Heiligenberg monastery ruins

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View inside the monastery ruins to the west towards Jugenheim, on the left the font and grave slab of Conrad von Weinsberg-Breuberg; opposite wall side: tombstones of the Oberkeim family from the end of the 15th century
Monastery ruins, view to the east

The Heiligenberg monastery ruins (also called Lorsch Monastery on the Holy Mountain according to documents ) are the remains of a high mediaeval nunnery on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim , a district of Seeheim-Jugenheim in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district in Hesse .

The monastery was founded no later than the middle of the 13th century by the Lords of Bickenbach , who built up their first domain between Wurzelbach in the east and Gernsheim am Rhein, with the later youth home and the mother church of Bickenbach in the center, and first from the hamlet of Hähnlein (today Alsbach- Hähnlein ), after 1241 controlled their Bickenbach Castle (now called Alsbach Castle ). The monastery, which was transferred to Lorsch Abbey in 1413 , is documented until around 1550; From this time on, the then Electoral Palatinate monastery was reformed and probably continued to operate from 1556 as part of the Lorsch domain that was secularized that year. At the latest in the Thirty Years' War it became a ruin. His vineyards were still cultivated after the Thirty Years 'War, as evidenced by the mention of a press house belonging to the Lorsch monastery after the Thirty Years' War. Today's appearance comes largely from a partial reconstruction in 1831 as a romantic ruin , including the remains of the historic wall, which Grand Duchess Wilhelmine of Hesse and the Rhine had initiated. She also had the vineyards repaired. The monastery ruin is part of the Hessian cultural monument complex Heiligenberg .

location

The ruin on the Heiligenberg

The ruins of the former monastery are located around 240 meters west of Heiligenberg Castle on the 209 m high mountain of the same name on Bergstrasse , east above Jugenheim, around thirteen kilometers south of Darmstadt . The mountain spur supporting the monastery , the actual Heiligenberg with a wide view of the Rhine plain , is bordered by the Stettbacher Tal in the north with the eponymous Stettbach and the Balkhäuser Tal in the south, through which the so-called Quaddelbach flows. Hiking trails laid out in the 19th century connect the Talhof estate, which used to belong to the castle, on the other side of the Marienberg, the ruins of the Tannenburg and Frankenstein castles in the north over the mountain ranges of the northern Bergstrasse , in the south the Nonnenbrünnchen formerly part of the monastery in the valley and beyond the farmer's height away the ruins of the castle Jossa below the Darsberg and the Melibokus , on the western slope of which the ruins of the above mentioned Alsbach castle can be found.

history

founding

At the site of the monastery, Horst Wolfgang Böhme suspected an older late Carolingian / Ottonian fortification and court of the later Lords of Bickenbach , but neither the Grand Ducal Hessian Finance Councilor August Konrad Hofmann could find signs of earlier development during the construction of his estate in today's palace area, nor did the in The clearing out of the monastery grounds carried out on his behalf revealed something that could have served as evidence of this assumption. Nothing has changed in this find situation since then.

Since the convent was assigned to the Franciscan order in a document from 1413 , Walther Möller assumed in 1922 that the nunnery had been founded in the second quarter of the 13th century by Gottfried von Bickenbach and his wife Agnes, a born wild countess of Dhaun and sister of the Archbishop of Mainz Gerhard I. Wildgraf von Dhaun and Kyrburg , was founded. According to the contribution by Adolf Zeller published in 1910 , an already existing church may have been used. After its excavations in 1906, at least this church can be dated to the late 10th or early 11th century. The imperial monastery of Lorsch , which had previously been wealthy and influential in the region and had not allowed any competing convents to emerge in this area, was incorporated into the Archbishopric of Mainz in 1232 and thus greatly weakened. Initially, the women's community on the Heiligenberg may have lived according to the Benedictine Rule . When exactly this monastery was really founded cannot be said with certainty to this day; The earliest findings are the foundations of the monastery church, which make the end of the 9th century possible, and the first document, which offers the third quarter of the 13th century as the latest possible date:

Konrad (II.) Von Bickenbach and his wife Jutta von Falkenstein (also called "Guda" or "Ruda", married to Konrad in their second marriage) donated half of the Hartenau farm to the monastery on Heiligenberg in 1264. This is considered to be the first mention of the convent, even if it can only be assumed that in the inscription from the 15th century, “Conrad Herr auf Tannenberg” actually meant Konrad von Bickenbach. Since the said inscription names the founding of the Jugenheim parish church in 1263 and ascribes it to Konrad von Tannenberg, who can probably be identified as Konrad von Bickenbach, it was assumed that he also donated the monastery at this time. When the news of Zimmerischen chronicle from the mid-16th century "So then irish vil in ainem clösterle under Bickenbach mountain Strasbourg down uf ainem mountain" refers to this monastery, it might as grave Lege have served for the Lords of Bickenbach. Gravestones of members of this family are only known from a later period, however, in the Himmelthal Monastery , several from the 14th century have been preserved. The monastery probably only housed a few nuns . In the previous excavations, apart from the three burials documented in the church, no other graves could be found, the location of the presumed monastery cemetery is unknown.

Monastery dedications

In 1304, parts of the four brothers Reinhard, Gerhard, Giso and Conrad from the von Jazo family were dedicated to the monastery . They were closely related to the Bickenbachers, inherited Konrad and Guda's shares around 1290, from which the Jossa office was formed, and around 1300 built Jossa Castle on the nearby Dagsberg, whose name was also used as a synonym for that of the castle. In 1322 the transfer of the great tithe from Jugenheim to the monastery was confirmed, approved by the feudal lord Gottfried II von Bickenbach. In 1337 Gülten of the Alsbacher (Aldisbacher) court of the Bickenbacher followed by Ulrich I. von Bickenbach on behalf of his wife Elisabeth and daughter Agnes, who later became Countess von Katzenelnbogen after her marriage to Eberhard III. from Katzenelnbogen. Confirmations were made to the monastery for 1340 by the nobleman Gerlach Haelstein, in 1353 by nobleman Gizo von Jossa and in 1361 by nobleman Rabenolt von Tannenberg the elder, which are evidenced by documents in the Lorsch judicial book.

Transfer to the Lorsch Monastery

Probably at the instigation of the Lorsch Prämonstratenser incorporated the archbishop of Mainz Johann of Nassau-Wiesbaden-Idstein the nunnery in 1413 the monastery Lorsch and handed him the possessions of the monastery Heiligenberg. The last two nuns of the monastery, named as Grete von Hattstein and Elisabeth von Ramstadt , were to receive a lifelong annuity through the Lorsch monastery. Contrary to what is described in this document, the convent probably had sufficient income to support it.

The administration of the goods was entrusted to a member of the Lorsch convent, who had his seat in Jugenheim. The patronage of the Jugenheim parish church had also come to the Premonstratensian monastery, so that Lorsch canons were installed as pastors in Jugenheim. First, however, the pastor's remuneration had to be settled, which was disputed. In 1427 a settlement was made. In the Lorsch necrology , a Lorsch canon Peter von Bensheim is mentioned, who probably died in 1450 on the Heiligenberg.

In 1450, Hans IV von Wallbrunn and his wife Adelheid vom Hofe (von Limburg), who died in the same year, again gave Gülten for the monastery, but they were officially dedicated to Lorsch monastery. For 1467 and 1476 there are documentary reports about disputes with the place Jugenheim. In 1479, Eberhard von Wasen , Lorsch provost , was mentioned in a document when he sent the monastery on the Heiligenberg income from properties in Alsbach. In 1480 and 1492 the monastery was named in deeds with the inheritance of land.

On September 20, 1493, the former Lorsch provost Eberhard Scheubel († 1526) became pastor in Jugenheim. His predecessor was his successor as provost, Johann Sellator († 1497) from Bensheim. The last mention in the Lorsch Necrolog is a provost Nicolaus Lindener, who died on March 5, 1535, who worked on the Heiligenberg.

Decline in the Thirty Years War

Jugenheim and the Heiligenberg, like the entire state in the Rhine-Main area, suffered particularly badly from the effects of the Thirty Years' War . In 1621 Spanish, imperial troops under Tilly and the Mansfeld Protestant troops under Peter Ernst II von Mansfeld moved along the Bergstrasse. Mansfeld occupied Darmstadt and plundered the surrounding Hesse-Darmstadt urban possessions . Forced to retreat by Spaniards and Bavarians , he was pursued by Tilly's Croats . On June 9, 1621 at Ascension , Jugenheim was of two thousand from Mühltal coming Croats pillaged ; Another great fire is reported from 1629. The church book of Jugenheim recorded in 1632 that "the little nunnery on the Heiligenberg is now completely in ruins, only the old vestigia (traces) can still be seen." In 1634 Swedish troops invaded the Odenwald and the Bergstrasse, followed by imperial troops pursuing them. At this point in time the Heiligenberg was devastated and there was no fruit or wine growing for many years . The few surviving farmers only used it for pasture. The Zentgericht , which was moved from Heiligenberg to the winery in Zwingenberg soon after 1550 , met there for the first time on December 18, 1649, after the "Jugenheimer Cent" had previously been made.

Changing owners (from 1769)

On March 14, 1769, Carl Franz Joseph von Hausen and Gleichenstorff was enfeoffed with the entire Heiligenberg by the Mainz Elector Emmerich Joseph von Breidbach zu Bürresheim . The Electoral Mainz possessions of the Lorsch monastery and thus also the monastery on the Heiligenberg fell to the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt with the secularization in 1803 . The gentlemen von Hausen and Gleichenstorff were therefore obliged to lease the Heiligenberg Hesse, but could not meet these obligations in the following period .

After a lengthy legal dispute, they were expropriated by Grand Duke Ludwig I and in 1810 the Heiligenberg was given to the secret finance councilor August Konrad Hofmann as a thank you for his restructuring of the Hessian state finances. Hofmann had an estate built on the western slope of what would later become the Marienberg in 1813 and the first security work carried out in the monastery complex. There was no evidence here or during the construction work from 1813 to 1816 for the 11th or 12th century Fronhof, which is sometimes assumed there . Even in more recent times (as of 2017), despite extensive canal and pipeline construction work in recent years in the vicinity of the castle, as in 1876 when the new driveway and the castle pond were built, no finds dating back to the 19th century have come to light.

In 1827 the wife of the Hesse-Darmstadt Hereditary Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and near the Rhine , Wilhelmine Luise von Baden , acquired the estate and, with the help of the master builder Georg Moller, had the estate expanded into Heiligenberg Castle , to a greater extent from 1830 after she Grand Duchess of Hesse and the Rhine had become. From 1831, the renovation and redesign of the former monastery followed. Until 1905, their descendants also carried out further expansion work on the ensemble, which was initially only used as a summer residence.

In 1873, the German historian and geographer Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner (1793–1874) reported in his writing about the monasteries in the Grand Duchy of Hesse that the ruins were "explored" in 1848.

Transformation into a romantic ruin

Ground plan of the monastery (Zeller, 1906) with explanations:
black : additions from
1830/1866 dark hatched : remains of the original
wall light hatched : remains of the foundation

Grand Duchess Wilhelmine of Hesse and by Rhine was the 1831 in the sense of romance to the foundation remains of the choir of the monastery church an artificial ruin built, for the tracery of the demolished church in Gronau in Bensheim was used. Remnants of the monastery that still existed were included, the massive pillars of the old choir arch were removed. The ruin was part of an open park that stretched from the castle to the vineyards on the southwest slope of the Heiligenberg. At that time the visitor could still reach the meadow south of the ruined church, which was adorned with a small "temple". To the west of it followed the old donkey path beyond the gatehouse to a cherry orchard. The west adjoining the choir wall was in only 1866 enclosure added the cross garden.

The Zeller excavations

In 1906, government master builder Adolf Zeller from Darmstadt carried out excavations in the area. The western and southern floor plan of the monastery complex could be reconstructed. The area of ​​the monastery to the east and north of the church ruins and the immediate vicinity of the Zentlinde (also Centlinde ) have not yet been scientifically investigated.

Description of the excavated medieval complex

Barely visible traces of the medieval complex have been preserved. It was not until the excavations at the beginning of the 20th century that the structures of the monastery were revealed.

Through his excavations, Adolf Zeller was able to prove essential elements of the monastery complex, the medieval parts of which were previously no longer recognizable: The complex was divided into a small east-facing church with a wall thickness of 1.32 meters in the north and south walls and 1.5 meters of the west wall with a size of the ship of 8 × 6.5 meters. The size of the church from outer edge to outer edge was 14.02 × 9.18 m. To the left and right of the round choir were pillars with a thickness of 2.20 meters. On both sides of the choir arch, the foundations of two masonry altars were excavated to the west , in front of which there was an undisturbed adult grave and above the north the (obviously looted) grave of Conrad von Weinsberg . Using the excavated foundations, Zeller dated the church to the early Romanesque period . The expansion of the church in the west, with its square floor plan and Zeller's sketches, suggests a tower building with a wall thickness of 90 centimeters, which was probably added around 1240 .

To the southeast of the choir foundations, Zeller found a round cistern “of shallow depth”; the rainwater from the church and residential buildings was fed to it through a shallow canal. Any additional water required had to be brought from a source in the Balkhäuser Valley, the Nonnenbrünnchen. In the south there was a residential building with a basement, with an external cellar staircase in the middle of the west side and remnants of vaults in the corners. Based on the amount of broken bricks, it was assumed that both the residential building and the church were covered with so-called monk-and-nun roof tiles. To the south of this building, Zeller found the foundations of the surrounding wall on the slope edge and the still visible outer walls of two outbuildings, of which the western one was subsequently reinforced with a shield wall in front . To the south of the zentlinde there is an outer wall that around 250 years ago still had windows on its top; Obviously there was a multi-storey gatehouse at the western end of the monastery complex , the access of which was still recognizable in the area up to the fencing of the entire cross garden in 1866 when the Golden Cross was erected.

Individual monuments in the monastery ruins

Epitaph on the inner wall of the ruined monastery
The medieval font

The best preserved epitaph in the ruins from 1368 is Conrad von Weinsberg - Breuberg , son of Conrad VI. von Weinsberg-Breuberg and an unknown mother. After Walter Möller, Conrad VI married. von Weinsberg-Breuberg 1365 Margarete Schenk von Erbach , who, however, cannot be the mother of the Conrad named in the inscription, since the remains of a youth and not of a small child were found in the grave. The fact that Conrad died as a youth is symbolized in the Weinsberg coat of arms with the little bird between the three shields of the coat of arms. Zeller's archaeological excavations , during which a grave with a small coffin and the skull of a young person was found on the north side of the monastery church, was able to confirm the assignment.

The red sandstone plate is now attached to the inside of the south wall of the nave. Possibly it was already there around 1840, as a drawing by C. Schilling from before 1840 suggests, in which a grave slab can be seen next to the font ; however, this cannot be precisely assigned. The inscription consists of Gothic capitals , word separators are squares . The beginning of the inscription is marked by a St. Andrew's cross at the top left and runs around the edge between lines. The relief-like full coat of arms can be seen in the deepened field .

The text was deciphered as follows:

"+ ANNO · D (OMI) NI · M ° / · CCC ° · LX ° · OCTAUO · IN · DIE · IA / COBI · AP (OSTO) LI · O (BIIT) · NO / BILIS · CONRAD (US) · DE WINSB (ER) G PUER "

and reads roughly:

In the year of the Lord 1368, on the day of the Apostle James (July 25th), the noble boy Conrad von Weinsberg died

The church ruins contain other late medieval stone slabs, four of which are embedded in the north wall opposite, diagonally across from the epitaph of Conrad von Weinsberg. In addition to a foundation plaque from 1480 found again in 1845, there is evidence of the grave slab of the donor Elisabeth von Oberkeim, born Pfot (t), her son Johannes von Oberkeim, who came from a family of scholars from Kirchbrombach, who was mayor of Gernsheim from 1461 to 1466 , and his wife Margarethe Eitelyn von Gerentzheim (Eckelin von Gernsheim). Siegfried Enders suspects that the plates, like the baptismal font, came from the Jugenheim church, but Scheins reports that he heard from Prince Alexander personally that all four gravestones in the ruins of the monastery had also been uncovered in the ground there. If, if one follows the Zelleller findings, the grave slab of Conrad von Weinsberg was installed together with a new floor covering, the other panels were inserted into the already existing covering. After the robbery excavations in the 17th and 18th centuries and the removal of the panels by the Grand Duchess in 1830, this can explain the complete lack of both layers of flooring in the central area of ​​the monastery church.

The noble family von Oberkeim comes from the area around Obrigheim am Neckar . The spouse of the founder Martin von Oberkeim is documented in 1442 and 1447 as a cellar in Heppenheim . Elisabeth donated an “ eternal light ” and two annual memorials to the monastery , which will be celebrated “forever with four priests” in “vigilia sancti Jacobi apostoli” (July 24th) and “in the exaltationis sancte crucius” (September 14th) should.

A baptismal font bought in 1483 for the church in Jugenheim is now protected by a small roof in the southwest corner of the monastery ruins. The eight-sided basin dates from the 15th century. The red Odenwald sandstone bears three figurative representations on the outer edge: the court angel, Mary and a man with a broad coat collar. Everything is surrounded with tendrils . Pastor Westernacher made the baptismal font, which was then used as a duck trough in the courtyard of the rectory at that time, available to Grand Duchess Wilhelmine in 1831. A picture of the monastery ruin from around 1836 shows it inside the church ruin, albeit in a different place than today.

Since 2008 there has been a sandstone altar in the choir of the church ruins, which previously had its place in the evangelical mountain church.

Todays use

Since 2008, the Heiligenberg Jugenheim Foundation has been trying to preserve and look after all the sights on the Heiligenberg. From the annual income of the foundation, for which an anonymous private person provided the start-up capital, measures are to be carried out on the entire palace and park complex. A trained gardener and horticultural architect who specializes in historical gardens developed a detailed report and maintenance plan, which has been implemented bit by bit since 2013, mainly by volunteers, and aims to bring the park on the Heiligenberg back as close as possible to its historical state . (Since 2016, voluntary work has been increasingly restricted and transferred to a specialist company, which has not necessarily proven to be beneficial for the implementation of the park maintenance work.)

The church ruins are freely accessible and are protected as a Hessian cultural monument.

Cultural monument of the entire Heiligenberg complex

Site plan of the cultural monument "Gesamtanlage Heiligenberg" near Jugenheim an der Bergstrasse, Seeheim-Jugenheim municipality.

On the Heiligenberg there are a large number of cultural monuments which, like the monastery ruins, have a strong connection to the history of South Hesse , the Bergstrasse and the Odenwald and are closely linked to the history of the House of Hesse , the Russian tsarist family and the British royal family. Today's Kreuzgarten on the actual Heiligenberg includes the old place of worship and court as well as the monastery complex, the golden cross, the mausoleum and the burial place of the ancestors of the second house in Battenberg. The ruins of the monastery complex and the individual monuments in the Kreuzgarten area are classified as cultural monuments in accordance with the Hessian Monument Protection Act , along with Heiligenberg Castle at the foot of the Marienberg and the associated park due to their additional cultural-historical and historical significance .

In addition to the monastery complex, the overall complex of the Heiligenberg cultural monument includes the following objects designated as cultural monuments (see also the list of cultural monuments in Seeheim-Jugenheim ):

  • The 1263 first-mentioned Bergkirche Jugenheims halfway up the Holy Hill, about 250 meters north-west of Klosterruine is closely linked with the history of the convent. Even after the introduction of the Reformation in Jugenheim in 1539, the Jugenheim pastors were still appointed by Lorsch, which remained so even after Lorsch was converted into an Electoral Palatinate domain. Even the transfer of Lorsch to Kurmainz did not change this. After several renovations and extensions, the church was given its present form in 1856. Among other things, a late medieval relief sculpture (copy) of the archangel Michael killing the antichrist symbolized as a dragon is worth seeing in a wall niche above the main portal . Inside the church hangs in the choir arch the crucifix carved in 1739 by the Darmstadt sculptor Eckhardt , on the right in front of it is a baptismal font made of black marble , donated by Prince Alexander in 1869 on the occasion of the confirmation of his eldest daughter Marie . In the south wall is a foundation plate from around 1480 , which identifies the foundation of the church in 1263 by "Konrad von Tannenberg". The altar ceiling , donated by Tsarina Marie and made in a Russian monastery, is only placed on special festive days .
  • The Heiligenberg castle complex , located at the same height as the monastery, about 240 meters east at the foot of the Marienberg, is separated from the monastery by the castle basin that separates the Heiligenberg from the Marienberg. 1813–1816, the Hessian court chamber councilor August Konrad Hofmann built a court estate there, which in 1827 became the private property of the later Grand Duchess Wilhelmine. From 1830 onwards, Georg Moller, the court building director from Darmstadt, had it converted into their summer residence. Even after her death in 1836 there were several extensions; The palace was given its present form in 1905 when Wilhelmine's grandson Prince Ludwig Alexander von Battenberg had the roofs of the two towers uniformly covered and the large pergola built at the western end of the palace gardens. To the northeast of the castle is the "Russenhaus", built around 1860 as a servants' house, which today houses an archive and a museum run by the Heiligenberg Jugenheim Foundation, which deals with the history of the Battenberg / Mountbatten family.
  • The park surrounding Heiligenberg Castle was not landscaped for a long time after the Pedagogical Institute moved away, but the incense cedar in front of the main building of the castle, the sequoia tree planted in 1876 on the castle pond and other exotic plants are worth seeing. The original park spanned a much larger area than is recognizable today and merged seamlessly into the surrounding landscape of the mountain road. The complex was first impressed by Wilhelmine von Baden , who quoted many elements of the Rosenhöhe , which she loved so much ; In the second half of the 19th century, the court gardener Gernet worked, not only increasing the exotic collection in the park, but also expanding the production of food to the east of the palace. In the third phase in the 1920s and 1930s, larger stocks of sweet chestnuts were planted on the northern slope in the eastern Kammerforst and in the Hausacker, also as a source of food . More recently, the hazel or love walk that used to lead from the castle past the deer house to the oak square in front of the monastery ruins has been restored in the section between the castle and the deer house (see map). The rose slope south of the castle, which Wilhelmine had already created, has been rebuilt since autumn 2016. The roses for this come from Karlovo , a town in Bulgaria where Heiligenberg Castle, as the parents' house of Prince Alexander von Battenberg , feels particularly connected.
  • Right next to the ruin of the monastery is the zentlinde, a summer linden tree that was estimated to be around 1000 years old in the past and around 800 today. At this Gerichtslinde met by the 13 to the 16th century, the centering court , the oldest of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen . Its judicial district was almost congruent with the old Bickenbacher parish or the early rule of Bickenbach and included the villages of Jugenheim , Seeheim , Malchen , Ober-Beerbach , Stettbach, Schmal-Beerbach , Wurzelbach , Staffel , Balkhausen , Alsbach , Hähnlein and Bickenbach. The court usually met once a year in autumn after the harvest, but in special cases it could also be “shouted at” at other times. It was a throat and blood dish; all men capable of arms in the center were obliged to appear at the court sessions. The judgments were carried out on the Galgenhügel, first mentioned in 1356, today Hügelstrasse in Jugenheim. The chairman of the court was the Zentgraf, in earlier times probably the head of the Bickenbach rule, under Katzenelnbogener and from 1503 Erbacher rule an official of the respective county.
  • The Golden Cross was erected in 1866 to commemorate the former lady of the palace, Grand Duchess Wilhelmine of Hesse and the Rhine , and on May 28, 1866 by her four surviving children, Grand Duke Ludwig III. , Prince Karl , Prince Alexander and Tsarina Marie inaugurated. It stands on a base made of black syenite from Weißenstadt in the Fichtelgebirge and is 6 meters high with a base about 8½ meters. With its gold leaf it can be seen from afar from the Rhine plain. From the location of the cross, the visitor has a wide view of Worms on the Rhine, on the horizon of Sausenheim with the castle ruins of Neuleiningen in the Palatinate in the south, past Donnersberg and Rheinhessen to Stockstadt am Rhein with the Kühkopf nature reserve and beyond to the Rheingau in the north . The cross is around 50 meters west of the ruins of the monastery and the Zentlinde. When it was built, the area west of the church ruins was fenced in with an iron picket fence, which resulted in today's Kreuzgarten. The neo-Gothic clover - leaf cross was the last work by the Darmstadt court sculptor Johann Baptist Scholl and is designed using the chip carving technique typical of him .
  • The mausoleum of the von Battenberg family, completed in 1894 in neo-Romanesque style , is only a few meters northwest of the cross . It was built for Prince Alexander of Hesse and the Rhine (1823–1888) and his morganatic wife, Princess Julia von Battenberg (1825–1895). In 1902 the two of them were reburied in their final resting place, an open-air grave, and the mausoleum was rededicated as the memorial chapel of the second house in Battenberg. Since then, there have been two memorial plaques inside that remember both of their sons, Alexander and Heinrich , who died young ; since approx. 1990 also a model of the monastery made in 1978 after a reconstruction by Günter Baisch (1948–2012). Baisch was a dialect poet from Jugenheim , a local researcher and, in the fourth generation, a volunteer gardener in the Kreuzgarten. On the left hand side of two historicized stained glass windows are St. Elisabeth of Thuringia in her function as "Grandmother of the House of Hesse" and, on the right, the viewer see St. Perpetua , and on the opposite side, around the connections between the second House of Battenberg and the European one To demonstrate high nobility , the English house saint George of England and the Orthodox saint Alexander Newski depicted to the right of this.

  • Mountain church, first mentioned in 1263, today Protestant

  • Heiligenberg Castle : Front view with the Hessian coat of arms on the tower

  • The mausoleum of the second house in Battenberg, now the memorial chapel

  • The Golden Cross, the landmark of Jugenheim

  • Golden cross with memorial chapel (until 1902 mausoleum) of the second house of Battenberg and before that the final resting place of Prince Alexander of Hesse and near Rhine and his wife Countess Julia Hauke ​​(Hauck), Princess of Battenberg

  • Zentlinde natural monument , place of the medieval central court; in the background on the right the golden cross

legend

A legend about the monastery was listed in an overview of Hessian legends in 1853 by the Germanist and writer Johann Wilhelm Wolf . It is about the nuns of the monastery who, on certain nights, circle the top of the monastery in their long clothes, with burning candles and with Christian chants. An underground passage is also reported that led from the monastery to the village and is guarded by a large dog.

literature

  • J. Friedrich Battenberg: Local authority, central authority and clergy at Heiligenberg (thoughts on the history of Jugenheim an der Bergstraße) , In: Archives for Hessian history and antiquity. , New series Bd. 50, Ed .: Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt in connection with the Historical Association for Hesse. Darmstadt: Historical Association for Hesse, pp. 15–42
  • Hans Buchmann, Traffic and Beautification Association Jugenheim adB 1863 e. V. (Ed.): Jugenheim, Balkhausen and the Heiligenberg - From the chronicle of the communities Jugenheim and Balkhausen. 1st edition, Handelsdruckerei Horn, Jugenheim 1978, without ISBN.
  • Siegfried RCT Enders, State Office for the Preservation of Monuments Hesse (ed.): Cultural monuments in Hesse. Darmstadt-Dieburg district. Friedrich Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1988, ISBN 3-528-06235-5 , pp. 511-520.
  • Phillip Heber: The pre-Carolingian Christian heroes of faith on the Rhine and their time , therein: The Lorsch monastery on the holy mountain , Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht Verlag, Göttingen 1867, pp. 72-80
  • Rudolf Kunz, Church Councilor d. Ev. Church Jugenheim adB (Hrsg.): Jugenheim und seine Kirche - Ein Heimatbuch 1263–1963. Handelsdruckerei Horn, Jugenheim 1963, without ISBN.
  • Walther Möller: The churches in Zwingenberg and Jugenheim and the monastery on the Heiligenberg. In: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology. Volume 13, Historical Association for Hesse, 1922, p. 173 ff.
  • Walther Möller: The abolition and the end of the nunnery on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. In: The Odenwald. (Publication of the Breuberg-Bund ), Volume 3, 1956, pp. 111-113.
  • Ludwig von Ompteda : Rhenish gardens from the Moselle to Lake Constance: pictures from old and new nurseries . Berlin 1886, Paul Parey publishing house
  • Verena Türck: Church, Monastery and Center - The Jugenheim parish in the Middle Ages. In: Stephanie Goethals (Red.): 750 years "Church on the Holy Mountain". Contributions to the history of the youth home. Reinheim 2013, pp. 26–49.
  • Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner: The former spiritual pens in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Volume 1: Provinces of Starkenburg and Upper Hesse. Hofbuchhandlung Klingelhöffer, Darmstadt 1873, therein: The Benedictine Sisters on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. P. 166–170 and P. 132/133 ( urn : nbn: de: hbz: 061: 1-155574 })
  • Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner: The devastation in the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Volume 2, Darmstadt 1862, pp. 26-30 ( digitized version ).
  • Adolf Zeller: The excavations on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. In: Ludwig Volz (Ed.): Quarterly sheets of the historical association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse. New series, fourth volume, years 1906–1910. Self-published by the Historical Association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Darmstadt 1910, pp. 55–70.

Web links

Commons : Heiligenberg Abbey Ruins (Jugenheim)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Philipp Heber: The Lorsch Monastery on the Holy Mountain , In: The pre-Carolingian Christian heroes of faith on the Rhine and their time , p. 72
  2. ↑ Strictly speaking, the neo-Gothic choir on early Romanesque foundations, the rest of the walls visible today come from the 11th-13th centuries. Century, see below in "Zellersche Excavations".
  3. ↑ This is not named after wheals , but was previously called after the name of the settlement in the source area Quattelbach , on newer maps today with "dd".
  4. ↑ Horst Wolfgang Böhme: The tower hill castle at Alsbach-Hähnlein and the territorial development on the middle mountain road in the early and high Middle Ages. In: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz 30 (1983), pp. 503-519.
  5. ↑ Walther Möller: The churches in Zwingenberg and Jugenheim and the monastery on the Heiligenberg. In: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology NF 13 (1922), pp. 173–184, here pp. 181–182; J. Friedrich Battenberg agrees : Local authority, central authority and clergy at Heiligenberg. Thoughts on the history of Jugenheim an der Bergstrasse. In: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology NF 50 (1992), pp. 15–42, here pp. 18–19.
  6. ^ Ernst Coester: The single-aisled Cistercian Churches of Western and Southern Germany from 1200 to 1350. Mainz 1984 ( sources and treatises on the history of the Middle Rhine Church 48), pp. 12-13; similar to Adolf Zeller in the quarterly sheets of the historical association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse . New series, fourth volume (1906/1910), p. 5.
  7. ^ Adolf Zeller: The excavations on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim . In: Quarterly sheets of the historical association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse . New series, fourth volume (1906/1910), pp. 55–70.
  8. ^ Volker Rödel: Land and Church - Church and Land on the Bergstrasse. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History 55 (2003), pp. 83-102, here p. 91; see. on the context of Stefan Weinfurter : The fall of the old Lorsch in the late Staufer period. The monastery on Bergstrasse in the field of tension between papacy, archbishopric Mainz and palatinate. In: Archive for Middle Rhine Church History 55 (2003), pp. 31–58.
  9. ↑ Verena Türck: Church, monastery and center - The Jugenheim parish in the Middle Ages. In: Stephanie Goethals (Red.). 750 years "Church on the Holy Mountain". Contributions to the history of the youth home. Reinheim 2013, pp. 26–49, here p. 34.
  10. ↑ Cf. Friedrich Battenberg: Local authority, central authority and clergy at Heiligenberg. Thoughts on the history of Jugenheim an der Bergstrasse. In: Archiv für Hessische Geschichte und Altertumskunde NF 50 (1992), p. 15–42, here p. 19–20 and p. 39, note 16 with reference to the copy in the Darmstadt State Archives , C 2 No. 502/2 , fol. 136 v document handed down from 1264 March 25 (registration with Johann Konrad Dahl: document book for the history and topography of the principality of Lorsch. Darmstadt 1812, p. 118 ).
  11. ↑ Sebastian Scholz: The inscriptions of the city of Darmstadt and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg and Gross-Gerau , L. Reichert, 1999, p. 69.
  12. ↑ Verena Türck: Church, monastery and center - The Jugenheim parish in the Middle Ages. In: Stephanie Goethals (Red.). 750 years "Church on the Holy Mountain". Contributions to the history of the youth home. Reinheim 2013, pp. 26–49, here pp. 30–31; Relevant edition of the inscription by Sebastian Scholz : The inscriptions of the city of Darmstadt and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg and Groß-Gerau . Wiesbaden 1999 ( Die Deutsche Insschriften 49, Mainzer Reihe 6) ISBN 3-89500-119-8 , no. 102, pp. 68–70 ( online at www.inschriften.net ).
  13. ↑ The quote from Hansmartin Decker-Hauff (ed.): The Chronicle of the Counts of Rooms. Manuscripts 580 and 581 of the Princely Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen. Vol. 2. Konstanz and Stuttgart 1967, p. 55; Verena Türck: Church, Monastery and Center - The Jugenheim parish in the Middle Ages. In: Stephanie Goethals (Red.). 750 years "Church on the Holy Mountain". Contributions to the history of the youth home. Reinheim 2013, pp. 26–49, here p. 35.
  14. ↑ Verena Türck: Church, monastery and center - The Jugenheim parish in the Middle Ages. In: Stephanie Goethals (Red.). 750 years "Church on the Holy Mountain". Contributions to the history of the youth home. Reinheim 2013, pp. 26–49, here p. 33.
  15. ↑ Walther Möller: The abolition and the end of the nunnery on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. In: Der Odenwald 3 (1956), pp. 111-113 with reference to Valentin Ferdinand Gudenus : Codex diplomaticus anecdotorum, res moguntinas, francicas, trevirenses, hassiacas, finitimarumque regionum, nec non ius germanicum et SRI historiam vel maxime illustratium. Volume 4. Frankfurt and Leipzig 1758, No. 34, pp. 89-91 ( digitized version ).
  16. ↑ Cf. already Georg Wehsarg: The parish church of Jugenheim ad B. In: Archives for Hessian History and Antiquity, NF 11 (1916), pp. 46–79, here p. 54 Note 24. Walther Möller: The lifting and the end of the nunnery on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. In: Der Odenwald 3 (1956), pp. 111-113.
  17. ↑ Walther Möller: The abolition and the end of the nunnery on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. In: Der Odenwald 3 (1956), pp. 111-113; Adolf Zeller: The excavations on the Heiligenberg near Jugenheim. In: Quarterly sheets of the historical association for the Grand Duchy of Hesse. New series, fourth volume (1906/1910), pp. 55–70, here p. 60.
  18. ^ Rudolf Kunz and Paul Schnitzer: The Premonstratensian provosts of the Lorsch monastery . In: Paul Schnitzer (Red.): Contributions to the history of the Lorsch monastery . 2nd, improved edition. Lorsch 1980 ( history sheets Bergstrasse special volume 4) ISBN 3-922781-66-7 , p. 339.
  19. ↑ Monika Schmatz: The Lorscher Necrolog Anniversar. Remembrance of the dead in Lorsch Monastery. Volume 2: Prosopographical Investigation. Darmstadt 2007 ( Work of the Hessian Historical Commission , New Series Volume 27/2), ISBN 978-3-88443-050-7 , pp. 361 and 143-144.
  20. ^ Rudolf Kunz and Paul Schnitzer: The Premonstratensian provosts of the Lorsch monastery . In: Paul Schnitzer (Red.): Contributions to the history of the Lorsch monastery . 2nd, improved edition. Lorsch 1980, p. 342; Monika Schmatz: The Lorscher Necrolog Anniversar. Remembrance of the dead in Lorsch Monastery. Volume 2: Prosopographical Investigation. Darmstadt 2007, pp. 100-101, 281 and 327-328; Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt , A 1, 101/1: Document dated September 20, 1493: Heiligenberg (monastery): Presentation of Eberhard Scheubel to the pastor in the Heiligenberg monastery near Jugenheim ( digitized in the Hesse archive information system ).
  21. ↑ Monika Schmatz: The Lorscher Necrolog Anniversar. Remembrance of the dead in Lorsch Monastery. Volume 2: Prosopographical Investigation. Darmstadt 2007, p. 251.
  22. ↑ Hans Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and the Heiligenberg , Jugenheim 1978, p. 103
  23. ↑ Hans Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and the Heiligenberg , Jugenheim 1978, p. 104
  24. ↑ Hans Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and the Heiligenberg , Jugenheim 1978, p. 107
  25. ↑ Hans Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and the Heiligenberg , Jugenheim 1978, p. 146
  26. ↑ Hans Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and der Heiligenberg , Jugenheim 1978, p. 154.
  27. ↑ a b Georg Wilhelm Justin Wagner: The former spiritual pens in the Grand Duchy of Hesse , p. 170.
  28. ↑ Cent or Zent, ​​medieval court ( Zentgericht ) in south-west and central Germany of one or more village communities; the jurisdiction was mostly held outdoors at certain locally known or traditional culturally significant places, mostly near or near old trees.
    see also: Karl Kroeschell: Zent, ​​-gericht , In: Lexikon des Mittelalters. Volume 9: Werla to Cypress . Study edition, Metzler, Stuttgart a. a. 1999, ISBN 3-476-01742-7 . Sp. 536-537.
  29. ↑ Zeller p. 67.
  30. ↑ A relief depiction in the “Nonnenbrunnen” parking lot on the road from Jugenheim to Balkhausen shows nuns today who use donkeys to transport water up the mountain. From here you can hike the Heiligenberg from the south along the old donkey path.
  31. ↑ Compare with Nikolaus Michael Spengler: The Hunt at Alsbach Castle. Reverse glass painting 1758, today in the Kranichstein hunting lodge .
  32. ↑ a b Conrad von Weinsberg 1368, Jugenheim. Grave monuments in Hesse until 1650 (as of April 27, 2005). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on October 9, 2014 .
  33. ^ Walter Möller: Stamm-Tafeln of West German noble families in the Middle Ages AF I, Darmstadt 1922. See plate XIX.
  34. ↑ a b Cf. Sebastian Scholz: The inscriptions of the city of Darmstadt and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg and Groß-Gerau . Wiesbaden 1999 ( Die Deutsche Insschriften 49, Mainzer series 6) ISBN 3-89500-119-8 , No. 10, pp. 9-10 ( online at www.inschriften.net ).
  35. ↑ Johann Jakob Tanner (aquatint engraver), C. Schilling (draftsman): Jugenheim an der Bergstrasse, Heiligenberg / monastery ruins on the Heiligenberg / in the foreground: couple with child as a strolling graphic in the archive information system Hesse . View of the ruin around 1840, a grave slab can be seen, although not clearly assigned.
  36. ^ Wolfgang Müller: Document inscriptions of the German Middle Ages. Lassleben 1975, p. 106 f. .
  37. ^ Kunz: Jugenheim und seine Kirche , p. 45.
  38. ↑ Kunz: Jugenheim und seine Kirche , p. 45/46 with the inscription: “In the year of the Lord 1480 the present light was established and donated by the God-fearing Elisabeth Pfottin in honor of the highest and indivisible Trinity, as well as for the salvation of all believers. It also founded two anniversaries here, which are to be celebrated every year, each with four priests, the first on the eve of St. James the Apostle, the second on the day of the exaltation of the Holy Cross: they should last for ever ”. Nikolaus, son of the donor, was pastor in Jugenheim in 1480.
  39. ^ A b Sebastian Scholz: The inscriptions of the city of Darmstadt and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg and Groß-Gerau . Wiesbaden 1999, No. 74, pp. 50-51 ( online at www.inschriften.net ); Monika Schmatz: The Lorscher Necrolog Anniversar. Remembrance of the dead in Lorsch Monastery. Volume 2: Prosopographical Investigation. Darmstadt 2007, pp. 222 and 353–354.
  40. ↑ Sebastian Scholz: The inscriptions of the city of Darmstadt and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg and Groß-Gerau . Wiesbaden 1999, No. 76, p. 52 ( online at www.inschriften.net ).
  41. ↑ Sebastian Scholz: The inscriptions of the city of Darmstadt and the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg and Groß-Gerau . Wiesbaden 1999, No. 77, p. 53 ( online at www.inschriften.net ).
  42. ^ A b c d Siegfried RCT Enders: Cultural monuments in Hessen. Darmstadt-Dieburg district. 1988, pp. 511-512, 518-520.
  43. ↑ Martin Scheins: Buildings, art monuments and inscriptions from medieval times in Jugenheim adB explained with the help of documentary information. , Verlag Wittich'sche Hofbuchdruckerei, Darmstadt 1888, p. 6.
  44. ^ Wolfgang Müller: Document inscriptions of the German Middle Ages. Lassleben 1975. p. 57; also Müller: document inscriptions of the German Middle Ages. Munich Historical Studies, Department of Historical Auxiliary Sciences, Volume 13, Munich 1975.
  45. ↑ Ev. Parish Jugenheim (Bergstrasse): Chronicle .
  46. ↑ View of the Heiligenberg ruins near Jugenheim in nighttime lighting, after 1836. Historical views of the town, plans and floor plans (as of April 10, 2007). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on March 24, 2015 .
  47. ↑ a b A foundation for the Heiligenberg .
  48. ↑ Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and der Heiligenberg , p. 93
  49. ^ Probably Konrad II. Von Bickenbach (see above).
  50. ↑ Ompteda: Rhenish Gardens
  51. ↑ Dahlinger, the Darmstädter Rosenhöhe, p. 20
  52. ↑ Kunz: Jugenheim und seine Kirche , p. 47 ff
  53. ↑ The lower jurisdiction , on the other hand, was the “ Haingericht undter der Linden bei dem Metzelheuslein ”, first mentioned in 1322, in the village (not on the Heiligenberg) on ​​the site of today's old town hall. Judgments passed here could be passed on to the Central Court for revision. See: Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and der Heiligenberg , p. 55 ff.
  54. ↑ Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen und der Heiligenberg , p. 54. At the latest there must have been the Central Court, since a place of execution would be pointless without a court
  55. ↑ Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and der Heiligenberg , p. 44.
  56. ↑ Buchmann: Jugenheim, Balkhausen and der Heiligenberg , p. 89.
  57. ^ A b Ottilie Thiemann-Stoedtner: Johann Baptist Scholl d. J., a Hessian sculptor, draftsman and painter of the late Romantic period , Eduard Roether Verlag, Darmstadt 1965, p. 56
  58. ↑ Since 1989 there has been a memorial stone on the grave for their two grandsons, Louis Mountbatten (uncle of Prince Philip , Prince Consort of Queen Elizabeth II ), who was murdered by the IRA in 1979 on board his ship in Sligo Bay .
  59. ↑ Elisabeth's daughter Sophie had her three-year-old son Heinrich proclaimed the first Landgrave of Hesse in 1247 . Elisabeth is usually shown with a bunch of roses in her right hand as a reference to the “rose miracle” known from the legend, in her left hand she usually shows a hospital as a reference to her charitable work. In this case, however, she holds a scepter in her left hand as an indication of the rule in Hesse and the separation from Thuringia
  60. ^ The nuns in Jugenheim. In: Johann Wilhelm Wolf: Legends in Hessen , Göttingen and Leipzig 1853, Verlag Dieterich u. Vogel, p. 101.

Coordinates: 49 ° 45 ′ 7.3 "  N , 8 ° 38 ′ 39"  E

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