Monastery gate (Gerleve)
The cloister gate is the entrance to Gerleve Abbey . The two heavy oak wings are the work of the sculptor Josef Picker .
history
In the early 1950s, the abbot Pius Buddenborg decided to realign the monastery. So the spiritual preparation of the ecumenical movement with the Eastern Churches was given up. Instead, monastic life was linked to the region. Therefore it was planned to build a guest wing in which male guests can be accommodated in the monastery for a while. The basis for this decision was on the one hand the Benedictine hospitality ; On the other hand, the monastery wanted men who would like to retire for a few days in silence and prayer, or who have to make a difficult decision, consider their life situation, or want to discuss with a monk, prepare for exams, or carry themselves with the thought into the To enter the monastery, to grant a limited hospitality right. The guest wing, which began at the old monastery gate, was extended far to the east. As a result, the forecourt in front of the abbey church, which is located on the southern slope of the Coesfelder Berg , was fenced in to the federal highway 525 and closed off harmoniously, like a courtyard. In the wing there are ten guest rooms that offer space for eleven guests (nine single and one double room). The guest wing is still available to guests of the monastery to this day. Guests can attend all prayer times in the church. They have lunch and dinner with the convent in the refectory . Only breakfast and afternoon coffee are served in a special guest room. All guest rooms are equipped with a separate shower and toilet. The conclusion is the new cloister gate, in a square-shaped building that closes the guest wing like a gate chapel and was completed in 1952.
Oak wing door of the monastery gate
History of the double door
For the golden jubilee of the then abbot Raphael Molitor , the monastery received two reliefs for the new monastery gate, donated by Prof. Franz Guntermann and designed and executed by assistant Josef Picker . The reliefs were artfully placed in the door of the two door leaves by the monastery’s carpenters made of 300-year-old oak, so that the door could be handed over in time for the anniversary on October 14, 1947.
The double door
The two images are reminiscent of two key dates in the history of the monastery: The monastery storm of January 13, 1941 , also hit the monastery Geleve. The monks were banished from the abbey. Fathers Augustin Hessing (1897–1975) and Gregor Schwake (1892–1967) were sent to the Dachau concentration camp . About ten conscripted brothers of the monastery had to live on the farm on the Honigbach below the monastery in order to keep the agriculture going. The first monks finally returned to the abbey on May 23, 1946 . This forms the theme of the doors: the banishment and the return. This is also underlined by two Latin sayings in the upper part of the double door, which refer to the Book of Psalms .
“Those who sow with tears will reap with joy. They go and weep and bear noble seeds and come with joy and bring their sheaves "
Left wing door
The left door wing shows Joseph , who gave the abbey its name, and Mary with the baby Jesus fleeing to Egypt . Josef carries a small bundle with his traveling stick; Mary carries the baby Jesus who is not yet wearing a halo . The group leaves the center of the picture and goes from right to left. The depression is mainly symbolized by the indicated stairs, it goes down. Above the picture is the Latin saying:
“ Euntes ibant et flebant - They went away and wept” (memory of the exile in 1941) “
Right wing door
After years abroad, the three are now returning home. Moved, Joseph takes off his hiking hat; Mary lifts the now taller Jesus onto her shoulders, who, with arms raised, happily welcomes his homeland, which he had to flee after his birth. The group strives back to the middle of the gate and the stairs show the way that is directed upwards. Above the picture is the Latin saying:
" Venientes venient cum exsultatione - they returned full of jubilation" (memory of their return home in 1946) "
In the lower part there are coats of arms representing the coat of arms of the abbey and the Reverend Father Molitor.
Entrance to the monastery
The monastery gate is not only the entrance for the monks of the convent, but it is open to all people with requests and questions. Immediately at the entrance in the gate house is a consultation and meeting room in which the clergy of the convent answer both theological and personal questions and give advice. The opening times of the monastery gate take this concern into account.
"We are certainly the church in the diocese with the longest opening times."
Web links
- Tour in Gerleve with the opening times of the monastery gate
- Father Marcel Albert at the monastery gate
- The TAZ with a report on the guest wing of the monastery and its guests
Individual evidence
- ↑ hospitality
- ↑ Münsterland.de ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The bell of August 15, 2014
- ↑ Westfälische Nachrichten of October 12, 2012
- ↑ Gerleve Gate
- ↑ Gerleve Gate
- ↑ Church site
literature
- Marcel Albert: 100 years of the Gerleve Benedictine Abbey. Aschendorff-Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-402-05486-8 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 56 ′ 44.9 ″ N , 7 ° 14 ′ 12.7 ″ E