Mechthild of Magdeburg

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Peter Paul Metz: Mechthild von Magdeburg , depiction on the choir stalls of the parish church Merazhofen (Leutkirch im Allgäu), 1896

Mechthild von Magdeburg (* around 1207 in the Archbishopric of Magdeburg ; † 1282 in the Helfta Monastery ) was a Christian mystic .

Life

There is little information about their worldly life, all of which can only be taken from their work. Presumably descending from noble parents, Mechthild received a good education. When she was twelve she had her first mystical experience . When she was alone, she was “greeted by the holy spirit in an exceedingly blissful flow that I would never bring myself to offer myself to a great daily sin.” At around 20 she probably moved to Magdeburg , where she was 40 Years as a Beguine lived. Around 1250, at the encouragement of her confessor, the Dominican Heinrich von Halle , she began to write about her mystical experiences. Heinrich von Halle compiled the notes she wrote in Middle Low German for the first six of a total of seven books on the Flowing Light of the Godhead . The sensation that she caused with this pamphlet and her criticism of the real religious life, the church and the world, possibly caused her to spend the last years of her life in seclusion in the Cistercian convent Helfta, which flourished under Gertrud von Hackeborn . There she met the young Gertrud von Helfta . Mechthild von Magdeburg lived in the monastery for 12 years and added a seventh book to her notes during this time.

Mechthild von Magdeburg practiced a severe mortification of her body very extensively for 20 years: “I always had to be in great fear and hit my body with violent defensive blows throughout my youth; these were: sighing, crying, confession, fasting, watching, lashing the rod and perpetual adoration. ” She described her own body as a murderer and enemy, a“ dungeon ”, a dead, smelly dog ​​and a sack.

Although Mechthild was never canonized and there was no traditional veneration, some lexicons erroneously list them as saints. Before the first publication of her book of Revelation in 1869, the Beguines were practically unknown, among other things, the feminist medieval studies of the 20th century made her an icon of women's mysticism, justified by the high poetic quality of her work. There are also no medieval pictures of her (the sometimes mentioned Würzburg relief refers to a legend about the vision of Emperor Heinrich II).

The work

Mechthild used in its seven sub Books comprehensive work The Flowing Light of the Godhead images of the Song of Songs and minnesong to the mystic marriage to describe the soul with Christ. Mechthild was influenced by Elisabeth von Thuringia , Bernhard von Clairvaux , David von Augsburg , Hildegard von Bingen and Gregor the Great , among others . Her writings are considered to be one of the most impressive examples of German women's mysticism and show the level of women's education in the Middle Ages.

The Low German original of their text has not survived, only an Upper German translation that was made between 1343 and 1345 in the circle of the Basel friends of God around Heinrich von Nördlingen . This manuscript is now in the Einsiedeln Abbey Library as Codex Einsidlensis 277 . In addition, a few other traditional excerpts or fragments attest to a certain, if not very broad, mediaeval reception of Mechthild's work. In addition, Mechthild's work was translated into Latin at an early stage, but it was imprecise and flattened. An extensive manuscript has also been preserved from this version, which contains the first six books of “Flowing Light”, although the texts are arranged differently.

Her book The Flowing Light of God is a complex work, which is composed of various poetic parts and very different prose pieces. Mechthild combines descriptions of visions and apparitions, prayers, meditations, allegories and discourses and switches between the genres and between prose and lyrical passages. Short, in the narrower sense autobiographical passages are interspersed in it.

As an example from her work, the beginning of her thoughts on prayer is given here (linguistically modernized by Friedrich Heiler ):

“This prayer has great power, which a person performs with all his might. It makes a sour heart sweet, a sad heart happy, a poor heart rich, a stupid heart wise, a stupid heart bold, a sick heart strong, a blind heart seeing, a cold soul burning. The great God draws down into a little heart; it drives the hungry soul up to the full God. "

In her work, Mechthild creates scenes from the childhood of Jesus. Turning to Maria, she developed the following dialogue: Eia, dear woman, how long should your child lie so alone? When do you want to take it on your lap? 'Our wife said, she never let the child out of her sight. Then she held out her hands to him and said, "It is supposed to lie on the straw for seven hours day and night." His heavenly Father wants it that way. «(…) If the child is lying on hard straw, his heavenly Father wanted it that way.

Typical aspects of the mystique of the bride are shown in the following passage, in which the personification of love for Mechthild's soul speaks:

He [the beloved, Jesus] kisses her through with his divine mouth. Wellbeing for
 you, yes more than well, for the glorious hour!
He loves her with all his might on the bed of love.
And she comes into the highest bliss
And into the most intimate woe
, she realizes him.

Wolfgang Mohr describes Mechthild's work as "perhaps the boldest erotic poetry that we have from the Middle Ages."

Breezes and visions of hell can also be found in her work. In a very drastic form it describes the torments of sinners and their punishment by the devil.

Work editions

  • The flowing light of the god , Margot Schmidt (Ed.), Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt (Frommann-Holzboog) 1995 ISBN 3-7728-1692-4
  • The flowing light of the god , Gisela Vollmann-Profe (Ed.), Frankfurt (Deutscher Klassiker Verlag) 2003 ISBN 3-618-66195-9 ** New edition by the Verlag der Weltreligionen, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-86539 -246-6
  • Revelations of sister Mechthild von Magdeburg or The flowing light of the divinity: from the only manuscript of the Einsiedeln monastery , P. Gall Morel (ed.). Unchanged reprographic reprint of the Regensburg 1869 edition. Darmstadt (Wiss. Buchgesellschaft). 1963, 1976, 1980.
  • Mechthild von Magdeburg, The flowing light of the deity: According to the Einsiedler manuscript in a critical comparison with the entire tradition . Hans Neumann (Ed.), Supplemented and set up for printing by Gisela Vollmann-Profe. Series: Munich Texts and Studies on German Medieval Literature (MTU). Vol. 1: Text (1990/95, MTU No. 100), Vol. 2 Investigations (1993, MTU No. 101). Munich / Zurich: Artemis-Verlag (vol. 1). Tübingen: Niemeyer (vol. 2.). Available via: De Gruyter, Berlin.
  • The flowing light of the deity , selected and transferred by Sigmund Simon, 1907, Berlin, Oesterheld.

Setting of their works to music

  • I like to die of love , 1942 by Johann Nepomuk David for soprano and organ
  • The desert has twelve things , 2002 by Reinhard Seehafer
  • From two unlikely reasons , 2009 by Frank Wunderlich (on the CD “Spruchgesang und Sachsenspiegel”, Verlag der Spielfahrer). In 2010, the same publisher published the music book “O edeler arn” with other Mechthild settings by Frank Wunderlich.
  • Dy Minne , published 2010 by Ougenweide (Frank Wulff / Sabine Maria Reiss) on the album Herzsprung

Radio play editing

  • Medievalist Hildegard Elisabeth Keller integrated Mechthild von Magdeburg as one of five main female characters in the trilogy of the timeless , which was published at the end of September 2011. Selected passages have been included in the radio play The Ocean in the Thimble , which she wrote and staged . In the fictional encounter, Mechthild talks to Hildegard von Bingen , Hadewijch and Etty Hillesum .

Remembrance days and monuments

  • Catholic: August 15 (not beatified or canonized)
  • Protestant: February 26th (in the Protestant name calendar )
  • Anglican: November 19th (in Common Worship)

In Magdeburg is the Mechthild-reminiscent sculpture Die Heilige Mechthild von Magdeburg .

literature

  • Hiltrud Bleier: “Nobody can burn the truth.” Mechthild von Magdeburg. A great woman of the Middle Ages for us today - again - up to date? Attempt of a picture of life. Magdeburg (3rd edition) Magdeburg Catholic Parish Curate St. Mechthild 2008. 88 pp.
  • Sonja A. Buholzer : Studies on the conception of God and soul in the work of Mechthild von Magdeburg (= European university publications: series 20, philosophy; volume 234), Bern; Frankfurt am Main; New York; Paris 1988, ISBN 3-261-03813-6 .
  • Thorsten Böhm: Design means and design principles at Mechthild von Magdeburg. Thesis, Grin-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-638-89588-0 .
  • Karl Dienst :  Mechthild of Magdeburg. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 1146-1147.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Peter Dinzelbacher : Medieval woman mysticism. Paderborn; Munich; Vienna; Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-506-72015-5 .
  • Peter Dinzelbacher: German and Dutch Mysticism of the Middle Ages , Berlin 2012
  • Alois M. Haas : The structure of the mystical experience according to Mechthild von Magdeburg. In: Freiburg journal for philosophy and theology. Vol. 22. Freiburg 1975 (Yearbook for Philosophy and Speculative Theology, 89th year).
  • Marianne Heimbach : 'The unlearned mouth as authority. Mystical experience as a source of ecclesiastical prophetic speech in the work of Mechthild of Magdeburg. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1989 (Mysticism in the past and present. Texts and investigations. Department I. Christian mysticism. Volume 6).
  • Theresia Heimerl: Woman mysticism - man mysticism? Similarities and differences in the representation of the image of God and man in Meister Eckhart, Heinrich Seuse, Marguerite Porete and Mechthild von Magdeburg , Münster, Hamburg, London 2002, ISBN 3-8258-5935-5
  • Jürgen Jendrzejzyk: Mysticism and meditation using the example of Mechthild von Magdeburg , Stockach 1992, ISBN 3-925466-51-7
  • Hildegard Elisabeth Keller : we never got stuck in it. On the history of sexuality and shame in the mirror of the 'flowing light of the god' by Mechthild von Magdeburg. In: Brinker, Claudia et al. (Ed.): Contemplata aliis tradere. Studies on the relationship between literature and spirituality. Bern 1995, pp. 19-45.
  • Hildegund Keul: Mechthild of Magdeburg. Poet - Begine - Mystic . Herder, Freiburg 2007. ISBN 978-3-451-29355-9
  • Grete Lüers: The language of the German mysticism of the Middle Ages in the work of Mechthild von Magdeburg , Münster (diss.) 1926
  • Hans Neumann: Mechthild of Magdeburg . In: Author's Lexicon. The German literature of the Middle Ages VI, Berlin 1987 (fundamental).
  • Sara S. Poor: Mechthild of Magdeburg and Her Book. Gender and the Making of Textual Authority , Penn. State Univ. Press 2004, ISBN 0-8122-3802-8
  • Gabriele Reimers: The body life in the mystical experience with Mechthild von Magdeburg, Mechthild von Hackborn and Gertrud von Helfta , Tübingen 1989
  • Philipp Strauch :  Mechthild of Magdeburg . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1885, pp. 154-156.
  • Gisela Vollmann-Profe:  Mechthild von Magdeburg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 581 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Norbert Schmeiser: Mechthild von Magdeburg and the flowing light of the godhead. Your reception in zoenobitic monasticism . In: Cistercienser Chronik 126 vol. (2019), pp. 233–266.
  • Helga Wäß: Form and Perception of Central German Memory Sculpture in the 14th Century . Two volumes. Volume 2: Catalog of selected objects from the High Middle Ages to the beginning of the 15th century, Bristol a. a. 2006, 380 f. with ill. 538 / s. also Vol. 1, p. 421. ISBN 3-86504-159-0
  • Barbara Weber: The function of everyday reality in the metaphor of Mechthilds von Magdeburg , (= Göppinger works on German studies; No. 683), Göppingen 2000, ISBN 3-87452-930-4
  • Hildegard Elisabeth Keller: The ocean in a thimble. Hildegard von Bingen, Mechthild von Magdeburg, Hadewijch and Etty Hillesum in conversation. With contributions by Daniel Hell and Jeffrey F. Hamburger. Zurich 2011 ( Trilogy of the Timeless 3), ISBN 978-3-7281-3437-0 .

Web links

Wikisource: Mechthild von Magdeburg  - Sources and full texts
Commons : Mechthild von Magdeburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mechthild von Magdeburg (1955). The flowing light of the deity. Einsiedeln, Zurich, Cologne: Benzinger, p. 169.
  2. ↑ http://www.kloster-helfta.de/cms/geschichte/die-drei-grossen-mystikerinnen/mechthild-von-magdeburg/index.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was created automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.kloster-helfta.de  
  3. ^ Mechthild von Magdeburg (1955). The flowing light of the deity. Einsiedeln, Zurich, Cologne: Benzinger, p. 174.
  4. ^ Mechthild von Magdeburg (1955). The flowing light of the deity. Einsiedeln, Zurich, Cologne: Benzinger, pp. 56, 117, 137 and 232.
  5. ↑ See manuscript census ( Memento of the original from June 9, 2007 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / cgi-host.uni-marburg.de
  6. ↑ See Dinzelbacher, Peter (1994). Christian Mysticism in the Occident: Its History from the Beginnings to the End of the Middle Ages. Paderborn, Munich, Vienna, Zurich: Schöningh. P. 208
  7. ↑ MvM Revelations , Book V, Section 13. Quoted here from: Friedrich Heiler. Prayer: A study of the history of religion and the psychology of religion . Munich: Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, 1921 (3rd edition, 1st edition 1919), p. VI, digitized edition in the Internet Archive . See also: C. Klein. The cross-border prayer . Göttingen, 2004, pp. 83ff, Google Books .
  8. ^ Mechthild von Magdeburg (1955). The flowing light of the deity. Einsiedeln, Zurich, Cologne: Benzinger, p. 393.
  9. ^ Mechthild von Magdeburg (1955). The flowing light of the deity. Einsiedeln, Zurich, Cologne: Benzinger, p. 110.
  10. ↑ Wolfgang Mohr (1963): Presentation of mysticism with Mechthild von Magdeburg. In: fairy tale, myth, poetry. Festschrift for Friedrich von der Leyen's 90th birthday on August 19, 1963, Munich, 1963, p. 393.
  11. ^ Mechthild von Magdeburg (1955). The flowing light of the deity. Einsiedeln, Zurich, Cologne: Benzinger, pp. 152, 159, 161.
  12. ↑ Mechthild is venerated as a blessed in the Archdiocese of Magdeburg. "So the church of St. Mechthild in the north of Magdeburg is consecrated to her" (Schwillus, H., Minne.Mut.Mystik. 800 years of Mechthild of Magdeburg, in: M. Puhle et al., Minne.Mut.Mystik. 800 years Mechthild von Magdeburg, Magdeburg or JS 5–6).
personal data
SURNAME Mechthild of Magdeburg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mystic of the Middle Ages
DATE OF BIRTH around 1207
PLACE OF BIRTH Archbishopric Magdeburg , Holy Roman Empire
DATE OF DEATH 1282
Place of death Helfta Monastery , Helfta , Mansfeld County , Holy Roman Empire