Elten Abbey

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The Elten Abbey in Elten (today the city of Emmerich ) was founded around 967 and existed until 1803/1811. It was a direct imperial, noble ladies' pen .

Collegiate church

Foundation phase

At the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th centuries there was a castle of the Counts in Hamaland on the Eltenberg , which rises 60 m above the Rhine plain, in Hochelten . After excavations in the 1960s, it is believed that the castle was built after the Norman invasions.

A visit by Otto I in 944 is evidenced by documents .

Count Wichmann founded a women's monastery around 967 . Emperor Otto I donated an imperial estate to the Elten Abbey Church in 968, namely the estate that Count Wichmann had had as a fief. Furthermore, Emperor Otto I confirmed the collegiate church in 970 the inheritance that the church had received from Count Wichmann.

In 970, Count Wichmann transferred the collegiate church to the Pope. The daughter of the founder Liutgard became the first abbess. The monastery was dedicated to Saint Vitus . Otto II took the monastery under imperial protection in 973. The canonesses were now given the right to choose their abbess freely and immunity. However, the bishops of Utrecht received the right to confirm the abbess.

The sister of the first abbess Adela of Hamaland denied the legality of the donation and claimed half of the property as an inheritance. Thereupon violent clashes broke out, in the course of which the husband, Count Adelas Balderich von Drenthe, destroyed the monastery twice. After the death of Abbess Liutgard, Adela and her husband had to answer before an imperial court of arbitration twice. However, the conflict was not ended until after Adela's death around 1017. In the comparison of 996 Otto III. the monastery under his protection, puts it on an equal footing with the other canonical monasteries in Essen , Quedlinburg and Gandersheim and renews Wichmann's decree that it should pay an annual interest to St. Peter in Rome. He confirms the donations of the first two Ottonians, gives the monastery the immunity and the right to vote of the abbess, subject to the approval of the bishop of Utrecht.

Development in the Middle Ages

View of the high altar inside the church

The monastery temporarily lost its imperial immediacy under Heinrich IV, who gave it to the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in 1083 . By 1129 at the latest, the institution was again an imperial monastery, as can be seen from a document Lothar III. emerges.

The abbesses have been part of the imperial princes since the 12th century. These received the regalia from the king or from someone commissioned by him. However, this is only documented for 1403. Abbess Elsa was first designated as a princess in 1390.

The first church from the founding years was converted into a large Romanesque basilica in 1100 . After all, it was 65 m long and had an octagonal dome. In 1129 the church was consecrated by Bishop Sigward von Minden in the presence of King Lothar . In this context, the future emperor also gave the monastery two pounds a year from customs in Duisburg.

Possession and territory

The immediate territory around the monastery in 1789 comprised 1469 hectares. The area included the actual monastery, several houses in Hochelten, the town of Niederelten and some land in the area.

In addition, it had scattered properties, particularly in the area of ​​what is now the Netherlands and in the Duchy of Kleve. The property in the 12th century was enumerated by Emperor Lothar in a privilege of 1129. The possessions were roughly between Arnhem in the northwest to the area of ​​Xanten in the southeast. Part of the original property was separated during the dispute with Countess Adela and handed over to her.

Bailiwick

According to a document from the 10th century, the abbess was free to choose the bailiff. In the 15th century, the bailiwick was held by the dukes of Geldern . After Geldern came during the Burgundian War , the Bailiwick also passed to Charles the Bold . This transferred it to the dukes of Cleves in 1473 . When Kleve was taken over, the Electors of Brandenburg had been bailiffs since 1614 . During the Prussian period in particular, the bailiffs tried to limit the rights of the monastery and the abbess. So jurisdiction came to Brandenburg during the St. Viti market in 1683. The Brandenburgers also tried to influence the choice of the abbess. The canons were able to defend themselves against this until 1678, but then had to recognize Brandenburg-Prussia's right to propose. Hunting rights were also lost in the 17th century.

While a large part of the sovereignty was practically exercised by Brandenburg Prussia, the canonies were able to maintain their imperial status and parts of the jurisdiction and customs rights until 1803. However, the market duty of the St. Viti market had been due to the respective Vogt since 1433.

Convention in the early modern period

17th century house of the abbess

There is little evidence of the abbesses and canons for a long period of time. From 1380 there is a list with the names of twelve canonesses and their twelve intended successors. At that time the number of prebends was twelve.

After all, around 60 families of origin could be identified from necrologies from the 15th and 16th centuries. The interpretation is, however, controversial. Since the 15th and 16th centuries at the latest, only noble ladies of the nobility were accepted.

In the 18th century there were six prebends for canons and four for male canons . In addition to the abbess, the dignities were a dean and a sexton. In the beginning, the prebend's income was fully available to the canoness if she had fulfilled her residence obligation. Later it made no difference whether she was present or not to receive the income. At times, the women were already admitted as children and also educated in the monastery.

History in the early modern period

The church and the monastery buildings were destroyed in the war between Spain and the Netherlands in 1585 . The canonesses then lived for sixty years in a house belonging to the monastery in Emmerich. After the destruction, the church was initially only partially rebuilt and replaced by a new building in 1670. With the fall of the diocese of Utrecht in the 16th century as a result of the Reformation , the monastery was given full exemption in 1669 . In the early modern era, the monastery did not belong to any imperial circle. The abbesses were also not members of the Rhenish prelate bank .

End of the pen

In 1803 the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss closed the Essen and Elten monasteries and the Werden Prussia monastery . In 1806 it became part of the Grand Duchy of Berg . The pen itself was abolished in 1811. In 1815 it was again Prussian.

The collegiate church was destroyed during the Second World War. The reconstruction reconstructed the Romanesque building in the dimensions of the building from 1670. Only a few buildings of the monastery are preserved next to the church. Today a Jesuit retreat house is housed in the abbess's house with the Stanislaus College.

Church treasure

Its church treasures speak for the importance of the monastery. It mainly consisted of liturgical implements and relics. A considerable part of it was hidden during the French occupation in the course of the coalition wars and was then brought back to the church. At that time, however, the monastery’s most important work of art went into private ownership. It is a reliquary in the form of a domed church, more than half a meter high, colored enamelled and decorated with ivory . This is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Two Gothic reliquary monstrances from around 1400 were lost in the course of the relocation during the Second World War. The church treasure is shown today together with that of the former Emmerich Martinistift in the Martinikirche there.

Abbesses

  • 968-973: Liutgard I.
  • 993–997: Liutgard II. (Controversial, possibly identical to Liutgard I.)
  • : Richardis
  • -1056: Riklindis
  • : Irmgard I.
  • : Giltrud
  • -1229: Irmgard II.
  • : Adelheid I.
  • : Guda
  • 1241–1244 Adelheid zur Lippe
  • 1273-1280: Godela
  • 1301-1328: Mabilia von Batenburg
  • 1336 Irmgard von dem Berge
  • 1340-1365: Irmgard III. from mountain
  • 1365–1402: Elizabeth I of Holtzate
  • March 1402-3. January 1443: Lucia von Kerpen
  • March 26, 1443-25. May 1475: Agnes von Bronckorst
  • June 30, 1475– October 17, 1513: Elisabeth II. Rhine Countess von Dhaun-Kyrburg (born around 1450), probably the youngest daughter of Wild and Rhine Count Johann IV. Von Dhaun (1410–1476)
  • 1513–1544: Veronica von Reichenstein
  • March 15, 1544– May 23, 1572: Magdalena Countess zu Wied-Runkel and Isenburg
  • August 7, 1572– March 13, 1603: Margaretha Countess of Manderscheid-Blankenheim
  • 1603–1645: Agnes II. Elisabeth Countess of Limburg-Bronkhorst-Styrum (1563–1645)
  • 1645–1674: Maria Sophie Former Countess von Salm-Reifferscheid, also abbess of Vreden.
  • February 16, 1674 - March 9, 1708: Maria Franziska I, Countess of Manderscheid-Blankenheim, also Abbess of Vreden.
  • 1708 - January 12, 1717: Anna Juliana Countess von Manderscheid-Blankenheim, was Coadjutrix from 1701, and from 1706 also abbess of Thorn .
  • February 11, 1717 - October 15, 1727: Maria Eugenie Countess von Manderscheid-Blankenheim (sister of the previous ones)
  • November 20, 1727 - April 15, 1740: Maria Eleonora Ernestine Countess von Manderscheid-Blankenheim (sister of the previous ones)
  • 1740–1784: Maria Franziska II. Countess von Manderscheid (-Blankenheim and Gerolstein) (1699–1784)
  • 1784–1789: Walburga Maria Countess Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil-Wurzach († November 1)
  • 1790–1796: Josepha Maria Altgräfin zu Salm-Reifferscheid-Bedburg (1731–1796)
  • 1796–1805: Maximiliana Franziska de Paula Former Countess of Salm-Reifferscheid (1765–1805)
  • Dec. 1805: Louise Wilhelmina Friderica Princess Radziwill (1797–1809), daughter of Luise von Prussia (1770–1836) and Prince Anton Radziwiłł ; it did not come into possession of the position because Prussia had to cede the Duchy of Kleve to France or the Duke of Berg.
  • 1806–1811: Laetitia Josephine Murat (1802–1859), daughter of Grand Duke Joachim Murat and Carolina Bonaparte , with whom she moved to Naples in 1808. The abbess's dignity had finally degenerated into a pure source of income.

literature

  • Anton Fahne: The Princely Elten Monastery. From authentic sources , Bonn, Brussels, Cologne 1850 scan from Googlebooks
  • Günther Binding , Walter Janssen , Friedrich K. Jungklaass: Elten castle and monastery on the Lower Rhine: archaeological investigations from 1964/65 ( Rhenish excavations , vol. 8). Rheinland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1970. ISSN 0557-7853
  • Handbook of Historic Places in Germany. Vol. 3 North Rhine-Westphalia. Stuttgart, 1970 p. 327f.
  • Manuel Hagemann: Emmerich-Elten - Hochelten Abbey . In: Nordrheinisches Klosterbuch . Vol. 2. Verlag Franz Schmitt, Siegburg 2012, pp. 248-257, ISBN 978-3-87710-449-1
  • Nathalie Kruppa: Elten. In: Courtyards and residences in the late medieval empire. A dynastic topographical handbook (Göttingen Academy of Sciences, Residency Research , Vol. 15.I). Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Ostfildern 2003, ISBN 3-7995-4515-8 online version (PDF; 70 kB)

Web links

Commons : Reichsstift Elten  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Otto I. (RI II) n.470 944 July 18 Eltnon Regest on RI-online
  2. ↑ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet, in: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine or the Archbishopric of Cöln, document 110 , 1840, part 1, 779–1200, p. [81] 65. Online version
  3. ^ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet, in: Document book for the history of the Lower Rhine or the Archbishopric of Cöln, document 112 , 1840, part 1, 779–1200, p. [83] 67. Online version
  4. ↑ John XIII. (RI II, 5) n. 467a Regest on RI-online
  5. ^ Otto II. (RI II) n. 646 973 December 14, Nijmegen Regest on RI-online
  6. ↑ Otto III. (RI II) n. 1217 996 December 18, Nijmegen Regest on RI-online
  7. ↑ a b Lothar III. (RI IV, 1, 1) n.181 1129 February 2 - 3 Elten Regest on RI-online
  8. ↑ a b c Nathalie Kruppa: Elten. In: Courtyards and residences in the late medieval empire. A dynastic topographical handbook (special print) online version (PDF; 70 kB), p. 706.
  9. ↑ Lothar III. (RI IV, 1, 1) n.186 (1129) April 10 Goslar Regest on RI-online
  10. ↑ a b c d Nathalie Kruppa: Elten. In: Courtyards and residences in the late medieval empire. A dynastic-topographical handbook (special print) online version (PDF; 70 kB), p. 707.
  11. ↑ Franz J. Felten : How noble were canonical pens (and other female convents) in the (early and high) Middle Ages. In: Irene Crusius (Ed.): Studies on the Kanonissenstift. Göttingen, 2009, p. 57.
  12. ↑ Franz J. Felten: How noble were canonical pens (and other female convents) in the (early and high) Middle Ages. In: Irene Crusius (Ed.): Studies on the Kanonissenstift. Göttingen, 2009, p. 108.
  13. ^ Ute Küppers-Braun: On the social history of noble ladies' pencils in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: Irene Crusius (Ed.): Studies on the Kanonissenstift. Göttingen, 2009, p. 356.
  14. ^ Ute Küppers-Braun: On the social history of noble ladies' pencils in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: Irene Crusius (Ed.): Studies on the Kanonissenstift. Göttingen, 2009, p. 362.
  15. ^ Ute Küppers-Braun: On the social history of noble ladies' pencils in the 17th and 18th centuries. In: Irene Crusius (Ed.): Studies on the Kanonissenstift. Göttingen, 2009, p. 369.
  16. ↑ Julius Ficker : From the imperial prince status. Vol. 1. Innsbruck, 1861, p. 375.
  17. ^ Page of the Stanislaus College
  18. ^ Treasury Martinikirche Emmerich
  19. ↑ partially taken from the Dutch Wikipedia. Supplemented by an entry on guide2womansleaders.com as well as: List of the Residence Commission

Coordinates: 51 ° 51 '51.4 "  N , 6 ° 10' 15.2"  E