court offices such as court accounting followed. Over time, departments of the Treasury, Tax and Post Offices came here. In 1843 the building was expanded to include a northern courtyard wing.

Post- first pneumatic post office

In 1875 the k & k postal administration moved in and opened Vienna's first pneumatic post office . The building is still partially owned by the Austrian Post. In 1945 the house received two bomb hits. One bomb hit the parcel hall, the second in one of the north courtyards and badly damaged the building. The buildings were rebuilt after the war.

Conversion of the post passage

In 1991, the renovation for the Post Office Savings Bank began, including the oldest components. The facade has been restored and the interior modernized. In April 1991, the demolition and construction of the northern wing began, which was completed in 1994. The official opening of the Postpassage was on September 8, 1994. The historical building fabric includes the former cloister monastery, today's main post office and the chapter house, today's passage. In one of the cellars there is a valuable baroque fresco depicting the resurrection of the dead. The four-storey cellar complex keeps another secret, namely underground passages leading to St. Stephen's Cathedral and the Dominican monastery, which were supposedly laid out by the nuns of the original Beguine monastery. During the Second World War, the medieval corridors were used as escape routes. Two of them are still preserved today. One leads to Drachengasse, namely to the third basement of the Chamber Opera, the other to Haus Laurenzerberg 1. The connection to the other houses was bricked up. However, those underground passages are secured that lead through the cellars of the post office under the Barbarakirche to the Dominican monastery. The legend about the underground connections of all Viennese monasteries is thus confirmed, at least in the case of the Laurence and Dominican monasteries.

The cellar in Laurenzerberg

One of the oldest medieval monastery cellars in Vienna still exists deep below the Laurenzerberg. The cellar vaults are partly under the street and are likely to be parts of the old fortification. For a long time the cellars, which were used as air raid shelters during the bombing nights, were unused until they were revived as club rooms. In 1995 the constituent general assembly of the club for cultivated wine culture DER KELLER took place. The founder and president of the club Brigitte Dvorak rented the premises for club purposes. Only members have access to the premises. The club's motto is For people who have one mind but not always agree .

The club basement alone comprises 350 m² of the second basement. The main room is presumably the former lower church, above which the main nave of the monastery church was located.

Knight hall

The knight's hall is the largest room. The heavy beech furniture was made according to old cuts from reprint books based on August Graef's Der Landtischler (1894). Most of the furniture is plugged in and not glued so that the wood can work when it is damp. If there are large fluctuations in humidity, the wedges must be looked up regularly, but the wood does not crack. All lattice doors were manufactured according to our own designs. In the entire area, emphasis was placed on modern technology, well hidden behind old walls.

Connecting routes

The room with the round table is located at the corner of Laurenzerberg and Fleischmarkt. One of the old aisles leads under the meat market to the cellar of the chamber opera in the Drachengasse, the other under the Laurenzerberg to the corner of the meat market. The corridors, however, have been bricked up and partially not excavated. Due to the connecting corridors to the neighboring houses, this room was a much-used air raid shelter.

labyrinth

The labyrinth is located in the part under the Laurenzerberg. It is a long, narrow room on the outside of the building wall, in which there are nested brick cells for retreats.

Usage concepts

In 1991, the idea of ​​building the Postpassage, a small, exclusive shopping center with restaurants and shops as well as offices and embassies above it, came up. This concept did not work because the Laurenzerberg never had the necessary frequency of walk-in customers.

The concept, which was realigned in 2017, provides for the following use: the part towards Schwedenplatz to the Ruby Lissi Hotel & Bar, the area towards Laurenzerberg Restaurant Frank's, Diagnosis Center Urania, Woman & Health, Canadian Embassy, ​​Club der Keller, towards Fleischmarkt Hauptpost and various Offices.

literature

  • Gabriele Lukacs and Robert Bouchal: Mysterious Underworld of Vienna. ISBN 978-3-85431-666-4 .
  • Description of the local university, grammar schools, normal, city and trivial schools from 1780 (Bavarian State Library August 16, 2011), pages 49 + 50
  • Richard Perger and Walther Brauneis: The medieval churches and monasteries of Vienna. (= Viennese history books, volume 19/20). Zsolnay, Vienna 1977, p. 201 ff.
  • Theodor Wiedemann : History of the women's monasteries St. Laurenz and Maria Magdalena in Vienna. Zaunrith, Salzburg 1883.
  • Karl Lind: From the Laurenzer building in Vienna. In: Reports and communications of the Altertums-Verein zu Wien , Volume 33 (1898), p. 83 f.
  • Josef Lampel: Cimelia of a Viennese nunnery. In: Reports and communications of the Altertums-Verein zu Wien , Volume 26 (1890), pp. 145 ff.
  • Anneliese Stoklaska: On the origin of the oldest Viennese women's convents. Vienna: VWGÖ 1986. (Dissertations of the University of Vienna, 175), p. 53 ff.
  • Gerhard Winner: The abolition of the monastery in Lower Austria and Vienna. Vienna [u. a.]: Herold 1967 (Research on the Church History of Austria, 3), p. 181 ff.
  • H. Hawelka: The Viennese Laurenzer building. In: Old Vienna. Monthly for Viennese Art and Language , vol. 3 (1894), pp. 86–91
  • Laurenzer building, I. Fleischmarkt 19. In: Technical guide through Vienna , published by the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects. Edited by Martin Paul. Gerlach & Wiedling, Vienna 1910, p. 312.
  • Wilhelm Kisch: The old streets and squares of Vienna's suburbs and their historically interesting houses. (Photomechanical reproduction [of the 1883 edition]). Cosenza: Brenner 1967, Volume 1, pp. 451 f.
  • Gustav Gugitz: Austria's places of grace in cult and custom. Volume 1: Vienna. Hollinek, Vienna 1955, p. 22 f.
  • Gustav Gugitz: Bibliography on the history and urban history of Vienna. Edited by the Association for Regional Studies of Lower Austria and Vienna. Volume 3: General and particular topography of Vienna. Jugend & Volk, Vienna 1956, p. 161 f.
  • The main post office behind the monastery walls. In: Die Presse of August 24, 1994, p. 9.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Plan of the City of Vienna, from 1547 Bonifaz Wohlmut Plate 1, Fig. 4.