Mönchhof Chapel (Raunheim)
The Mönchhof chapel is located about 2.5 kilometers northeast of Raunheim , almost directly on the left bank of the Main . The chapel , built in 1685 and consecrated in 1687, is a simple slate-roofed baroque building with a ridge turret that ends in a pointed helmet . The interior is largely empty. During renovation work, eleven consecration crosses were found on the interior walls in 2008 , probably from the late 17th century .
The former farm yard and today's Mönchhof district gave the chapel and the neighboring motorway triangle its name.
history
prehistory
The Mönchhof estate can be traced back to the Middle Ages. On December 18, 1290 Gottfried III sold von Eppstein with the consent of his brother, Archbishop of Mainz Gerhard II. von Eppstein , Wüstenedernsheim for 500 marks with all rights to the Reich Klarakloster in Mainz. Soon the estate developed into one of the most important farms in the monastery.
It can be assumed that a church and a cemetery already existed at this time. The chapel, which according to the document of 1290 was also sold ( capella quae parochiae Ruhenheim attinet ), was parish in Raunheim at that time, later to Flörsheim and from 1653 to Eddersheim, from 1828 to Haßloch. In 1622 the chapel and monastery property were probably devastated and the chapel was destroyed by the so-called Mansfeld incursion of the mercenary leader of the Protestant Union Ernst von Mansfeld . Its two bells and the steeple cock were brought to the monastery in Mainz.
Construction and consecration of the chapel
In 1683 and 1684 there are reports of phenomena that cannot be rationally explained: the courtiers saw lights burning in the area of the old location of the chapel and heard voices and noises. The pastor of Eddersheim also confirmed these phenomena, which is why the abbess of the monastery decided to have the chapel rebuilt. Veit Schneider , city architect in Mainz (1680 Charterhouse in Konz, 1697 drafts for the Walldürn pilgrimage chapel), who had the church under roof before the winter of 1685/86, was commissioned to do this . For the first service at the beginning of November 1685, the abbess brought one of the two bells and the tower cock back to the Mönchhof, to which she also bequeathed an altar from the monastery. The graves of the cemetery were also blessed during the mass that was held there.
From this reference it can be concluded that the cemetery goes back much further than the oldest currently known tombstone from 1688. This in turn means that there must have been a redesign of the cemetery to which the older graves fell victim. The old cemetery was probably even larger than the present one, because graves were still found outside the enclosure in the 20th century. In 1685, the year the chapel was built, it and the cemetery were enclosed with a wooden fence.
Around two years after the first service, on August 3, 1687, the church and the altar were formally consecrated by Auxiliary Bishop Matthias Stark , Bishop of Coron, who consecrated them in particular to the Holy Mother, St. Clara and St. Anthony of Padua . A large number of relics were placed in the altar.
Concrete structural measures during the 18th century could not be proven. In 1781 the Reichklarakloster was dissolved and the Mönchhof was assigned to the University of Mainz . Due to the special location of the Mönchhof as a Catholic enclave in a reformed environment, and because only a few Catholics lived on the farm, there were renewed considerations in the 1780s to let the church go down. But this did not happen, on the contrary, the number of masses read increased to 68 per year (that is every Sunday and public holiday). A little later, in 1792, the chapel received new fittings in the form of a new altar and a new pulpit.
Church development in the 19th and 20th centuries
In 1802, in the course of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss , the Mönchhof including the chapel came to Hesse , which wanted to sell it immediately. This attempt failed, however, and he was placed under the forest and domain administration. It was up to him to check on the occasion of each change of tenant whether the buildings were in the same condition as at the start of the lease. Some of the inventories made for this purpose have been preserved and give a good picture of the chapel and its furnishings.
When in 1834 the tower of the chapel was dilapidated and had to be repaired, there was renewed discussion about stopping the church service, which at that time only took place every 14 days in summer and only once a month in winter. Even if this was not initially decided, a dispute began that lasted into the 20th century. The state was responsible for structural maintenance, but refused to cover the costs of the services. The outside of the chapel was always in a more or less good condition, while the inside was often described as neglected. In addition, the tenant of the farm was evangelical and the church occasionally abused to pen in the sheep and to dry the laundry.
In fact, regular worship has not been held since around 1830/40, but masses were still read during the casualia . This means that weddings, christenings or funerals were celebrated in the chapel at the instigation of the court residents. The situation worsened when, from 1874, liturgical objects and paintings were removed from the church and brought to the museum in Darmstadt. The Diocese of Mainz also became aware of this, but did not intervene.
After that, it is difficult to prove that the chapel was used as a consecrated place of worship. Although sacred objects were brought from the chapel to the museum again and again in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, funerals were held in the cemetery until 1960, and it can be assumed that services or masses were also held in such contexts the chapel were held. A formal profanation of the church cannot be proven. Such an act would be accompanied by the removal of the relics from the altar and desecration of the chapel. So it must currently be assumed that the church is still consecrated.
The structural development in the 19th and 20th centuries
Only a few concrete structural measures can be archived in the 19th century. For example, a building inventory from 1841 indicates that the churchyard was surrounded by a wall, while at the end of the 18th century it was still surrounded by a wooden fence. This must have been exchanged for the wall between around 1781 and 1841. In 1855 the church was repaired after being devastated, without it being apparent from the files what exactly was carried out. A survey of the church made at that time was, like many other archives in the Darmstadt archive, destroyed towards the end of the Second World War. In 1867 the structural condition of the chapel, after lightning damage to the roof and tower had been repaired, was described as good. In 1894 some gravestones were damaged and the cemetery was overgrown. Once again, the files do not reveal whether - and if so, how - the damage was repaired. The same applies to a renovation measure in 1913/14, during which it is also not possible to trace what work was carried out. A renovation was planned for 1939/40, which was not started because of the outbreak of war.
In 1951 the roof was re-covered, and from 1973 to 1975 repair and maintenance work was carried out that had become necessary after vandalism . In 1988, the Mönchhofkapelle cultural monument, which had existed since 1911, was expanded to include the cemetery, since the graves' rest period ended in 1990. From 2005 onwards, extensive renovation work took place. In the course of developing the surrounding area into an industrial area, the FrankfurtRheinMain regional association made the chapel and the cemetery accessible to the public again by connecting it to the network of cycle and hiking trails.
literature
- Schematism of the Diocese of Mainz . Edited on behalf of the bishop. Mainz 1898.
- H. Schrohe: History of the Reich Klarakloster in Mainz. Based on unprinted and unused sources. Mainz 1904
- Adolf Thiel: The Mönchhof story. Raunheim 1990.
- Sources in the Hessian State Archives Darmstadt, Mainz City Archives, Mainz Diocesan Archives
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 1 ′ 51.86 " N , 8 ° 28 ′ 18.01" E