Metta from Swabia

Signature of the Prioress Metta of Swabia on October 7, 1704

Metta von Schwaben (* 1636 on Gut Dänisch-Lindau ; † 1709 in Uetersen ) was a benefactor , conventual , prioress and the last of the old Holstein noble family of Swabia, which died out in 1709 .

Life

Metta von Schwaben came from the Lindau an der Schlei family . Her parents were Marquard von Schwawe (* 1591, † 1673) at Notfeldhof, which belonged to the Danish Lindau estate, and Helwig geb. from Ahlefeld . Her four adult brothers died before their father, and her nephew Hieronymus von Schwawe (* approx. 1663, † approx. 1678) died as a "student". With their distant cousins ​​Magnus von Schwawe (* 1629, † July 29, 1696) and his nephew Siwert von Schwawe († around 1698) from the Swawesholm house, the feeble members of the noble family in Schleswig-Holstein and Denmark died out.

She came to the Uetersen Monastery as a young woman . There she was conventual for 35 years and prioress of the monastery for 16 years (1693–1709) . During her time she campaigned for the further construction of the monastery that was destroyed by Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein in the Thirty Years War . She filed several complaints on behalf of the conventual women against the authorities that the monastery was “not safe from snow and rain” and that “you could not live in it without endangering your life”. On February 8, 1701 she decreed in a will: “I Metta von Swabia as the last of this name and of the ancient Holstein family ... because of a strange inclination to this place (Uetersen monastery) ... bequeath 600 marks ... the local church (Uetersen monastery church) enlarged and will be improved, for which purpose the same money can be used without hesitation ”. In 1748 the capital had increased fivefold and was illegally issued by the convent. After decades of dispute, a settlement was reached and the monastery took over financial responsibility for the bells, organ and clock of the monastery church .

Metta von Schwaben died in 1709 in Uetersen monastery, the following funeral took place with great sympathy from the Uetersen population. Today a large tomb with a tombstone in the monastery maiden cemetery commemorates them and the extinct noble family.

Grave slab of the Metta of Swabia with the alliance coat of arms of their parents

Inscription on her grave slab: Metta von Schwaben 1709 inscription deepened, first saying 2. Tim. 4. V. 7 u. 8, then: ANNO 1694 / YOUR AGE 73 YEARS 3 MONTHS 7 DAYS , then saying Psalm 4 further: FROM THE HOUSE OF LINDAUW WHICH DRILLED / 1636 D. 21 JUNE METTA OF SWABIA AND BLESSED / DIED 28 SEPT. PREJÖRIN AO '1709 AFTER / SHE BEING A CONVENTUALIN THIS NOBLE AND MONASTERY FOR 35 YEARS AND HEADED FOR 15 YEARS TO THE PRIORIN AMPT / RÜHMLICHST . In the middle the coat of arms with the signature: HIR UNDER RUHEN DIE SCHWABEN

literature

• Johann Friedrich Camerer : Mixed historical-political news in letters from some strange areas of the duchies Schleßwig and Hollstein, their natural history and other rare antiquities, pages 214–223 (Flensburg and Leipzig 1758–1762)
• Hans Ferdinand Bubbe : Attempt of a chronicle of the city and the monastery Uetersen Volume 1 Chapter I Pages 57-60 (1932)
• Doris Meyn: List of the provosts and priories of the Uetersen monastery up to the end of the 17th century GFSH 1976
• Erwin Freytag: List of probes and priories at the Cistercian nunnery and later Adlid monastery in Uetersen Yearbook for the Pinneberg district (page 42) 1970
• Elsa Plath-Langheinrich: When Goethe wrote to Uetersen: The life of the Conventualin Augusta Louise Countess zu Stolberg-Stolberg (Pages 84 and 137) Wachholtz Verlag 1989. ISBN 3-529-02695-6
• Elsa Plath-Langheinrich: Uetersen Monastery in Holstein. With Cistercian nuns and nobles through eight centuries (pages 38, 90, 91 and 121). Wachholtz, Neumünster 2008 ISBN 978-3-529-02813-7
• Elsa Plath-Langheinrich: The monastery at Uetersten End (page 27) CDC Heydorns Verlag 2008
• genealogical secondary source for the noble family: Schwawe (noble family)
• A genealogical overview of the noble family can be found in Danmarks Adels Aarbog 1926, pp. 62ff. (there is also metta included)