Weißenohe Monastery

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Weißenohe Monastery

The Weissenohe Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Weißenohe in Bavaria in the Archdiocese of Bamberg .

history

From the foundation to the first abolition during the Reformation

The monastery consecrated to St. Bonifatius was founded in the second half of the 11th century in the west of the Bavarian Northern Gau , on the border with Eastern Franconia . The original confirmation bull from Pope Paschal II from 1109, which has been lost in the original but has been preserved in two very early versions, names a noble Mr. Aribo (Eribo), his wife Gvilla (Willa) and a niece Hadamoth (Hadimuot) as donors. It does not provide any information about the origin of Aribo or the exact year it was founded.

Since the second third of the 16th century, a second tradition has been circulating, which ascribes the foundation to the Eichstätter Bishop Gebhard I, who was founded in 1054 by Emperor Heinrich III. was designated as Pope and this highest church office in 1055 accepted with the name Viktor II . From this second and very late tradition, the frequently mentioned, but certainly incorrect, founding year of the Weißenohe monastery comes from 1053.

Inscription from 1388 from the old monastery, today at the entrance to the cemetery
organ
Statue in the catholic parish church
Statue in the catholic parish church

Since the 18th century, the abbey has relied on the Aribo tradition. At the latest since Scholliner's monograph from 1784, the Weißenoher Aribo, who appeared as such in a document for a Bamberg bishopric synod for the first time in 1059, was joined by Emperor Heinrich III in 1055. Deposed Bavarian Count Palatine Aribo II equated from the House of the Aribones. Even if this thesis has not yet been definitively proven, there are still a few arguments in favor of it, especially the geographical proximity of Weißenohes to Pottenstein , where Boto , the brother of the former Count Palatine, lived. For the foundation of the monastery, either the period shortly after Aribo's deposition and temporary ostracism (in the late 1050s or early 1060s) would come into question, but probably more towards the end of the 11th century, before his death in 1102.

The monastery was under in the times of the Investiture Controversy directly to the Holy See and had the privilege of free Abtwahl and the free choice of the bailiff stopped. The first monks probably came from the Michelsberg monastery in Bamberg, and subsequently mainly from the smaller aristocratic families in the vicinity. The mention of Hiltpoltstein Castle in the transcripts of the papal bull is seen as an indication that it was the bailiff's seat by the middle of the 12th century at the latest. The various letters of protection from popes and emperors from the first two centuries of its existence suggest a slow growth of the possessions, but the goods were scattered and sometimes very far away. The many, sometimes even forged letters of protection, etc. a. of King Konrad III. , Pope Eugene III. , Pope Celestine III. , King Philip of Swabia , Pope Innocent III. , Emperor Ludwig IV, etc. also bear witness to the fact that the abbey was repeatedly exposed to attacks and assaults against which it had to defend itself. However, more precise conclusions about specific events can only be found in the relevant documents in the rarest of cases.

Only in the 14th and 15th centuries did the indications that Weißenohe had remained a very small community of sometimes only two or three monks, who, moreover, neither had the monastic discipline nor the administration of the economic foundations of their convent particularly close to their hearts lay. So at the beginning of the 16th century the abbey became the plaything of the three surrounding powers Bamberg , Nuremberg and Upper Palatinate , between which it was almost wiped out. Probably on the day the last abbot died in 1554, the Benedictine monastery was taken over by the Protestant Electoral Palatinate and transferred to a monastery office.

From the abolition to the re-establishment in the 17th century

Weißenohe monastery, abbot wing

With the transition of the monastery to the Palatinate, the Reformation was gradually introduced in Weißenohe . At first this happened, as in the surrounding Nuremberg villages, to the Evangelical Lutheran creed with own preacher and teacher next to the secular administrator of the monastery properties. With Elector Friedrich III. Calvinism then came from the Palatinate to Weißenohe between 1565 and 1578 . For a few years, there was again Evangelical-Lutheran agreement between the pastors of Weißenohe and Igensdorf , until the Calvinist preachers again moved into the old monastery church in the mid-1580s. At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War the Palatinate lost the Upper Palatinate to Bavaria , so that Weißenohe became Catholic again after a transition period (Calvinist and Catholic) in the mid-1620s and in 1628 became a Catholic parish of the Diocese of Bamberg on Bavarian-Upper Palatinate territory. The parish was to exist for almost 100 years, mostly in personal union with Stöckach , the last 60 years of which, however, in constant dispute with the newly founded monastery.

From the re-establishment to the final abolition in the secularization (1803)

In 1661 the Upper Palatinate Benedictine monasteries Michelfeld , Ensdorf and Weißenohe were re-established. At the end of the year the first two monks came fromprüfunging , formally Weißenohe was handed over to the Benedictine order as a priory in 1669 and raised to an independent abbey in 1695, not without conflicts with the diocese of Bamberg. Over the years, with around ten monks, the monastery, which was still quite small, with not always merciful methods, displaced the pastors appointed by Bamberg and finally took over the pastoral care itself.

Some of the priors sent out byChecking were highly learned theologians who began setting up a theological study seminary while the preparations for the new construction of the monastery were still in progress. Prior Gregor Dietl deserves special mention, as he has a large number of theological and philosophical publications.

The monastery buildings and the old church were gradually demolished since 1690 and replaced first by the new convent building, the church (consecrated in 1707) and later also the abbot wing, which still characterizes Weißenohes today. In the magnificent baroque buildings, Weißenohe Monastery experienced a heyday in the 18th century, despite multiple war loads. Even the abbots wrote, in addition to venerable and elaborate sermons, small singing games and plays. The theological training, however, could not quite hold the level that had emerged under the influence of Prüfinger, but at least publications from the pen of Weißenoher monks piling up again towards the end of the century, even if the outstanding theologian, Marian Dobmayer , only loosely Connected to the monastery. The library, which was unfortunately lost, grew and a natural history cabinet was purchased. In other words, towards the end of the century the Enlightenment found its way into the monastery, with not a few conflicts between innovators and traditionalists over monastic discipline, the kind of spirituality that the new times demand, the reading of Immanuel Kant and around many more points.

Parish church Weißenohe

The diary that the young monk and later founder of library studies Martin Willibald Schrettinger kept from 1793 offers an exceptionally direct insight into these conflicts and everyday life in the monastery in Weißenohe . It was then Schrettinger in 1802 who, as the representative of a group of confreres connected to the Enlightenment, sought the abolition of the monastery himself in Munich. The secularization , the abolition of the monastery, took place together with that of the other Bavarian monasteries in 1803. Land, the facilities belonging to the monastery (mill, brewery, etc.) and the monastery buildings themselves were sold, the monastery church as the parish church of the newly established parish of Weißenohe utilized. In the middle of the 19th century, two wings of the monastery building were demolished after a fire. The mill has now been extensively restored. The monastery brewery in the farm buildings west of the church has been run as a family business since 1827.

The question of the use of the remaining abbot remains uncertain. Inhabited until the 1970s, it stood empty for a long time, was then extensively restored, served for some time as a conference center for a private company and is now empty again. In order to prevent a possible buy-out by right-wing groups, a support association was founded to promote the establishment of a singing academy in the old monastery buildings.

Weissenoher monastery brewery Kloster-Sud

Abbots, predicants and priors

The monastery was headed by a total of 27 abbots , with the abbot list being split in two due to the temporary dissolution of Weißenohe. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Evangelical Lutheran and Calvinist preachers presided over the monastery properties, which were now converted into a parish. After the rebuilding, priors were appointed as heads of the abbots of the convent for a short time .

sequence Abbot's name Reign Remarks
1109–1557 First row of abbots
1. Otbert gen. 1109 first dept
2. Benedictus I. gen. 1121, 1135, 1138
3. Gozmann gen. 1146, 1150 also Gozmar
4th Gundeloch gen. around 1150
5. Arnold not clear
6th Eckehard gen. 1172, 1175, 1195 also Hekard
7th Friedrich I. gen. 1196 also Heinrich (I.), Friedrich von Wolfsberg
8th. Chadeloch gen. 1205
1205–1281 no dept
9. Heinrich I. gen. 1281, 1282, 1291, 1295
10. Friedrich II. gen. 1309
11. Konrad I. gen. 1327, 1329 temporarily excommunicated
12. Henry II gen. 1335, 1341
13. Friedrich III. 1348-1378
14th Conrad II. Strobel gen. 1382, 1383
15th Conrad III. Strobel 1384-1399 from the Strobel family from Uttenreuth
16. Bartholomäus Siegersdorfer 1399-1428
17th Conrad IV von Stein 1428-1430
18th Iban Eckard 1430-1441 resignation
19th Henry III. by Egloffstein 1441-1501
20th Eucharius Gozmann 1501-1511
21st Henry IV Swab 1511-1526 also from Schwab
22nd Achaz von Hirschaid zu Kohlstein 1526-1554 † August 24, 1554
1557–1622 / 1625 Lutheran and Calvinist predicants
1669–1695 priors under administrators from the monastery checkinging
1. Bernhard Degl 1669-1674
2. Anselm Claus 1674-1676
3. Gregor Dietl 1676-1685 1. Term of office
4th Dominicus Beck 1685-1687 Prior only temporarily
5. Gregor Dietl 1687-1690 † April 1690
6th Georg Bachmayr 1690-1695
1695–1803 Second row of abbots
(23.) Johann Gualbert I. Forster 1695-1727 * in Hirschau , from the monastery checkinging, † July 3, 1727
(24.) Johann Gualbert II. Seeger 1727-1735
(25.) Benedict II. Rheindl 1735-1740 * in Amberg , † August 10, 1740
(26.) Ildephons Barth 1740-1757 * in Sommerach , from Michelfeld Monastery , † November 25, 1757
(27.) Maurus Hermann 1758-1803 * in Schwandorf , dissolution of the monastery through secularization , † 1809 in Schwandorf

literature

  • Werner Gebhardt: Directories and registers on Hans Räbels history of the Weißenohe monastery . Esslingen, 2007
  • Franz Wenzeslaus Goldwitzer: New chronicle of the former Weissenohe Abbey, Benedictine order . In: Isis 10, 1823, col. 993-1042
  • Georg Adam Huber: History of the monastery and the parish Weißenohe (manuscript around 1900, parish archive). In: Josef Pöppel: Weißenohe, 2013, pp. 103–287
  • Manfred Knedlik: Weißenohe - noble Benedictines in Franconian Switzerland . In: Monasteries in Bavaria. House of Bavarian History - [1]
  • Karl Theodor Lauter: Weißenoher document falsifications In: Archivalische Zeitschrift 39, 1930, pp. 226-259
  • Markus Naser: Weißenohe . In: Michael Kaufmann et al. (Ed.): The Benedictine monasteries for men and women in Bavaria, St. Ottilien 2014, Volume 3, pp. 2481–2497
  • Ursula Pechloff: Weißenohe, St. Bonifatius. Former Benedictine monastery church . Ed .: Catholic Parish Office Weißenohe. Photographs, recordings Gregor Peda. Passau: Kunstverlag Peda, 1998, 22 pages, ISBN 3-89643-081-5 . (Peda art guide, No. 425)
  • Hubert Pöppel: On the early history of the place and the Weißenohe monastery. In: Report of the Historisches Verein Bamberg (BHVB) 149, 2013, pp. 93–136
  • Josef Pöppel: Weißenohe: On the history of the monastery and parish. Norderstedt 2013 ISBN 3732235807
  • Karl Puchner: The oldest name tradition of the Weißenohe / Ofr. In: Blätter für die Oberdeutsche Namenforschung 2, 1/2, 1959, pp. 35–45
  • Hans Räbel: The former Benedictine aristocratic monastery Weißenohe in the time from the Landshut War of Succession to the rebuilding (1504-1669), together with an appendix on the prehistory of the monastery . In: Report of the historical association for the care of the history of the former prince-bishopric of Bamberg (BHVB) 66, 1908, pp. I-XXI, 1-586
  • Hermann Scholliner: Dissertatio genealogica sistens Weissenoensis ... , Nuremberg 1784
  • Martin Willibald Schrettinger: Diary of Willibald Schrettingers, Benedictine to Weißenohe (manuscript, State Library Munich). In: Josef Pöppel: Weißenohe, 2013, pp. 289–442
  • Wilhelm Schwemmer: From the history of the Weißenohe monastery . In: Mitteilungen der Altnürnberger Landschaft 24, 1975, pp. 1–13
  • Klaus Unterburger: Mercy instead of sacrifice? The struggle for the true meaning of Benedictine monasticism in the last years of the Weißenohe monastery , in: Tobias Appl and Manfred Knedlik: Oberpfälzer Klosterlandschaft. The monasteries, monasteries and colleges of the Upper Palatinate, Regensburg 2016 (Contributions to the history and culture of the Upper Palatinate 2), pp. 27–35 ISBN 3791727591

Web links

Weißenohe Monastery
Commons : Weißenohe Abbey  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Document 1 of the Weißenoher documents accessible in monasterium.net is a subsequent extension, probably from the middle of the 12th century (cf. Lauter); the second copy, which is probably closer to the original, can be found on the manuscript CLM 22009 fol. 131v of the Munich State Library.
  2. ↑ See the explanations by Wolff, H. Pöppel, pp. 96-103, and Naser, pp. 2481f.
  3. ↑ Erich von Guttenberg: The regests of the bishops and the cathedral chapter of Bamberg. Würzburg, 1932, I, Reg. 312 and also Reg. 545 on the follow-up synod 1087.
  4. ↑ The discussions are summarized by H. Pöppel, pp. 103–125, and Naser, pp. 2482–2485.
  5. ↑ Georg Adam Huber: History of the monastery and the parish Weißenohe. In: Josef Pöppel: Weißenohe: On the history of the monastery and parish. 2013, pp. 119–121 ISBN 3732235807
  6. ↑ Volker Alberti: Hiltpoltstein Castle: Landmark of southern Franconian Switzerland. Puk Print, Hiltpoltstein 2009, pp. 11-13 ISBN 978-3-00-027427-5 .
  7. ↑ For a comprehensive overview of the properties belonging to Weißenohe or claimed by Weißenohe from the Middle Ages to the early modern period, see last Naser, pp. 2488–2491.
  8. ↑ See in detail Lauter.
  9. ↑ On this constant change of religion cf. Huber's chronicle and Räbel's detailed study.
  10. ↑ On the lengthy negotiations cf. the study of Räbel.
  11. ↑ In his chronicle, Huber gives some harrowing examples.
  12. ↑ See the selection bibliography of the works of Weißenoher monks in J. Pöppel, pp. 28–31.
  13. ^ Pöppel, Josef: Weißenohe . Pp. 34-43.
  14. ^ Pöppel, Josef: Weißenohe . P. 50 f.
  15. ^ Pöppel, Josef: Weißenohe . Pp. 51-56.

Coordinates: 49 ° 37 ′ 46.5 ″  N , 11 ° 15 ′ 11.8 ″  E