Maria Anna von Fürstenberg

Maria Anna von Fürstenberg (* July 8, 1732 at Herdringen Castle ; † February 18, 1788 ) was the Abbess of Fröndenberg Monastery .

Life

She was the eldest daughter from the third marriage of Christian Franz Dietrich von Fürstenberg and Helene von Galen, daughter of Wilhelm Goswin Anton von Galen . One brother was, among other things, the future Prince-Bishop of Paderborn Franz Egon von Fürstenberg . Another brother was the Munster statesman Franz Friedrich Wilhelm von Fürstenberg .

At the age of six, she and her sister Alexandrina Franziska were earmarked for life as canons . Initially, a preamble in a pen in Lorraine was planned for her. When this turned out to be too expensive, the father bought a prebende from the von Syberg family in Fröndenberg Abbey for 1,100 Reichstaler in 1746. In 1748 the von der Recke family also acquired a collegiate curia. At that time there was no longer any residence obligation in Fröndenberg, so Maria Anna traveled frequently.

In 1756, her family bought another prebend for her in the Borghorst monastery . There was a residence obligation of seven years. Anna Maria did this during the Seven Years' War and also lived in Borghorst in the period that followed.

After hearing from her brother, Prince-Bishop Franz Egon von Fürstenberg, that Fröndenberg Abbess Hermine Dorothea von Wylich was seriously ill, she returned to Fröndenberg. After the abbess's death, the right to vote in the mixed denominational monastery was now available to the Catholic women. Her brother supported her in the election with election gifts of 10,000 Reichstalers. Maria Anna was elected abbess in 1769.

During her tenure, she had the old, worm-eaten, probably Gothic, altarpiece in the east choir replaced by a Baroque successor. It came from the workshop of Eicken in Hildesheim and represented the crucified Jesus. This sparked protests from the Reformed canons. She turned to Frederick the Great as sovereign of the county of Mark . He decided that the Reformed women should simply draw a black curtain in front of the altar. At the same time he gave the permission to decorate the altar with a large figure of a Prussian eagle, so that in the future one would know who, as sovereign, is the master of the house.

At times, Maria Anna took over the lessons of her nieces and nephews in French. She also mediated family disputes between her brother Clemens Lothar von Fürstenberg, who was critical of the church, and his children. In Fröndenberg she promoted Catholic school lessons. She also supported the Catholic diaspora communities in Unna and Iserlohn . In her will she provided for a foundation of 1,000 Reichstalers for the upbringing of Catholic children in the Prussian lands.

She was buried in the collegiate church after her death. Her grave slab is preserved.

literature

• Jochen von Nathusius: Biographical notes on the family von Fürstenberg-Herdringen in connection with the monastery and monastery Fröndenberg on the Ruhr. In: Südwestfalenarchiv 6/2006 pp. 145–158