Welver Monastery
| Welver Monastery | |
|---|---|
| location |
 Germanyregion of North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Coordinates: | 51 ° 37 '26.9 " N , 7 ° 57' 56.3" E |
| founding year | 1240 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1809 |
| Mother monastery | Marienborn Abbey (Coesfeld) |
The monastery Welver was a Cistercian abbey in Welver in Soest . It was founded around 1240. It existed until secularization in 1809. The old monastery church of St. Albanus and Cyriakus is today a Protestant parish church. The new St. Bernhard monastery church, built around 1700, is now a Catholic parish church.
Founding time
Walter Vogt von Soest , owner of the city bailiwick of Soest and bailiff of St. Patrokli, and his wife Sophia sold part of their property in Welver, Klotingen and Scheidingen to the Marienborn monastery with the consent of their heirs . In addition, the couple renounced the right of patronage to the church in Welver. In doing so, they created the material basis for a new monastery, but they were not actually founders. This was expressed in the necrology of the monastery, in which Walter was not referred to as a fundator , but only as a benefactor. Information from the 16th century that the noblemen of Welver had founded the monastery are without any documentary basis. Possibly the convent of Marienborn should move to Welver itself; but he decided to move to Coesfeld . Instead, a daughter monastery was built in Welver , the first residents of which came from Marienborn.
Initially, both monasteries were headed by Abbess Mechtildis von Marienborn in personal union, before both houses became independent. After the influence of the Archbishop of Cologne Konrad von Hochstaden , the new monastery was accepted into the order of the Cistercians by the General Chapter in 1244 . It was subordinated to the Kamp monastery . However, there was probably no closer relationship with this father monastery. The abbot there, however, had the final decision on all worldly and spiritual matters, such as the election of the abbess and prioress.
From 1251 to 1257 there was brisk construction activity. The funds for this came among other things from various indulgences . Stone monastery buildings were erected around 1261 under the third abbess Adelheid.
Economic basis
The economic base of the monastery was important. Thanks to donations, especially from the families of the nuns entering the monastery, the property increased sharply, especially in the first two centuries after it was founded. The convent had significant property in the area south of the Ahse between Werl and Soest, especially in the parishes of Schwefe , Dinker and Welver. In the 17th century the property comprised 51 farms in the area. It was also important for its prosperity that the monastery had six mills built in the surrounding villages between 1240 and 1320.
Convention
Prosperity made possible a convent of 50 nuns around 1300. Most of them probably came from the daughters of ministerials and guarantors from Soest and Dortmund . There were no members from the higher nobility. The abbess was at the head. There was also a prioress and other monastery offices. The monastery property was probably divided into individual prebends from around 1280 . In addition, the nuns had additional personal income that fell to the monastery only after their death.
Worldly relationships
One reason for the rapid upswing may have been that the Cisterce was promoted by both the Archbishops of Cologne and the Counts of Arnsberg and the Mark without getting involved in their power struggles. Initially, the noblemen of Rüdenberg , who owned fiefs in the area, held the bailiff's rights over the monastery. After the family had lost their strong position, among other things by dividing inheritance, they sold the bailiwick to the monastery in 1295. Around 1300, the Archbishop of Cologne Wigbold von Holte threatened all those who violated the monastery property with excommunication.
Crisis in the late Middle Ages
During the Soest feud from 1444 to 1449, the monastery was heavily burdened by contributions and other taxes. In the late Middle Ages, monastic discipline and prosperity declined. In the second half of the 15th century, there were two attempts at reform, which led to internal renewal. The reform of 1493 was carried out against the will of the convention. Most of the nuns then left the monastery. A new abbess was appointed from the Benninghausen monastery , and the members of the new convent came from Benninghausen and Himmelpforten .
Time of the reformation
The situation for the Welver monastery became problematic when the Reformation in Soester Börde was introduced in 1533. The abbesses Gertrud von Hoyte and Margaretha von Fürstenberg and the convent oppose the efforts of the Reformation. A hundred-year-long dispute between the convent and the magistrate of Soest ensued. Depending on the political situation, the situation shifted in favor or in favor of the Catholic nuns several times.
Despite the pressure from Soest, the nuns held on to the old faith. However, in addition to the Catholic pastor, they had to employ a vice curator who held Protestant services there. The nuns themselves could only hold Catholic services on the nuns gallery. The property of the church fell to the Protestant church in 1649.
The monastery was weakened economically by the Truchsessian War , the Spanish-Dutch War from 1568 and the Thirty Years War . The convent was repeatedly forced to borrow money and pledge part of its property.
Recovery in 17th / 18th centuries century
After the end of the war, the community recovered. Under the abbess Maria Elisabeth von Aldebrunck, parts of the monastery buildings were rebuilt around 1685. A representative baroque monastery complex with a length of 150 m was created. However, with the exception of the monastery gate, decorative jewelry was almost entirely dispensed with. The abbess also received permission to build a new church in 1697. This was built in the baroque style next to the now Protestant monastery church. Until the middle of the 18th century, the monastery experienced another heyday. Under Gertrude von Bischopinck , a new brewery was built, which now houses the home. A valuable monstrance that has been preserved also dates from their time.
In 1724 15 nuns lived in the convent. There were long lawsuits between the monastery and the magistrate about the occupation of the monastery courtyards with Protestant and Catholic farmers. During the Seven Years' War the monastery suffered again from the consequences of the war.
secularization
The monastery was not immediately secularized after the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss . However, a Prussian official inventoried the monastery property as early as 1804. After the Prussian defeat in 1806, the authorities of the Grand Duchy of Berg made another attempt at secularization in 1808 . The monastery was closed on November 19, 1809.
The church and other buildings became the property of the Catholic parish founded in 1807. Parts of the building were subsequently demolished. Others served as hospitals, schools, and teachers' apartments, and the abbess's house is now a parsonage.
After various intermediate stops, the monastery archive is now in the Münster State Archive .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manfred Wolf: The governors of Soest and the foundation of the Welver monastery. In: Soester Zeitschrift 90/1978, p. 15.
- ^ Wilfried Reinighaus: Salt pans, mines and smelting works. Trade and commerce in the Duchy of Westphalia. In: Harm Klueting (Hrsg.): Das Herzogtum Westfalen, Vol. 1: The Cologne Duchy of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne's rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803. Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-402-12827-5 , p 739
literature
- Edeltraud Klueting : The monastery landscape of the Duchy of Westphalia in the High Middle Ages . In: Harm Klueting (Hrsg.): Das Herzogtum Westfalen, Vol. 1: The Cologne Duchy of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne's rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803. Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-402-12827-5 , p 92f.
- Gabriele Maria Hock: The Westphalian Cistercian convents in the 13th century. Founding circumstances and early development. Diss. Münster, 1994. Digitized section Welver (PDF; 191 kB)
- Rudolf Fidler, Meinolf Schultebraucks: The Cistercian convent St. Mariae zu Welver and its parish and monastery church St. Bernhard. Bonifatius, Paderborn 2007, ISBN 978-3-89710-388-7 , digitized excerpt from the Welver celebratory publication (PDF; 140 kB).
- Manfred Wolf: The bailiffs of Soest and the foundation of the Welver monastery. In: Soester Zeitschrift 90/1978, pp. 14–40.