Weissenborn Monastery
The monastery Weissenborn was a monastery of Wilhelmiten in Thal , now district of Ruhla in Thuringia . It existed from 1253 to 1536. Today's parish church in the village was the monastery church.
meaning
The Weißenborn monastery is considered to be the first religious house of the Wilhelmites in northern Germany. From here, the foundations in the Thuringian-Franconian area were also supported: Sinnershausen Monastery (1292/93), Wasungen Monastery (1299), Mülverstedt Monastery (1323), Gräfentonna Monastery (1396) and others. The foundation of the monastery in 1253 falls in a fateful phase in the history of the Landgraviate of Thuringia. With the extinction of the Ludowingers , the ruling upper class was involved in the bloody Thuringian-Hessian War of Succession (1247–1264). The power structure was shaped by partisanship or opposition to the Wettins .
history
At the middle course of the Erbstromtal is the Ruhla district of Weißenborn . It lies at the foot of the Scharfenburg , one of the oldest stone castles in today's Wartburg district . This was built a thousand years ago by the Fulda monastery as a protective castle on the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest.
To the castle of men armed castle in the middle of the 13th century were among knights of the family Slune , a branch of the Landgrave than in services Steward standing Lords of Schlotheim . With the consent of the Thuringian Landgrave, these nobles, who also act as ministers of the Fulda monastery, donated a meadow on the western edge of the valley (today's field name: the Mönchsfeld ) in order to establish a branch of the Wilhelmite Order. The founding act dates back to 1253, but already fifty years later, according to chronicle 1301, a place close to the site, at the current location at Heiligenstein Rock , was acquired for the new construction of the monastery.
The Weißenborn monastery was founded with the support of the Belgian Bernardfagne monastery , which sent five monks to Thuringia under the leadership of the first prior Daniel . The order was active as a mendicant order in Thuringia and was given permission to grant indulgences on certain dates (against payment) . The main field of activity was the care of travelers and the sick. There was also a permanent bond with the hospital of the landgrave town of Weißensee .
In the second phase of the monastery history, which began with the construction of the new monastery on Heiligenstein, the noble family of the Lords of Salza moved up as the new lords of the Scharfenburg and owners of the umbrella bailiwick . The castle chapel of the Scharfenburg was made known as a pilgrimage chapel during this time. The Weißenborn monks received an extension of their collection area from the sovereigns. This now reached in the north to Nebra on the Unstrut. Despite numerous donations and income from begging, the Weißenborn monastery community was often endangered in its continued existence. Because of the small number of monks, complaints increased in the 14th century about the declining willingness or ability of the Weißenborn Wilhelmites to fulfill the duties associated with the donations (holding services and liturgical celebrations, reading masses, providing assistance in the event of death). The monastery was closed in 1536. At that time, four elderly and sick monks lived in the convent.
Structural matters
In terms of space, the monastery hardly exceeded the dimensions of a farm. It was in a remote, always flood-prone location on the southern outskirts. The monastery area can also be topographically traced back as the district of Heiligenstein.
Monastery building
The monastery grounds include today's church in Thal and the adjoining business premises of a mechanical engineering company to the river (storage sheds, stables, barns). The actual monastery building with the cells of the monks was located at the site of today's Hotel Klosterschenke . The monastery mill and a hospital on Schreiberbörnchen were also part of the building complex.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The expansion of the collection area - places where they were allowed to beg with the express consent of the authorities - improved the monastery's financial possibilities.
literature
- Wolfgang Eberhardt: Small history of the Wilhelmitenkloster Weißenborn near Thal . In: On the history of the country on the Werra and Hörsel . tape I . Self-published, Bruchsal 1979, p. 44 .
- Wolfgang Eberhardt: From the history of the Scharfenburg near Thal . In: Heimatverein Thal (ed.): On the history of the country on the Werra and Hörsel . tape II . Verlag und Druckerei Löhr, Ruhla 1994, p. 45 .
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 54 '46.3 " N , 10 ° 23' 21.2" E