Walterich

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Walterich , also Walderich (Old High German for the rich ruler , * 8th century ; † November 29, 840 or November 29, 842 ) was a Benedictine and is proven to be the co-founder and first abbot of the Murrhardt Benedictine monastery .

Live and act

origin

Walterich came from the Franconian noble family of the Waltriche , who as illegitimate descendants of Karl Martell were closely related to the Carolingians . In addition, there are indications that Walterich himself was an illegitimate son of Charlemagne - this is what the St. Gallen Book of Fraternities calls a Waltarih and the Book of Fraternities of the St. Peter monastery in Salzburg calls a Uualtrih among the sons of the emperor. No sources are available on Walterich's childhood and youth, and the year and place of birth are also unknown.

Abbot in the Neustadt am Main monastery

After the death of the founder of the monastery, Megingaud , Walterich was elected second abbot of the Neustadt am Main monastery in September 794 and was appointed to his office in the presence of King Charlemagne, who had made Neustadt the center of the Sachsenmission since 775. As early as 796, Walterich was no longer mentioned in a document as Abbot of Neustadt. Research generally sees the reason for this in a deep rift between Karl and Walterich over the Saxon War ; As a result, Walterich was deposed as abbot and no longer held any higher clerical offices during Karl's lifetime. Until the founding of the Murrhardt Monastery, its historical trace is lost. On the other hand, there is reason to assume that Walterich was deposed because of his participation in the uprising of the East Franconian Count Hardrad against Charlemagne - the lack of mention of Walterich in historical sources in the following years could be attributed to a banishment to the imperial monastery Lérins (Lirinum) Explain Cannes.

Founding of the Murrhardt Monastery

Even before the actual Murrhardt Monastery was founded, there was a monk's hermitage there, the origin of which was a gift from Pippin the Younger around 752/754. Since the existing monastic community was apparently no longer functional, Walterich asked Charles' son and successor, Ludwig the Pious, for permission to build a Benedictine monastery in Murrhardt in 814 ; The emperor agreed to this, founded a monastery and also provided material support for the establishment, as evidenced by a document from Ludwig from 817. With twelve monks who had come from Reichenau Monastery and the abbot Walterich appointed by Ludwig, Murrhardt Monastery began operations in 816/817.

Support for the politics of Louis the Pious and Death

Walterich can be seen around the emperor together with contemporaries such as Hrabanus Maurus , Walahfrid Strabo and Benedikt von Aniane and thus the Carolingian church reform. Due to the close family connection with the emperor, presumably as Ludwig's half-brother, Walterich was certainly the focus of politics of his time. It is certain that Walterich implemented the resolutions of the Aachen synods of 816 and 817 in the Murrhardt monastery; Probably there is also an embassy to Pope Stephan IV on behalf of Ludwig in preparation for the imperial coronation. After the defeat of the emperor on the Colmarer Lügenfeld in 833 against his sons, Ludwig sought refuge with Walterich in Murrhardt - according to a Murrhardt legend. In fact, after the defeat of Colmar, the emperor's travel route coincides with the old Roman road through the Murrtal, which leads past Murrhardt, and the fact that the Murrhardt monastery was the place of his heart burial after the death of Emperor Ludwig (840) indicate that Ludwig found refuge and support from Walterich. Not long after the death of Ludwig the Pious, Walterich died on November 29, 840 or 842 and was buried in the grave he built himself in the Murrhardt monastery.

Adoration

Walterich was revered as holy in the late Middle Ages to this day. Emperor Friedrich II had the Walterich Chapel built at the monastery church in Murrhardt around 1225 . At the instigation of the monastery bailiff, Count Berthold von Wolfsölden, Walterich was beatified in 1226; Murrhardt is still a pilgrimage destination on Good Fridays today. "The most important Murrhardter" (Dr. Rolf Schweizer) was never canonized, that is, canonized, but the vernacular has always spoken of "Sankt Walterich" and revered him as such. After the Reformation, the tradition was also cultivated by Protestant Christians to this day. The goal is not only the grave of Walterich, which is regarded as a “holy grave”, but also the “Mount of Olives”, a carved altar ( triptych ) from 1512.

Others

  • Walterich legend, poems by Justinus Kerner and Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling (Clara)
  • Grave with several historical names, found in 1963 in St. Walterichskirche (Cichy excavation)
  • He is a patron saint of the paralyzed, frail and mentally ill (Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints).
  • His grave was covered by a large Roman tombstone with the following inscription: Obiit Waltericus abbas huius monasterii - in tertia calend: decembris nostris temporibus - huius corpus hic iam est sepultus ( Walterich died as abbot of this monastery three days before December 1st of ours Time - his body is already laid to rest here )

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wagner, Heinrich: The privilege of the Murrhardt monastery by Ludwig the Pious. German Archive for Research into the Middle Ages / Journal Volume (2001), pp. 421–450
  2. ↑ Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints
  3. ^ City of Murrhardt
predecessor Office successor
--- Abbot of Murrhardt
817-840 		Engelbert
personal data
SURNAME Walterich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder and first abbot of the Murrhardt Benedictine monastery
DATE OF BIRTH 8th century
DATE OF DEATH November 29, 840 or November 29, 842