Werden monastery

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Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806) .svg
Territory in the Holy Roman Empire
Become an Imperial Abbey
coat of arms
Reichsabbey Werden-Helmstedt.svg
map
Essen Map 1681.jpg
Map section of Le Comté de la Marck from 1692 with the abbey area


Ruler / government Reich Abbot
Today's region / s DE-NW
Parliament Reichsfürstenrat : 1 curiate vote on the Rhine. Prelate database
Reich register 2 horsemen, 13 foot soldiers, 120 guilders (1522)
Reichskreis Lower Rhine-Westphalian
Capitals / residences Become
Denomination / Religions Roman Catholic
Language / n German


Incorporated into 1803: Prussia
1808: Grand Duchy of Berg
1815: Prussia


The Werden Abbey (lat. Monasterium Werdena vel Abbatia (imperialis) Werdenensis u. Ä.) On old maps Werthina , was an abbey of Benedictine in Werden on the Ruhr , today Essen-Werden . The Werden monastery had been a royal monastery since around 875 and an imperial monastery since the High Middle Ages. From the early modern period it belonged to the Lower Rhine-Westphalian Empire as an imperial abbey . From 1653 the abbot was director of the Rhenish prelate college . In 1802 the monastery and imperial abbey were closed and the city fell to Prussia . In 1929 the district of Essen was dissolved and Werden incorporated into Essen . The headquarters of the Folkwang University of the Arts has been in the former monastery building since 1945 . The abbey church , which was used as a parish church after secularization , was elevated to a papal minor basilica in 1993 . After a fire in the east wing of the abbey building in February 2008, the treasury can be viewed again.

history

The foundation of the monastery

Bronze sculpture (modern) in the crypt

The beginnings of becoming are at the turn of the 8th to the 9th century and are connected with the person of the saint and missionary Liudger († 809). Like his predecessors Winfried Bonifatius and Gregor von Utrecht , Liudger, who was born near Utrecht around 742 , first worked in Friesland , then after the subjugation of the Saxons by Charlemagne in Westphalia from Münster .

Liudger had been pursuing plans to found a monastery for some time, possibly since he had visited Rome and the Montecassino monastery in 784. Later he first planned to found a monastery in what is now the Netherlands and then in the Rhineland. At the beginning of the year 796, according to documentary tradition, the Frisian Liudger, the first bishop of Münster, appeared in the lower Ruhr , where he was able to found a monastery in 799 after extensive land acquisitions by donation, purchase or exchange on his inheritance: the monastery Become. There is a forged document dated April 26, 802. In it Charlemagne grants the privilege to found the abbey. This forged document gained some notoriety.

The place is located on the left bank of the Ruhr on an expanded, flood-free valley floor, which merges into a side valley traversed by streams (including Klemensborn). It is located at a crossing point of the river running here in a north-south direction. To the south and east, the surrounding Niederberg hill country rises to a height of over 140 meters above sea ​​level . Passages made it possible to connect Werdens to the medieval street system of Kölner Straße (connection north-south), while the Ruhr crossing connected the place with Hellweg (connection west-east).

The origin of the monks is not known for certain. The oldest written sources from Werden itself only show that the scribes had received an Anglo-Saxon education, which, given the influence of Anglo-Saxon monks on the continent, does not necessarily mean that the first monks also came from England.

Liudgerid own monastery

So-called Ludgeruskelch in the treasury, approx. 1060

Liudger continued to run the monastery when he became bishop in Munster. The first monks of the cathedral monastery probably came from Werden.

After the death of the founder (809), the Liudgers family was responsible for the so-founded Werden monastery . The first successor was brother Hildegrim I (809-827) and it was followed by the Liudgerids Gerfried (827-839), Thiatgrim (839-840), Altfried (840-849) and Hildegrim II. (849-886). Through the Liudgeriden, Werden was connected in personal union with the bishopric of Münster until 849 and with Halberstadt until 886 ; The merging of Werden and Helmstedt could also take place during this period. During this time there was a danger that family self-interest would become more important than the community of monks. There was also the risk that, through the personal union of the bishops of Münster with the monastery leaders, Werden could come under direct control of the diocese.

The Bertold turmoil after the middle of the 9th century ushered in the end of the Liudgerid monastery. Efforts by Bishop Liudbert von Münster Werden to incorporate the diocese into the diocese met with resistance from the monks. At a synod of bishops that took place in 864, they succeeded in having Hildigrim II once again become a Liudgeride abbot. But during his term of office, the East Franconian King Ludwig the Younger (876-882) requested the privilege of protection of kings , immunity and the free election of abbots. The monks voted for the first time after the death of Hildigrim II (886). The time of the Werden elective abbots and the time as an imperial monastery had begun. Since the change to the imperial monastery, the relationship with the respective archbishop of Cologne was close and his influence was considerable. Werden could never achieve the position of an exemten abbey only subordinate to the Pope.

Material basis

The initial possessions were increased by the bishops from the Liudgers family, the Carolingians and later the Saxon dukes. There were also donations from the monks entering the monastery, but also from lay people. At least at times, good economic management meant that surpluses could be used to acquire additional property. The clearing of forests has increased the value of the property. The material foundation of the monastery, recognizable by the traditional already from early times arable Werdener manorial system and the possession in the nearby area (becoming, Friemersheim ), in Westphalia , Ostfalen ( Helmstedt ) and Friesland , was considerable, but must have the 11th Century have stagnated, as can be deduced from administrative measures of Abbots Gerold (1031-1050) and Gero (1050-1063). Already in the 10th century the property was divided between the abbot and the convent. Later other dignitaries also received certain shares. In the mid-12th century there were about fifty main courtyards with a large number of subordinate properties. As a result, however, this property decreased. In 1282 the goods were sold in Friesland. Further sales followed in the following centuries to finance an increasingly lavish lifestyle.

High Middle Ages

The monastery developed favorably from the 10th to the 12th century. The (partly falsified) privileges of the German kings and emperors from the Ottonian, Salian and Early Staufer times strengthened the connection between the monastery and the rulers under whose protection the realm of Werden was now located.

The majority of the monks initially came from the dioceses of Münster and Utrecht. Later, the area of ​​influence of the monastery expanded to the east and south. The monastery also served to raise and care for sons from noble families. The aristocratic character of the community was detrimental to monastic breeding. The commitment to personal poverty in particular was a problem. It was not until late under pressure from Archbishop Heribert of Cologne that the Gorzer reform gained influence in Werden around 1015. Mediated through the Siegburg reform , the Cluny reform movement in Werden gained importance in the second quarter of the 12th century . At times they oriented themselves towards a simpler and stricter lifestyle. This inner heyday came to an end with Abbot Wilhelm I (1151–1160), under whom the last parts of the so-called large Werdener Privilegienbuch were made.

At the same time, the subsequent abbots were more involved in imperial politics than ever before, and they were able to expand their contacts with the papacy and thereby obtain the ecclesiastical exemption of the monastery and compartment. Abbot Adolf I (1160–1173) was involved in Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa's procession to Rome, while Abbot Heribert II (1197–1226) played an important role in the Welfisch-Hohenstaufen throne controversy, which was led by King Otto IV (1198–1215 / 1218) he privileges. In a document of the German King Heinrich VII (1220-1235) he was referred to as a prince, a reference to the imperial position becoming and to the small sovereignty of the abbot between Kettwig and formed from property and rights at the latest at the beginning of the 13th century Heisingen , Essen-Bredeney and Essen-Heidhausen .

Late Middle Ages

Reichsabbey Werden (around 1581)

The interests of the monastery were subordinated to the expansion and preservation of the territory. The way of life of the monks began to become secular in the 13th century. They had their own property and some of them lived in their own houses. In 1234 the abbot had to accept this way of life. In 1291 it was stipulated that the monks had to come from at least a noble house.

In the 13th and 14th centuries it can be seen that reforms (also initiated from outside) by the abbot and the now increasingly prominent convent did not take place and that regulations within the monastery were at best economic issues ( preliminary , debt service) and issues of the distribution of power (rights of the convention, Appointments to offices, election surrenders by the abbot). The monastic way of life increasingly gave way to a canonical one - in the 14th century people spoke of the Werden monastery and its canons - while the number of “monks” continued to decline.

Unsuccessful attempts at reform, the accumulation of offices, the allocation of administrative tasks to laypeople, the holding of church services by secular clergy, as well as a growing debt burden with simultaneous loss of goods and income finally led, despite the resistance of the abbot and the last two remaining conventuals, to the reform of the monastery by the Bursfeld congregation in 1474. As administrator, the Cologne abbot Adam Meyer (1474–1477) took over to stabilize the situation in the abbey after a long period of decline. By the end of the 15th century, the abbots Dietrich Hagedorn (1477–1484) and Antonius Grimholt (1484–1517) laid the foundations for the abbey to continue to exist in the early modern period.

From then on the abbots came from middle-class families, the number of noble monks was limited and the community had to face visitations more often than before. The reform was successful and in the 16th century it was monks and abbots from Werden who reformed other monasteries. A sparing spending policy led to an improvement in economic conditions, which also allowed construction activity worth mentioning.

Early modern age

Werden monastery, former main building of the abbey

Although the abbot and monastic community continued to maintain their small territory on the lower Ruhr against Werden and the monastery bailiff, they also held a considerable part of the extensive property in northern Germany, but the advance of the Reformation (since 1550) caused unrest, as did the takeover of the bailiwick over the Werden monastery by the Protestant Elector Ernst von Brandenburg (1609). During the Thirty Years' War , the monastic community under the abbot and "Imperial General War Commissioner" Hugo Preutaeus (1614–1646) was able to assert itself, and the Prussian bailiff and the Catholic abbot came to terms with each other since the second half of the 17th century. Baroque new monastery buildings, cloth-making and coal mining shaped the economic development of Becoming in the 18th century, for example under the abbots Coelestin von Geismar (1706–1718), Benedikt von Geismar (1728–1757) or Anselm Sonius (1757–1774).

The abbey was in 1803 on the basis of Reichsdeputationshauptschluss circuit secularized and was together with the belonging territory permanently - after the interlude of the Grand Duchy of Berg (1808-1813) - Prussian (1815).

Territory of the Imperial Abbey of Werden

The properties around the Werden monastery formed their own territory early on, which was threatened and restricted by the powerful neighbors of the Werden abbots, the Counts of Berg , who were mentioned as early as 1003 and who soon exercised bailiwick rights over the Deutz and Werden monasteries . In particular through the means of the church bailiwick, the counts tried to influence the situation in Werden. The Counts of Berg, who originally ruled large areas of Westphalia and the Bergisches Land named after them , divided their property between the Count's sons in 1160; this is how the Westphalian county of Berg-Altena and the Rhenish county of Berg came into being . A renewed division of the Altena line finally led to the creation of the counties Altena-Isenberg , also occasionally called Hövel-Isenberg, and Altena-Mark . As a result of this inheritance, the bailiwick of the Werden monastery came into the hands of the Isenberg counts, whose efforts to consolidate their position of power in Westphalia met the opposing efforts of the dukes of Westphalia and the archbishops of Cologne. Part of these efforts was also the preservation and consolidation of the lucrative bailiwick rights. Count Friedrich von Isenberg in particular got into a violent conflict with Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne . The conflict with this close relative finally culminated after a meeting of the nobility in Soest in the murder of the archbishop (1225) by Westphalian aristocrats in a ravine on the Gevelsberg in the Schwelm parish, for which Friedrich as an instigator was later executed in Cologne.

The county and rights of the Isenbergs were then confiscated by Count Adolf I von der Mark and the new Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden , the bailiff's rights went to the Archbishop, and some castles such as Isenburg and the city of Nienbrügge were destroyed as punishment in 1225/26. The county of Isenberg, which was dissolved in this way, and the rights associated with the Isenberger line soon became the subject of another dispute. The eldest son of the executed Count Friederich, Dietrich, claimed the county and all hereditary rights of his father as an inheritance and was largely supported by his uncle Heinrich IV of Limburg . This armed conflict with the Counts of the Mark and the Archdiocese of Cologne, known as the Isenberg feud , led to the construction of the New Isenburg in 1240 , with which Dietrich wanted to enforce his claims to the bailiwicks of Essen and Werden. The feud was settled in 1243, Dietrich got back a small part of his father's possessions, which continued to exist as the County of Limburg . The bailiwick rights remained in dispute, however, so that the Cologne residents besieged and captured the new Isenburg in 1244 in order to secure control over the bailiwick of Werden.

In the following 44 years, the count families in Westphalia and the Rhineland again came into conflict with the Cologne archbishops and dukes of Westphalia, so that Werden now lay between the two power blocs. In the Battle of Worringen (1288), John I of Brabant , the Counts of Berg and Mark and the Hanseatic City of Cologne faced and defeated the archbishop's army. With the defeat of Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg , the balance of power also changed; the abbey now openly sought the reference to the Counts of Mark, who from now on exercised de facto bailiwick law over Werden. The economic decline of the abbey also strengthened the influence of the Märkische in the Werden territory. This was noticeable not least in the relationship between Vogt and Abbot and the developing city of Werden.

With the secularization , the Werden territory also fell to Prussia , to which the neighboring territories of Kleve and Mark belonged since the extinction of the dukes of the United Duchy of Jülich-Kleve-Berg and the settlement of the subsequent Jülich-Klevian succession dispute.

Administrative division before 1803

The territory of the Reich Abbey of Werden was divided as follows (population figures 1802):

The oldest land register in the monastery

The land register "A" of the monastery, which was started before 900, is one of the most important early medieval monastic land records in Germany (next to, for example, the Prümer land register ). And that in two ways: It is one of the few (e.g. the Freckenhorster Heberegister , the Essen Urbar ) that uses Old Low German (Old Saxon) in addition to Latin. In addition, many places are mentioned for the first time in this land register, such as B. Dortmund or Dülmen .

The more than 30 land registers, which are known from the late 8th to the early 10th century, represent registers of properties, services and taxes. The reason for such records was often the division of goods between abbot and convent, or as with Urbar A, Looting by the Normans and their consequences.

In all acquisitions, an unfamiliar power of the oral and the symbolic can be seen, because only an oral declaration of intent and the symbolic instruction of ownership with clod and twig in front of witnesses brought Werden formally into possession of his goods. That is why they refrained from taking traditional notes for a long time . It was only around 1050 that the grip on written fixation increased so much that Werden developed its own document system. In any case, the Urbare received additions, corrections, adjustments, taxes or services were “summed up”, controlled by means of extracts that were carried, parts were added to documents, they were written in books of tradition , yes, in liturgical books, and copies were made. In individual cases, the snapshot, which represented such a land register, was continued. For example, one noted “iam solvit” (Urbar A, fol. 29v) at the Hufen owner Brundag, since the obligated party (from Sünninghausen ) had apparently delivered 30 Modii of oats after “nihil” (nothing) had been noted beforehand . Nevertheless, land records were not continued in order to have a constant overview, but replaced by new land records at long intervals. The first land records comprised only 23, at best 39 sheets, the Helmstedter only 12.

Urbar A

The oldest Werden Urbar, therefore called “A”, consists of 39 sheets of 15.5–18.5 × 24 cm, which are stapled together in six layers and bound in strong deerskin. There are also 17 smaller pieces of paper, mainly made of paper. On it is a cross and from a hand of the 16th century: "Abbatie prepositure". A number of manuscripts can be distinguished, the oldest of which dates from around 900. The parchment sheets were divided into a set number of lines, varying from 24 to 31 lines. The dimensions of the leaves vary accordingly. This total of 40 folia (f. 1a was originally empty and was not counted until much later) was what the editor Rudolf Kötzschke called the “land register of the monastery for Franconia, Westphalia and Friesland from the time of the first abbots”. It initially only comprised layers 1-3, plus sheets 21 and 26 and single sheet 14, which are characterized by the same number of lines and side dimensions. The rest consists of supplements from a later period.

There is the extensive deed of donation Folkers from 855, monastery property near Friemersheim on the left bank of the Rhine , the beginning of the Lüdinghausen office (location I), its continuation, the Albrads office, more recent entries on the Arenbögel farm, the Sandrads office (II), traditions of the Heldringhausen farm and some servants and wax interesters (f. 14), a Folobodos tradition and (more recently) the delimitation of the Werden Tenth District, income from eastern Friesland and the Diocese of Osnabrück , a number of Westphalian traditions (III). Then further Westphalian traditions (IV, f. 21). and a fragment of Odgrim's office (IV, f. 26). Then again East Frisian income in the area of ​​the mouth of the Ems (IV, f. 22-25). Finally, offices of Westphalia (V), the three Westphalian offices of Wilgis (around Lüdinghausen, Dülmen , Selm ), Wilda and Brunger, the Grimhers in Elfter / Twente and income from the Rhine delta (VI).

The manuscript is made up of four originally independent registers, with the associated layers I – III containing more comprehensive and spatially more widely dispersed information, position IV Ostfriesland, position V and VI Westphalia and the Dutch areas. As Kötzschke was able to show, layer V is the oldest part. It reflects the conditions in Osnabrück before the Norman looting, which lasted until around 890. Location I – III and the appendages mentioned were created afterwards. Location IV probably dates from around 910 and was added a little later to the first three locations as a "Frisian" supplement. Location V can be assigned to the 2nd third of the 10th century. Individual pieces in positions VI should probably replace or supplement corresponding passages in positions I – III from the start. There are only a few copies of documents, such as the great Folker donation from 855, or fragments of the Folkhard donation document in Friesland . Traditional news can be found more frequently, especially in layers I – III. The main component is made up of lists of goods and rights as well as lists of names of those liable , including the gradients , i.e. rather lifting registers . Both layer V and layer VI are almost pure lift registers.

The incorporation of the “raelatio magistri Radwardi” (f. 23v) indicates a kind of written or oral reporting by the local office holder when compiling the land register. In some places, e.g. B. in the Friemersheim register, frequent sprinkles of old German expressions point to an oral instruction from the Familia .

It is unclear whether all parts of the land were created on Werden's initiative. In any case, layers I – III allow this interpretation, while layers V and VI in particular contain indications that could point to an origin "on site". Some of the oldest pieces, especially the offices of Hrodwerk and Hrodgers, mention obligatory and incline, but give no information about the location of the goods, the younger ones give the Pagus in which the obligatory were located and the place.

The frequent marginalia and the entries on a total of 17 separate slips of paper are mostly place names, mostly by Abbot Heinrich Dudens (mid-16th century). He writes about "Ostenstadon": "is nhu Vusteden in Selhem obedient, as ider mennichlich conscious". However, even he, who probably no longer knew the former property so well, misidentified some places. He identified “Uuellithi” (Welte, northwest of Dülmen ) with Vlenbroick , in the parish of Selm (f. 28r).

Land B

f. 1-30 parchment, in addition f. 8a and 12a, 12-15 × 22-24 cm four pieces of paper, parchment, f. 29 and 30 are badly damaged modern cardboard cover Edition: Kötzschke, Urbare, B, pp. 88–131

Written by a large number of hands from the 10th and 11th centuries, the manuscript consists of 5 layers, 2 single leaves and 4 pieces of paper. It includes the abbey around Werden, West and East Falzes, and Friesland.

The first layer contains entries from different hands, earlier on Westphalia and Friesland, later on Helmstedt . The achievements of Helmstedter Schulzen were entered on the first, originally blank page in the 12th century . The f. 2v – 3r contain the office of Bunos at Werden, f. 3v – 4r a register from Bögge bei Kamen , on which f. 2v – 3r and 4v – 5r a directory from the Helmstedt area from another hand, f. 5r additional Frisian income, f. 5v – 6r to Weener on the lower Ems , f. 6v Forest prerogatives in the room are (only names and quantities of wood), f. 7r register of the Bodberg farm near Werl , f. 7v Frisian property again, income from the Netherlands and income from the maintenance of wool makers in Leer , f. 8r cloth supplies from Friesland, Herberg rights of Abbot, f. 8v again Frisian (monetary) income and attempts to determine the increase.

Around position II (f. 9–16) a small sheet of parchment was stapled, which provides a register of the Weitmar farm, to which the one between f. 12 and 13 attached notes. On f. 9r, also originally empty, were held by four compartment Schulzen for the brothers. On f. 9v – 10r are the income of the gate, the sexton and the school, f. 10v-11v the office of Thiedolf ​​(Helmstedt-Seedorf), f. 12r Jeinsen (near Hildesheim ), f. 12v younger lawyers in Mallingforst and a copy of the deed (pledging of Count Oddo), f. 13r – 14r follows an office in the Ems area, f. 14v labor services for Barghus (Barkhoven?) F. 14v-15r five Frisian courts, f. 15r money gap, f. 15v – 16r a register from Bögge, a legacy in Nordenscheid (in Krehwinkel near Hetterscheid ) near Werden, finally on f. 16v Income of the Wormstedt Office (zu Helmstedt).

Location III (double folio 17/18) was later confused in its originally clearer usage picture, because initially only lists of Helmstedter Hufen were found here on f. 17v-18v. Later on f. 17r various income and the office of Reinger added, on f. 18v a diet for monks on feast days. Location IV (double portfolio 19/20) contains services from three Helmstedter Schulzen (f.19r – v), a register from the Loga farm on the Leda , a series of witnesses from Udo's tradition, as well as hostels calculated by an abbot “L” (f. 19v –20v). Location V (f. 21–28) contains a uniform register of Frisian income on f. 21r – 27r, and on f. 27v-28r achievements of the mayor to the Abbey yards, eventually deliveries of Helmstedter provost to the Abbot of growth and some serfs, who were handed over to Will.

The attached single sheets contain on f. 29 a service order for festive days, on the back traditions in the Laupendahl forest, services of the pastor from Loga to the abbot, on f. 30r hooves left to a Count Hermann (probably Hermann II von Werl, one of Werdens bailiffs), income from Wesecke on the reverse .

The entry probably goes to f. 1r (below) goes back to Abbot Duden, who dated the manuscript to around 983, which is probably due to the entry on f. 20v goes back, where farmsteads are listed as "abbas L. computavit". This was equated with Abbot Liudolf, who died in 983. A comparison of manuscripts with contemporary documents and the comparison of the diverging registers (Bögge, Helmstedt) appearing within Urbars B confirm that the manuscript must have been created around 1000.

The oldest parts can be found in location II, entries that possibly go back to Abbot Liudolf, and record abbey property that is missing in Urbar A. In the early 11th century, layers I and III were created. T. should supplement position II, partially replace it. Further entries followed later in the empty spaces. Comparisons of names show that layers IV and V were created around 1050, because many of the named coincide with those from land register C, which was created around this time, with layer IV being an addition to V.

All of this shows that Urbar B is a kind of continuation of Urbar A that was in use for around 150 years. The question of whether these are new acquisitions or whether there was no reason to put them down in the oldest land register cannot be answered. Possibly the key lies in the fact that the records fell into two phases: an early phase, before 1000, in which one tried to complete the Urbar A, be it about new acquisitions, be it about omissions, and a later phase in which the drafting a new land register had to be considered, which was realized around 1050.

Abbey church

Ludgerus basilica in Werden

The abbey church was built around 799 together with the St. Ludgerus monastery. After a few major fires, it was restored in the Romanesque - Gothic transitional style and consecrated again in 1275. Since the secularization of the imperial abbey, it has served as a parish church. In 1993 Pope John Paul II raised it to a minor basilica . It has a baroque high altar and paintings by the Werden painter Theodor Mintrop. The remains of St. Liudger, founder of the Werden monastery and the diocese of Münster, are buried in the Carolingian ring crypt. In the adjoining treasury there is the Helmstedt Cross, an important work of art representing the transition from Ottonian to Romanesque sculpture, and the Ludgerus shrine, one of the few baroque reliquary shrines that is used annually for the Ludgerus procession on the first Sunday of September.

Become the city

Will be in the 17th century

The beginnings of the city of Werden are in the dark, but it can be assumed that a smaller settlement with a market, merchants and craftsmen soon established itself next to the monastery, which was an important economic factor for its surroundings. In the first few years (around 800), monastery brothers and builders had to be supplied to the monastery church and the monastery buildings, which was also possible from the surrounding area. In addition, the monastery was equipped with appropriate goods. In the 12th century, references to sources - including the designation of the settlement as civitas and the mention of a wall - testify to the development of the town. 1256 - after elimination of the city bailiff who was dependent on the abbot (1240) - Count Otto von Altena (1249–1262) privileged the Werden citizens, for whom he expressly advocated as a defender of their freedom (against the abbot). On the other hand, the agreement “on the establishment and fortification of the city” (so-called city foundation document of July 22, 1317) between Count Engelbert II. Von der Mark (1308–1328), who was under pressure, and the Werden abbot Wilhelm II. (1310– 1330) a compromise that secured important rights for the abbot as city and sovereign rulers in the city (coins, customs, rights to accept Jews and usurers - probably moneylenders who were all usurers because of the interest ban). The abbot and the abbey were pushed further out of the city in the period that followed. The oldest Werden town charter (from November 25, 1371) was issued by Vogt Engelbert III. von der Mark (1347-1391) without the participation of the abbot; it had u. a. the establishment of three guilds and regulated the admission of citizens to the city. A certain relativization of the preferential position of power resulted barely a year later, when Engelbert declared that he had no further rights in the city and in the court of Werden except the bailiwick. In the 15th century the city gained further influence: wine excise , bridge money , the building of the wall and the fortification of the Ruhr Bridge were now part of the area of ​​responsibility of a city self-government, headed by the council and mayor. With 700 to 800 inhabitants (including the members of the monastery) Werden was a modest town within an equally modest territory. It remained essentially - despite the Reformation and the Protestant Prussian church bailiwick - in the early modern period.

The Werden-Helmstedt twin abbey

Letter seal of the imperial abbey

The Werden abbots were also directors of the Helmstedt St. Ludgeri monastery until the early modern times . In Helmstedt, too, a city grew up for them at the latest by the middle of the 12th century, which was walled for the first time around 1230 after the fire disaster of 1200 (in the German controversy for the throne) and which became largely independent from the Werden abbot as city lord in the course of the 13th century. The city-lordly rights were transferred to the Helmstedt Council and the Guelph dukes . Since 1180 they owned the church bailiwick over the monastery and in 1490 Helmstedt was formally assigned to them. Towards the end of the 15th century, the city's population is said to have been approximately 3,000.

In the late Middle Ages, the Helmstedt monastery was drawn into the decline of the Werden Abbey. The abbots - in any case only elected by the Werden convent - hardly or only insufficiently (disputes with the city) took care of the affairs of the distant Helmstedt. Therefore, the Bursfeld Congregation did not move into the area until 1481 and was able to start rebuilding the monastery. But in the early modern era, the Helmstedt monastery of St. Ludgeri was now part of a “ country town ” in the territory of the Guelph Brunswick dukes. Fearing Protestant iconoclasts, the Werden abbot Hermann von Holten brought the most important treasures of the Helmstedt monastery to Werden in 1547, especially the Helmstedt cross , which is venerated as a relic of Charles, and the chalice of St. Liudger. Like numerous monasteries in the empire, the Helmstedter was secularized in 1802/1803.

seal

The seal from the 17th century shows St. Liudger , who founded the Benedictine monastery in Werden in 799. In his right hand he holds an abbot's staff with a velum and in his left a church; in front of it in the base of the shield a small shield with a pallium set with four spheres . The inscription reads: "AD MISSIVAS * S * OPIDI WERDINENSIS", which means "Letter seal of the Abbey".

Monastery leaders and (imperial) abbots of Werden

Surname Term of office Date of death Remarks
Liudgerid monastery director
Liudger approx. 800-809 March 26, 809
Hildegrim I. 809-827 July 19, 827
Gerfried 827-839 September 12, 839
Thiatgrim 839-840 February 8, 840
Altfried 840-849 April 22, 849
Hildegrim II 855 / 64-886 December 21, 886
Wahläbte von Werden
Andulph 887 - approx. 888 March 12, 888
Hembil 888-891?
Adaldag 892? July 8, 892
Odo to 898
Hoger 898-902
Hildebrand 902-910
Adalbrand 910-916 March 2, 916
Who is 916-930 5th November 930
Wigger 930-940 August 14, 940
Wigo approx. 940-945 March 20, 945
Purely 945-962 February 1, 962
Engelbert 962-971 August 9, 971
Folkmar 971-974
Liudolf 974-983
Werinbert I. 983-1001 October 8, 1001
Ratbald von Volmarstein 1001-1015 April 9, 1015
Heithanrich von Altenburg 1015-1030 November 11, 1030
Bardo 1030-1031 10/11 June 1051
Gerold 1031-1050
Gero 1050-1063
Gilbert 1063-1066
Adalwig 1066-1080 October 27, 1081
Otto I of Sappenheim 1080-1104
Adolf von der Mark 1104-1105
Rudolf von Helpenstein 1105-1112
Liudbert von Isenberg 1112-1119 October 8, 1119
Berengoz of Westerburg 1119-1125 September 23, 1125
Bernhard von Wevelinghoven 1125-1140 September 22, 1140
Werinbert II of Schönburg 1140-1144 October 11, 1144
Volmar von Bilstein 1144-1145 September 7, 1145
Lambert of Gennep 1145-1151
Wilhelm I of Moers 1151-1160 April 23, 1160
Adolf I. von Berg 1160-1173 December 21, 1173 Son of Adolf II von Berg
Wolfram von Kirchburg 1173-1183 July 9, 1183
Heribert I. von Berg 1183-1197 July 16, 1197
Heribert II of Büren 1197-1226 July 23, 1226
Gerhard von Grafschaft 1226-1249 November 12, 1249
Albert von Goer 1251-1257 September 13, 1257
Albero of Tecklenburg 1257-1277 June 16, 1277
Otto II of Warburg 1278-1288 July 5, 1288
Heinrich I of Wildenburg 1288-1310
Wilhelm II of Hardenberg 1310-1330 May 18, 1330
Johann I. von Hernen 1330-1343 December 15, 1343
Johann II of Arscheid 1343-1360 October 3, 1360
Heinrich II of Wildenburg 1360-1382 September 12, 1382
Johann III. from Spiegelberg 1382-1387 December 20, 1387
Bruno von racesberg 1387-1398
Adolf III. from Spiegelberg 1398-1438 January 11, 1438
Johann IV of Stecke 1438-1452 September 2, 1454
Konrad von Gleichen 1452-1474
Adam of Eschweiler 1474-1476 Administrator
Theodor Hagedorn 1476-1484 August 30, 1484
Antonius Grimholt 1484-1517 June 13, 1517
John of Groningen 1517-1540 July 8, 1540
Hermann von Holten 1540-1572 October 20, 1572
Heinrich Duden 1573-1601 April 5, 1601
Konrad Kloedt 1601-1614 June 6, 1614
Hugo Preutaeus 1614-1646 June 24, 1646
Heinrich Dücker 1646-1667 June 19, 1667
Adolf Borcken 1667-1670 4th August 1670
Ferdinand von Erwitte 1670-1705 April 17, 1706
Celestine from Geismar 1706-1718 Spring 1718 1714–1718 President of the Bursfeld Congregation
Theodor Thier 1719-1727 November 4, 1727
Simon von Bischopinck zu Telgte 1727 1727
Benedict von Geismar 1727-1757 August 29, 1757
Anselm Sonius 1757-1774 October 28, 1774
Johannes Hellersberg 1774-1780 March 26, 1780
Bernhard Bierbaum 1780-1798 March 6, 1798
Beda Savels 1798-1802 August 12, 1828

Bailiff of Werden

Bailiffs of Werden Abbey were successively the rulers of the houses:

The Counts of Werl :

The Counts of Berg (1093–1160; inheritance from Berg House):

The Counts of Altena (1161–1225; 1225 confiscation of Isenberg's rights after the murder of imperial administrator and Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne , Count von Berg):

Archbishops of Cologne (1225–1288; defeat at Worringen )

The Counts of the Mark (from 1288–1609):

Counts of Kleve-Mark (from 1417 dukes of Kleve and counts of the Mark, and from 1445 lords of Lippstadt as condominium with noblemen to Lippe )

  • 1398–1448 Adolf IV (inheritance dispute with Gerhard until 1437, Vogteirecht: unclear whether it was perceived by him or Gerhard)
  • 1437–1461 Gerhard , Count von der Mark zu Hamm
  • 1448–1481 Johann I (succeeds his father Adolf IV in 1448 and receives full rights over the Mark back in 1461. From 1461 at the latest, then also Vogt in Werden)
  • 1481-1521 John II. , The Pious

Dukes of the United Duchies of Jülich-Kleve-Berg , Counts of the Mark and Ravensberg, Lords of Ravenstein and Lippstadt as condominiums with noblemen to Lippe

House of Hohenzollern : (from 1609 / 1648–1803) Elector of the HRR, Margraves of Brandenburg , Dukes of Kleve, Counts of the Mark and Ravensberg, Lords of Lippstadt as a condominium with noblemen to Lippe

Kings in (from 1772 of) Prussia, Electors of the HRR, Margraves of Brandenburg , Dukes of Kleve, Counts of the Mark and Ravensberg, Lords of Lippstadt

Picture gallery

  • Gatehouse of the former abbey, entrance to the courtyard

  • So-called Prussian wing (19th century) now part of the Folkwang University

  • North side of the abbey church

  • View from the east with the outer crypt in the foreground

  • Entrance to the basilica in the vestibule

  • Nave, view to the altar

  • In the crypt

  • Shrine of St. Liudger

  • Helmstedt cross in the treasury of Werden abbey church, late Tonic, around 1060

literature

  • Markus Bötefür , Gereon Buchholz, Michael Buhlmann: Picture Chronicle 1200 Years of Becoming , Essen 1999
  • Michael Buhlmann: Women in the medieval Werden manorial rule . In: Münster am Hellweg 51 (1998), pp. 35–52
  • Michael Buhlmann: Liudger on the Ruhr . In: I proclaim Christ to you. St. Liudger, Zeuge des Glaubens 742-809 [1998], pp. 22-42
  • Michael Buhlmann: The oldest immunity certificate for the Werden ad Ruhr monastery. Studies on the relationship between monastery and royalty in the early Middle Ages . In: Münster am Hellweg 52 (1999), pp. 55-74
  • Michael Buhlmann: The Werden monastery in the Carolingian divisions . In: Münster am Hellweg 52 (1999), pp. 75–91
  • Michael Buhlmann: The Werden Abbey and its relationships with the surrounding area in the Middle Ages . In: Münster am Hellweg 53 (2000), pp. 15–54
  • Michael Buhlmann: Essen und Werden: To the beginnings and the medieval history of two spiritual communities , in: Münster am Hellweg 54 (2001), pp. 67–128
  • Michael Buhlmann: Liudger and Charlemagne . In: I proclaim Christ to you. St. Liudger, Zeuge des Glaubens 742-809 [2001], pp. 5-48
  • Michael Buhlmann: Werden ad Ruhr: time and time awareness in a medieval manor . In: Münster am Hellweg 55 (2002), pp. 43–73
  • Hermann Burghard (arrangement): Werden (= Rhenish City Atlas No. 78) , Cologne-Weimar-Vienna 2001
  • Hermann Burghard, Thomas Dupke, Monika Fehse, Jan Gerchow , Detlef Hopp , Klaus Wisotzky: Essen. History of a city . Edited by Ulrich Bosdorf, Bottrop-Essen 2002
  • Wilhelm Flügge: Chronicle of the city of Werden . [Vol. 1:] Düsseldorf 1887, reprint Essen-Werden 1989, supplement 1: [Essen-] Werden 1889, supplement 2: [Essen-] Werden 1891, vol. 2 [= supplement 1/2]: reprint Essen-Werden 1990
  • Jan Gerchow (ed.): The millennium of the monks. KlosterWelt - Werden 799–1803 (= exhibition catalog Ruhrlandmuseum / Treasury Werden) , Essen-Cologne 1999
  • Bernd Ulrich Hucker : The rulership of the Reichsabtei Werden in Lerigau . In: Yearbook for the Oldenburger Münsterland 1990 , Vechta 1989, pp. 21–39
  • Rudolf Kötzschke : Studies on the administrative history of the large manor in the Ruhr , Leipzig 1901
  • Rudolf Kötzschke (Ed.): The land register of the Werden ad Ruhr abbey (= publications of the Society for Rhenish History XX: Rheinische Urbare). Vol. 2: A. The land register from 9.-13 Century . Edited by Rudolf Kötzschke, Bonn 1908, reprint Düsseldorf 1978, vol. 3: B. Stock books, lifting and interest registers from the 14th to the 17th century , Bonn 1908, reprint Düsseldorf 1978, vol. 4, I: Introduction and register . I. Name register . Edited by Fritz Körholz, Düsseldorf 1978, Vol. 4, II: Introduction, Chapter IV: The economic constitution and administration of the great manor will. Subject index . Edited by Rudolf Kötzschke, Bonn 1958
  • Wilhelm Langenbach: Abbey and City Becoming in the Age of the Thirty Years War . In: Contributions to the history of the monastery Werden 15 (1911), pp. 1–145
  • Christof Römer : Helmstedt - Becoming. Millennial history of a double abbey from Helmstedt's point of view . In: Münster am Hellweg 36 (1983), pp. 11-23
  • Johannes Rüschen: Hildigrim and the monastery Werden . In: Münster am Hellweg 19 (1966), pp. 85-94
  • Johannes Rüschen: The monastery Werden and the Emsland . In: Münster am Hellweg 20 (1967), pp. 19–24
  • Johannes Rüschen: The monastery in the 13th century . In: Münster am Hellweg 22 (1969), pp. 89-94
  • Johannes Rüschen: The Becoming Abbots of the Middle Ages . In: Münster am Hellweg 22 (1969), p. 94f.
  • Johannes Rüschen: The monastery in the 14th century . In: Münster am Hellweg 22 (1969), pp. 182-186
  • Johannes Rüschen: The Werden monastery from the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Thirty Years War . In: Münster am Hellweg 23 (1970), pp. 121–128
  • Otto Schantz (Hrsg.): Werdener historical sources . Vol. 1: I. The Historia monasterii Werthinensis of Abbot Heinrich Duden; II. Insignis monasterii sancti Ludgeri Uuerthinensis annales et catalogus abbatum . Bonn 1912, Vol. 2: III. The Annals of the Provost Gregor Overham , Bonn 1919, Vol. 3: IV. Bernhard Roskamps catalog; V. Directory of names . Bonn 1925
  • Albert Schuncken: History of the Reichsabtei Werden an der Ruhr , Cologne-Neuss 1865 ( digitized version )
  • Christof Spannhoff: On the dating of the oldest arable land in Werden (A) . In: Nordmünsterland. Research and Findings 2 (2015), pp. 192–199.
  • Wilhelm Stüwer (edit.): The Reichsabtei Werden an der Ruhr (= Germania Sacra , New Part 12, The Archdiocese of Cologne 3) , Berlin-New York 1980
  • Paulus Volk : The General Chapter Recesses of the Bursfeld Congregation , 4 vols., Siegburg 1955–1972
  • Walther Zimmermann , Hugo Borger , Ruth Ehmke and others: The churches of Essen-Werden (= The art monuments of the Rhineland, Beih. 7), Essen 1959

Web links

Commons : Kloster Werden  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 171
  2. ↑ It is one of the exhibits at the Credo exhibition 2013 in Paderborn . Source: Stiegemann, Christoph, et al .: CREDO. Christianization of Europe in the Middle Ages , Petersberg, Michael Imhof Verlag, 2013, catalog entry 391, page 445f
  3. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 171
  4. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 171
  5. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 171
  6. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 172
  7. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 173
  8. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 173
  9. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 S-172
  10. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 172
  11. ↑ Manfred Petry: The Abbey Will. In: Cologne, Westphalia 1180 - 1980. Regional history between the Rhine and Weser. Vol. 1. Münster, 1981 p. 172
  12. ^ Wilhelm Fabricius : Explanations of the historical atlas of the Rhine province, The map of 1789 , Volume 2, Bonn 1898, p. 340
  13. ↑ Jan Gerchow (ed.): The millennium of the monks - Werden 799-1803 , exhibition catalog Essen / Cologne 1999, p. 452 f.
  14. ↑ Stadtverband der Bürger- und Verkehrsvereine Essen eV www.buergervereine-essen.de Literature (source) Kurt Schweder's coat of arms for the Essen districts, Johann Rainer Busch 2009, p. 108
  15. ^ Paul Leidinger: The Counts of Werl and Werl-Arnsberg (approx. 980–1124): Genealogy and aspects of their political history in the Ottonian and Salian times, In: Harm Klueting (ed.): The Duchy of Westphalia, Volume I, The Kurkölniche Duchy of Westphalia from the beginnings of Cologne rule in southern Westphalia to secularization in 1803. Münster 2009 ISBN 978-3-402-12827-5 , pp. 119–170
  16. ^ Internet portal history of Westphalia battle of Worringen

Coordinates: 51 ° 23 ′ 17 ″  N , 7 ° 0 ′ 17 ″  E