Sinsheim Abbey

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Sinsheim Abbey, main building

The Sinsheim Abbey on the Michaelsberg in Sinsheim goes back to the founding of a monastery by the Salian Kraichgau Count Otto von Worms around the year 1000 in a place that was probably already inhabited by the Romans. Between 1092 and 1100 the monastery was converted into a Benedictine monastery under Bishop Johannes . In 1496 the monastery became a secular collegiate foundation , which was founded in 1565 by Count Palatine Friedrich III. was repealed. After an attempt at restitution during the Thirty Years' War , the monastery initially deteriorated before a childcare facility was set up there from 1887, from which the Sunnisheim Monastery, now supported by the Rhein-Neckar district , has developed. The core of the collegiate church, which dates back to the 10th century, was converted into a cultural center from 2009 to 2011 and still has a largely original roof structure from 1233. The other buildings of the complex come from different later epochs.

history

Early history

The core of the collegiate church from the 10th century is the oldest building in the complex (photo from 2007, before it was converted into a cultural center)

The Michaelsberg in Sinsheim was probably settled as early as the time of the Romans in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. A stone of the four gods recovered from the monastery church in 1936 with a consecration of the vicani Saliobrigensis (i.e. the inhabitants of the village Saliobriga ) was initially interpreted as coming from the Roman vicus near Steinsfurt , but other Roman spolia from the structure of the monastery church give evidence of Roman settlement remains on the Michaelsberg. Archaeological findings also show that the Michaelsberg was a burial place in the 9th and 10th centuries, where the first stone hall church was presumably located, on the foundations of which the nave of the collegiate church was later built.

Foundation by Otto von Worms around 1000

Before 1024, Sinsheim was the seat of the Counts of Elsenz and Kraichgau , who were related to the Salians and had their main administrative seat on Motte Wigoldesberg near Eichelberg . Count Otto von Worms († 1004), who also founded the Lambrecht Monastery in 977 or 987 , founded a collegiate monastery on the Michaelsberg in Sinsheim . The associated collegiate church was built as a three-aisled pillar basilica on the foundations of an older church. The stone evidence of this construction phase, including small round arches and herringbone-like decorations, point to an origin before 1030.

Conversion to a Benedictine monastery around 1100

The Speyer bishop Johannes from the Zeisolf-Wolframe family, who were also related to the Salians and who had provided the Counts of Elsenz and Kraichgau since 1024, converted the Sinsheim monastery into a Benedictine monastery in several steps between 1092 and 1100 , for which he was monks of the Siegburg Benedictine monastery to Sinsheim. The conversion of the monastery was accompanied by a structural expansion of the complex from 1098. The monastery church was extended to the west, a tower and a crypt were built and the entire complex was probably secured by a wall and gatehouse. The ground plan of the monastery church was very similar to the second Aurelius church in Hirsau monastery , the construction of which is dated to 1060/70.

In order to subordinate the monastery, which was originally in the diocese of Worms , to its spiritual jurisdiction , Johann exchanged territories with the Worms bishop in 1099. In the following year he transferred his foundation to the Speyer Church and exempted the monastery from the jurisdiction of the responsible dean and archdeacon . Owning goods in Kraichgau , Elsenzgau and Enzgau was the basis for the further development of the monastery. On the basis of the sources, the following places from the property of the Zeisolf-Wolfram family can be named as monastery property : Sinsheim with market , Niedergericht , tithe and customs , further Asbach , Dagelvingen , Dürrmenz , Enzberg , Insultheimer Hof , Kieselbronn , Lienzingen , Menzingen , Reichartshausen , Steinsfurt and Zaisersweiher . Various rights such as patronage rights were added to property .

Around 1130 the provost of St. Giles was founded in St. Ilgen from Sinsheim . A little later, the Sinsheim parish church was built, so that the monastery church was reserved for the monastery brothers in future. One of the friars became abbot of the Lorsch Imperial Abbey in 1151.

The monastery was assured of free election as bailiff . In order to ward off the attacks by the bailiffs from the noble von Wiesloch family, the monastery received papal letters of protection in 1179 and 1186 .

Eaves cornice with crescents turned away

Around 1233 the monastery church was rebuilt, with the westwork built around 1100 being demolished and the main nave receiving its current roof structure , the beams in the eastern area of ​​which could be dendrochronologically dated to that year. With the roof truss, the eaves cornice was also renewed, which is decorated with turned away half-moon pairs. Such crescents can also be found in the coat of arms of the Lords of Magenheim and are the master builder symbol of the Maulbronn master of paradise . Due to documented connections between the Sinsheim monastery and the Lords of Magenheim and the Maulbronn monastery in the first half of the 13th century, it is likely that the Maulbronn master of paradise was also involved in the construction of the Sinsheim monastery church.

The structural measures of 1233 were probably the cause of the financial difficulties that led to the sales of monastery property documented in the five documents from the time in office of Abbot Heinrich II. Even in the following decades, the monastery could hardly record any gains. Most important is the acquisition of the patronage right of the Nikolauskapelle in the Palatinate Wimpfen in 1333.

In 1315, Sinsheim and its accessories, including probably the bailiwick of the monastery, were pledged by King Friedrich to the Margraves of Baden . In 1330, Ludwig the Bayer pledged Sinsheim to the Palatinate County . Further pledges to the Lords of Hirschhorn and the Electoral Palatinate followed, before the latter finally redeemed the pledge in 1362.

Under Abbot Apel von Finsterlohe and also in the first years of his successor Siegfried von Venningen in the first half of the 15th century, the monastery experienced a renewed heyday and took part in the Benedictine reform movement and in monastery visitations. However, financial and structural problems soon returned. In 1456 the monastery was no longer present at the chapter of the order and in 1469 failed attempts by the Speyer bishop Matthias von Rammung to enforce stricter observance in the monasteries in Sinsheim and Odenheim are documented. Abbot Ulrich von Finsterlohe moved from Sinsheim to Odenheim in 1472.

Ritterstift from 1496

Sinsheim 1645 on an engraving by Matthäus Merian. In the right foreground the Sinsheim monastery, still with a three-aisled church.

Abbot Ulrich's successor Michael von Angelloch asked King Maximilian to convert the monastery into an aristocratic collegiate monastery in 1495 , something that Pope Alexander VI did in 1496 . was approved. In the Kollegiatstift, also called Ritterstift, the provost and dean's office were set up for administration and seven canons and ten vicar positions were created. In contrast to the previous monastery, there was no obligation for the canons to live together, who related individual houses to it.

Provost Heinrich von Helmstatt (in office from 1502 until his death in 1517) was dean of the cathedral in Speyer and was often on trips, pilgrimages or spa treatments. Since he was rarely present in Sinsheim, in 1513 he asked the Pope to delete the provost post after his death.

Under Heinrich's successor, Dean Konrad von Habern, there was brisk mining activity in the monastery-owned quarry in 1517, against which the city of Sinsheim sued. The sandstone was needed for numerous structural changes to the collegiate church in the 16th century. From 1524 to 1533 the tower of the collegiate church was built in three stages, in 1535 it received its belfry, which is still partially preserved today . In 1542 a rood screen was built into the church, the western part of the church was rebuilt around 1550 and the aisles were raised in 1550 as well. The reason for the construction work was, on the one hand, the renovation of the dilapidated west end of the church, on the other hand, the need for representation by the canons and the opening of the former monastery church to the population via a staircase and the two tower portals. The rood screen, built in 1542, separated the areas for lay people and canons inside the church.

The construction work in the 16th century is partly related to the Peasants 'War of 1525. The rebellious peasants were admitted into the city, where they caused great damage to the canons' houses, but not to the collegiate church itself. After the suppression of the uprising, the farmers were obliged to pay compensation and payments in kind, which were then used to rebuild and expand the monastery. At the time of the beginning of the Reformation , the monastery would probably no longer have been able to carry out construction work on this scale without the donations from the Peasants' War.

Abolition of the knight's pen in 1565

Gate tower with outbuildings

An episcopal visitation in January 1550 revealed that the clerics lived in cohabitation . The abolition of the cohabitation ordered by the Speyer bishop went unheard. At the same time, the Reformation began in Sinsheim when the pastor Ottmar Stab , who came from Wiesloch, turned to Protestantism in 1540. Stab remained unmolested until 1543, after which resistance arose from the monastery and the bishop, but the monastery had to allow a Protestant pastor in Sinsheim in 1553. The attempt of the Count Palatine Ottheinrich to introduce the Reformation in the monastery failed in 1557 because of the resistance of the canons . His successor, Elector Friedrich III. , carried out the Reformation by force in 1565 and expelled the canons from the monastery, which was converted into a Schaffnei .

The dean Wernher Nothaft von Hohenberg went to the knight's monastery in Odenheim and the other canons to Worms to their fellow canon, Bishop Dietrich von Bettendorff . All efforts to restore the pen failed. Deans were still appointed, but they could only dispose of very few properties.

After 1565, the buildings of the monastery served as the administrator's apartment and the church degenerated into a barn and stable. The Schaffnei had some old monastery buildings demolished and new farm buildings built.

Attempted restitution in the Thirty Years War

After the bishopric of Speyer took possession of the monastery again in 1623 during the Thirty Years' War and the Electoral Palatinate was occupied by Bavaria from 1626, it was re-Catholicized, for which Peter Ernst von Ouhren was appointed dean in 1626. The dean had new altars and new stalls procured and the church restored, but had to flee when the Swedes approached in 1631. After the threat from the Swedes had been averted, von Ouhren returned in 1635. In 1648 it was damaged by French troops, after the Peace of Westphalia the monastery was repealed in 1649.

Wars of the late 17th century and partial demolition of the church

In the battle of Sinsheim in 1674, the monastery complex was damaged again. Subsequently, false ceilings were drawn into the nave of the church in order to store harvest supplies there. In the Palatine War of Succession , which broke out a little later, in 1688/89 the imperial army built a stern hill around the former monastery to repel the French troops. While the city suffered from the French troops and was badly destroyed, the church seems to have been largely intact according to the depiction on old engravings in 1689. Between 1693 and 1791, however, 14 severe storms are documented, each of which caused damage to the abbey buildings located at an exposed altitude. When the choir , the transept and the side aisles of the church were finally demolished is unknown. On an engraving from the middle of the 19th century, the south aisle is still fragmentary from these components that no longer exist today.

Youth welfare institution from 1889

The Sinsheim Abbey around 1900

In 1887 the buildings were bought by the association for the rescue of morally neglected children in Baden from the Evangelical Stiftsschaffnerei ( Evangelical Oberkirchenrat Karlsruhe ) and then rebuilt. The home was inaugurated on November 10, 1889 and took in 32 children from homes in Hüfingen and Durlach. The facility was gradually enlarged. After the welfare association went under in the wake of the economic crisis after the First World War, the home was taken over by the Baden state in 1921 and was given the name Badische welfare education institution .

In 1936/37 major renovations were carried out on the collegiate church, which had previously been used for agriculture. The central nave was given a suspended concrete ceiling so that the lower part of the room could be used as a workshop and the upper part as a gym. In addition, the church received new windows in the east wall and in the lower area also new window frames in the north and south walls. During the construction work, empty burial chambers were found in the former aisles. In 1953/54 renovation and clearing work on and around the tower followed. Various grave slabs were found that were walled into the wall next to the tower entrance or first placed on the southern outer wall and later in the interior of the central nave. In 1964, skeletons and wall remnants were found during canal work in the area of ​​the south aisle, which may indicate the occupied but not yet localized crypt of the church.

Since 1964, the Baden State Welfare Association was the sponsor of the facility, which was now called the State Youth Home Stift Sunnisheim . As part of the administrative reform in Baden-Württemberg, the sponsorship was transferred from the state welfare association to the Rhein-Neckar district in 2005 . The Sunnisheim Monastery is run in the legal form of a GmbH and currently looks after over 160 children and young people between 6 and 21 years of age. There are 90 places available in a total of seven residential groups, plus apartments to make the residents independent. The facility also maintains various outdoor living groups in the surrounding areas.

Archaeological research 2009

After the Rhein-Neckar district came into possession of the facility in 2005, plans were made to build a cultural center in the collegiate church, which is no longer suitable for school purposes. In the run-up to the renovation, extensive archaeological excavations were carried out by the Karlsruhe Regional Council in the southern outer area from August to November 2009. Old burials could be found that were cut from the western wall of the oldest building section, which occupies a cemetery that existed before the year 1000 on the site of the collegiate church. A predecessor of the old basilica, the outer walls of the south aisle and the transept and the approaches of the choir and side apse were also verified. The excavations also provided information about the structural changes to the church around 1100, and a foundation plinth made of quartzite rock, which is unusual for the location, located south of the outer wall was uncovered.

The collegiate church converted into a cultural center in 2012

In addition to burials from before the year 1000, later burials, which were then built over by church extensions, as well as burials in brick and plastered tombs inside the church could be proven. A burial chamber found in a prominent place in the south transept could be that of a higher-ranking personality, possibly a founder.

Cultural center of the Collegiate Church Sunnisheim since 2011

The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis had the church restored for 1.5 million euros and converted into a cultural center. In order to gain more usable space, a foyer was added to the south of the central nave , which is dimensioned in such a way that on the one hand it gives the impression of the former aisle, but on the other hand its foundations do not interfere with existing archaeological findings. To the south of the tower, a toilet wing was built on the site of a modern pump house, while a new stairwell was built to the north. In particular, concrete, steel and glass were chosen as building materials for the extensions so that there is a clear distinction between the historical building stock and modern extensions.

Inside the church, modern fixtures have been largely removed and historical details such as inscriptions, paintings and sculptural jewelry have been restored with minimal additions. The concrete false ceiling from the 1930s could not be removed for structural reasons, but was broken through over a large area so that it now only forms a gallery, while the original height of the central nave is perceptible again. One of the outstanding features of the church is the restored rood screen from the 16th century with tendril paintings in the vault, which will in future divide the interior into event and service areas. The cultural center was inaugurated on July 23, 2011.

Abbots, provosts and collegiate deans

Abbots :

  • Godefried: came from Siegburg in 1092
  • Drudo: until 1098, also from Siegburg
  • Adalger: 1098 to 1133, also from Siegburg
  • Eggehard: 1133 to 1158
  • Wezelo: 1158, not recognized by the Speyer bishop
  • John: 1158 to 1175
  • Heinrich I .: 1175 to 1196
  • Tungsten: 1196 to 1197
  • Konrad I .: 1202 to 1214
  • Walther: 1234 to 1235
  • Heinrich II .: 1248 to 1253
  • Volland: 1270 to 1274
  • Dieter von Urbach: 1286
  • Konrad II .: 1316 to 1327
  • Eberhard von Gemmingen : 1335 to 1365
  • Dieter von Urbach: 1380 to 1395
  • Friedrich von Venningen : 1406 to 1409
  • Apel von Finsterlohe : 1414 to 1426
  • Siegfried von Venningen: 1429 to 1461
  • Burkhard von Weiler : 1467 to 1468
  • Ulrich von Finsterlohe († June 29, 1479): 1468 to 1472, then abbot in Odenheim
  • Michael von Angelloch : 1472 to 1496, requested conversion to a knight's monastery in 1495

Toast :

  • Michael von Angelloch : 1496 to 1502
  • Heinrich von Helmstatt : 1502 to 1517, also cathedral dean in Speyer, asked for the abolition of the provost in 1513

Stiftsdekane :

  • Konrad von Habern: 1517 to 1522
  • Erasmus von Habern: 1528 to 1542
  • Werner Nothaft von Hohenberg: 1542 to 1568, abolition of the monastery in 1565
  • Cuno von Mörsheim: 1568 to 1572, resided in Worms
  • Philipp Christoph von Sötern: 1572 to 1588, resided in Worms

literature

  • Karl Wilhelmi : The dissolution of the noble Collegiate-Stift Sintzheim after the Annales Sinshemienses and mostly still unprinted parchments, copial books and files. In: Writings of the Alterthums-Verein für das Großherzogtum Baden zu Baden and its branch association of the historical section of the Verein für Geschichte und Naturgeschichte zu Donaueschingen 1 (1846) 258–313. [not evaluated]
  • Karl Wilhelmi: History of the former free aristocratic Benedictine Abbey Sunnesheim (thirteenth annual report to the members of the Sinsheim Society for the Study of Patriotic Monuments of Prehistoric Times). Sinsheim 1851. [not evaluated]
  • Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine 14, 1862, p. 332.
  • Friedrich Bischoff: On the structural development of the Sinsheimer Stift. Attempt to take stock of the past 30 years . In: Kraichgau. Local history research in the district of Sinsheim, taking into account its immediate neighboring areas . Episode 1, 1968, ed. from the local history working group in the district and from the district office Sinsheim, pp. 141-143.
  • Friedrich Bischoff: From the rescue facility to the state youth home Stift Sunnisheim . In: Kraichgau. Local history research in the district of Sinsheim, taking into account its immediate neighboring areas . Episode 2, 1970, ed. from the local history working group in the district and from the district office of Sinsheim, pp. 211–212.
  • Franz Gehrig : Seal of the Sunnisheim Abbey . In: Kraichgau. Contributions to landscape and local research . Episode 4, 1974/75, ed. from Heimatverein Kraichgau , pp. 198–201.
  • Josef Semmler: On the early history of the Sinsheim monastery . In: Kraichgau. Contributions to landscape and local research . Episode 6, 1979, ed. from Heimatverein Kraichgau, pp. 101–111.
  • Ludwig H. Hildebrandt and Nicolai Knauer: The early Romanesque monastery church in Sinsheim an der Elsenz, a previously overlooked rarity . In: Kraichgau. Contributions to landscape and local research . Episode 21, 2009, ed. from Heimatverein Kraichgau, pp. 139–165.
  • Folke Damminger: The archaeological excavations at the former collegiate church Sinsheim - a short preliminary report . In: Kraichgau. Contributions to landscape and local research . Episode 21, 2009, ed. from the Heimatverein Kraichgau, pp. 166–174.
  • District Office Rhein-Neckar-Kreis (publisher): Kulturzentrum Stiftskirche Sunnisheim , Heidelberg 2011.

Web links

Commons : Stift Sinsheim  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hildebrandt / Knauer 2009, p. 146.
  2. ↑ Damminger 2009, p. 167.
  3. ↑ Hildebrandt / Knauer 2009, pp. 146–148.
  4. ↑ Kulturzentrum Stiftskirche Sunnisheim 2011, p. 20.
  5. ^ R. Laun: Sinsheim . In: Dehio (Hrsg.): Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Baden Württemberg 1 , 1993, p. 720; Expert opinion from Burghard Lohrum from 1985.
  6. ↑ Hildebrandt / Knauer 2009, pp. 149/150.
  7. ↑ Hildebrandt / Knauer 2009, pp. 151–153.
  8. ↑ Wilhelmi 1851, pp. 83-85.
  9. ↑ Kulturzentrum Stiftskirche Sunnisheim 2011, p. 33.
  10. ^ Youth facility Stift Sunnisheim gGmbH
  11. ↑ Damminger 2009, pp. 167-174.
  12. ↑ New cultural center of the district inaugurated  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.rhein-neckar-kreis.de  
  13. ↑ Kulturzentrum Stiftskirche Sunnisheim 2011, pp. 9–18.

Coordinates: 49 ° 15 '22 "  N , 8 ° 52' 56"  E