Wendelin Brotherhood Reilingen
The Wendelinsbruderschaft Reilingen or Reilinger Wendelinsbruderschaft from 1451 was a brotherhood in the municipality of Reilingen (today Rhein-Neckar-Kreis , Baden-Württemberg ).
As in many regions, St. Wendelin was venerated by the people in the Electoral Palatinate as a patron saint and popular saint. As a result, Wendelin brotherhoods emerged in many places in German-speaking countries . One of the oldest is the "Praiseworthy Brotherhood sant Wendels zu Reutlingen", the Reilinger Wendelinsbruderschaft from 1451 . One of the special features of this charitable association was the membership of the electoral family.
history
The history of the Wendelins Brotherhood is closely linked to the eventful history of Wersau Castle near Reilingen. The chapel in the castle area was consecrated to St. Wendelin; a patronage that later passed on to the local church.
Although the founding deed of June 10, 1451 is in the General State Archives in Karlsruhe , nothing is known about the following years. The actual goal of the Wendelins Brotherhood, its tasks and its position in society have not yet been adequately researched. It has been handed down that in this brotherhood, especially nobles and intellectual greats of their time met to be closer to God.
Local researchers and historians are certain that the Wendelins Brotherhood must have been one of the most important of its kind in the entire Electoral Palatinate. It is noticeable that the Reilinger Brotherhood alone included the entire Palatinate ruling house, but also many nobles from other rulers. "According to this, brother and sister who have fraternized into the laudable brotherhood of sant Wendels in Reutlingen ... the most serene, high-born prince and lord, mr. Pfaltzgraven Philippen, pfaltzgraven bey Reyn and Margret, Philip's wife ..." . Also listed are Count Palatine Ludwig and his wife Sybilla, as well as Count Palatine Elisabeth, Margravine of Baden, Amalia, Duchess in Bavaria, and Helena, Duchess of Meckelberg. This is followed by the names of the pastors "zu Lossen [Lußheim], hockenheym [Hockenheim], Rutlingen [Reilingen] and Ketsche [Ketsch]" . Six wealthy families from Hockenheim , three from Reilingen, three from Lußheim and one each from Insultheim and Bruchsal are listed among the 40 member names .
This entry is also the last in the previously known and evaluated archive material. From other sources we can only learn that "Jost messerschmiydt, pferrer zu hockenheym" had to read "an ied month eyn holy mess in the chapels in Wersau" for the Wendelin brotherhood . In the electoral family, these services were considered a mandatory and pilgrimage date and had to be attended by at least one family member. Later this obligation did not seem to have been taken so seriously, because a note reports that the "cellar [manager] zu Wersawe an herrrenstatt" had to attend the church services.
How long this brotherhood existed, what tasks and goals it had, and whether it was decisive for the traditions known since that time that the Reilingen Wendelinskirche was "eyn even important Wallfartskirch" has not yet been clarified.
Pilgrimage and pilgrimage
For more than 1000 years, Reilingen has been on four important road connections: the most significant of all is the historic Kaiserstraße Prague-Speyer-Aachen and the old trade route that followed the old Roman road from Heidelberg towards the south. In addition, there are the pilgrimage routes to the Apostle's grave in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain and the nearby Marian pilgrimage church (Waghäusel) .
A popular stage destination of the pilgrims was the chapel consecrated to St. Wendelin in the area of Wersau Castle, as well as the "miraculous Mother of God" in the old Georgskirche in neighboring Hockenheim (the Gothic statue of Mary is now in the chapel of St. Elisabeth's home for the elderly). To look after the large number of pilgrims, the Wendelins Brotherhood was brought into being. In this context, not only the pilgrims to Reilingen, Hockenheim and Waghäusel are noted, but also the "huge pilgrims from Wisseloch on their way to Speir" who move from afar to the grave of St. James in Santiago de Compostela . In the meantime it is also known that sick pilgrims were cared for and looked after at "Rutling in the Gutleuthaus" . As far as we know, the nearest manor houses were in Heidelberg , Mosbach and Speyer .
regional customs
In memory of the pilgrimages to Reilingen - St. Wendelin was very popular as the patron saint of shepherds, farmers, day laborers and farm workers, especially among the rural population - every year on the first Sunday after Wendelin's Day (October 20th) the patrician of the Catholic parish church takes place at the same time the Wendelin festival of the community was celebrated. In memory of the work of the popular saint and the associated horse and animal pilgrimage to the former Wendelinus chapel in the area of the former Wersau Castle, the popular Wendelin ride takes place. Traditionally, regional riders and carriage drivers take part in this procession through town and field. In front of today's Wendelinskirche, animals and people are blessed after a festive service.
literature
- Otmar Geiger: 500 years of the parish of St. Wendelin . Festschrift, Primo-Verlag, St. Leon-Rot 1998.
- Otmar Geiger: various specialist articles / essays on the Wendelin Brotherhood and its history. In: Schwetzinger Zeitung. Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung and various weekly and official newspapers (1982–2014).
- Otmar Geiger: 725 years of Reilingen - memories of the festival year 2011 . Community of Reilingen, Reilingen 2012.
- Hermann Krämer: History of Reilingen and Wersau . Self-published, Reilingen 1912.
- Ulrich Mehlhaus: The Reilinger Finding Aid. Evidence of written sources on the history of Reilingen (with Wersau), Rhein-Neckar-Kreis . Friends of Reilingen History, Reilingen 1992.
- Bernhard Schmehrer: 700 years of Reilingen. Chronicle of a community in North Baden . Reilingen community, Reilingen 1986.