Cistercian monastery Saarn

Mariensaal Monastery
location	Saarn
Coordinates:	51 ° 24 '10.6 "  N , 6 ° 52' 53.9"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 24 '10.6 "  N , 6 ° 52' 53.9"  E
founding year	around 1200
Cistercian since	1214
Year of dissolution / annulment	1808
Mother monastery	Kamp Monastery
Daughter monasteries	Eppinghoven Monastery Duissern Monastery

West side of the monastery building

Monastery church from the southwest

The monastery Saarn is a former Cistercian - Abbey in Mülheim an der Ruhr in the district Saarn , right on the Bundesstraße 1 . The well-preserved and restored monastery complex has components from the 13th to the 19th century.

history

The monastery in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period

According to archaeological findings, the monastery was founded around 1200. No sources have come down to us about the exact reason for the foundation. Saarn Monastery was founded as the Mariensaal Monastery ( Aula sanctae Mariae ), probably in 1214, together with the later Eppinghoven monastery near Kaarst , which was later also known as the Mariensaal . In the first two decades both convents were under the direction of the common abbess Wolberna and were incorporated into the Cistercian order in 1216 and placed under the supervision of the abbot of the Kamp monastery, who also had to ensure spiritual care. In 1237 the property ownership of Saarn and Eppinghoven was divided.

In a second founding phase, Archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne (ruled 1220–1225) was the key to his political activities as Archbishop, Duke of Berg and at the same time imperial administrator and educator of the underage King Henry VII (ruled 1220–1235) are to be mentioned: Promotion of reform orders (here: Cistercians), defection , defense against competing sovereigns - pay attention to Saarn Monastery.

In 1223 the monastery was given extensive privileges by Pope Honorius III. and the empire . Honorius confirmed Saarn's religious privilege and granted papal protection. The life of the nuns and the existence of the monastery were thus placed on a new, permanent legal and material basis. His protégé Heinrich - presumably at Engelbert's instigation - was honored by the nuns as "fundator" (founder) in their book of memories.

In the 15th and 17th centuries there was a tendency to transform the monastery into a women's monastery .

secularization

Saarn Monastery was abolished in 1808 by the French government of the Grand Duchy of Berg in the course of the secularization of church property.

Soon afterwards, Sylvester Trenelle built the Royal Prussian Rifle Factory on the property, and the Royal Prussian license was granted to him on January 6, 1815. In Hattingen, a forge hammer and the boring mills were used to manufacture the gun barrels. In 1840 the contract with Trenelle was terminated and the works continued under state supervision because they were not satisfied with the quality. In 1862 production was relocated from Saarn and Hattingen to the new Royal Prussian rifle factory in Erfurt .

During the construction of Reichsstrasse 1 (today Bundesstrasse 1 ), which runs right next to the monastery, some farm buildings were demolished. The city of Mülheim an der Ruhr took over the monastery in 1936 and had apartments for older citizens furnished there.

Todays use

Organ in the monastery church

During the years 1979–1989 the remaining monastery complex was restored as a monument ; it is used today as a meeting place with a citizens' hall, cafeteria and assembly room. Worth mentioning are the large parish library and the monastery museum, which opened in October 2008, with finds from excavations between 1979 and 1989, which illustrate monastery life and settlement in the area over 1200 years. Since autumn 2010 the monastery museum has been supplemented by a monastery / herb garden.

In the monastery church there are regularly demanding religious concerts (series "Music in Saarn Monastery", which also includes the annual Saar Organ Days).

The Church and Parish of St. Mary of the Assumption are organized by members of the Oblate Order of St. Franz von Sales looks after.

Today the Saarn Abbey is part of the Route of Industrial Culture (Theme Route 12 - History and Present of the Ruhr ).

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  The Saar Monastery Church in 1892

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  Ground plan of the monastery church before the expansion

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  Monastery church, construction seam between the medieval west side and the extension

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  Portal of the monastery church

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  Altar area of ​​the monastery church

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  View of the interior of the monastery church

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  Cloister

Abbesses

literature

• Hans Fischer: The Cistercian monastery in Saarn , Mülheim ad Ruhr 1981.
• Leo Werry, Margot Klütsch u. Hans Fischer: Saarn Monastery, art and cult objects from the monastery church , exhibition catalog, Mülheim ad Ruhr 1983.
• Kurt Ortmanns: The former Saarn Cistercian Abbey in Mülheim an der Ruhr . Rheinische Kunststätten, issue 280. Cologne 1983.
• Günter von Roden: The Cistercian convents Sarn, Duissern, Sterkrade (Germania Sacra NF 18. The dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Cologne. The archbishopric of Cologne 4), Berlin-New York 1984.
• Kurt Ortmanns: Saarn Monastery: Building history 1214–1979 . Edited by MüGa Landesgartenschau 1992 GmbH. Special print from the publication “KLOSTER SAARN”. Edition Werry, Mülheim an der Ruhr 1992.
• Ralf Lommerzheim: Mariensaal in Saarn. Unearthed history: The history of the Cistercian monastery in Mülheim an der Ruhr based on the findings of archaeological research with contributions from CB Oesterwind on everyday life in medieval monasteries, Mülheim an der Ruhr 1998.
• Rolf-Achim Mostert: "Mr. Henricus has become the foundation of our church and has done us well". - A contribution to the founding history of the Saarn Cistercian monastery in Mülheim an der Ruhr. In: Romerike Berge 55, 2005 / H. 3, pp. 2-14.
• Nicola Antonia Peczynsky: The Cistercian monastery Mariensaal in Mülheim-Saarn . In: Witnesses of the city's history - architectural monuments and historical places in Mülheim an der Ruhr. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2008.
• Kurt Ortmanns: Parish Church of St. Maria Himmelfahrt, Mülheim-Saarn . In: Heinz Dohmen (ed.): Image of the sky. 1000 years of church building in the diocese of Essen . Verlag Hoppe and Werry, Mülheim an der Ruhr 1977, pp. 50-53.
• Kurt Ortmanns: On the foundation of the Cistercian abbeys Aula sanctae Mariae in (Mülheim) -Saarn and (Neuss) -Eppinghoven 800 years ago. In: Düsseldorfer Jahrbuch 2015, Volume 85, pp. 121–166.
• Dietmar Ahlemann: The Huckingen property of Saarn Monastery: Halmeshof, Müllers- / Moersgut u. a. In: Bürgererverein Duisburg-Huckingen e. V. (Ed.): Huckinger Heimatbuch. History. Volume IV (History of the Huckinger Höfe), Duisburg 2019, pp. 84–119.

See also

• List of Cistercian monasteries

Web links

Commons : Saarn Cistercian Monastery  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description of the monastery of the city of Mülheim an der Ruhr
• Meeting place / cultural establishment
• Description of all locations on this themed route as part of the Route of Industrial Culture
• Website of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales
• Museum in Saarn Monastery

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See the history of Saarn Monastery on the Monastery Museum website, visited on October 10, 2012.