Buxheim Charterhouse

Last updated
Imperial Charterhouse of Buxheim
Reichskartause Buxheim
1548–1802
Reichskartause Buxheim coat of arms.svg
Coat of arms
StatusImperial Abbey
CapitalBuxheim Charterhouse
GovernmentTheocracy
Historical era Middle Ages
 Charterhouse founded
10th century
 Donated to Carthusians
1402 1548
 Looted and abandoned
    during German
    Peasants' War


1524–25
 Occupied by Memmingen
    during Schmalkaldic War

1546–47
 Granted immediacy from
     Charles V at Augsburg

1548
1802
 Ostein inherited by
     Bassenheim

1809
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Wappen Memmingen.svg Memmingen
County of Ostein Wappen Ostein.svg
Today part of Germany

Buxheim Charterhouse (German : Reichskartause Buxheim) was formerly a monastery of the Carthusians (the largest charterhouse in Germany [1] ) and is now a monastery of the Salesians. It is situated in Buxheim near Memmingen in Bavaria.

Contents

History

The estate of Buxheim belonged from the mid-10th century to the chapter of Augsburg Cathedral, who in about 1100 founded a house of canons here, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. [1]

In 1402, after a long period of decline, in an extreme move to preserve it the then provost, Heinrich von Ellerbach, gave the establishment to the Carthusians, a move which proved extremely successful in reviving Buxheim both spiritually and economically. Its wealth however drew the hostile attentions of the nearby city of Memmingen, which occupied the monastery in 1546 during the Reformation, and impounded its property. Prior Dietrich Loher was able by skilful diplomacy to obtain the favour of Emperor Charles V, and in 1548 the monastery was declared reichsfrei , and thus independent of all territorial authority save that of the Emperor himself, under whose protection it stood; it was the only charterhouse (Reichskartause) in Germany ever to be granted that status. [1]

It was dissolved in the secularisation of 1802, when ownership passed first to the Counts of Ostein, who allowed the community to remain, and then in 1809 by inheritance to the Counts Waldbott von Bassenheim, who from 1812 used the premises as a castle. In 1916 the state took over the buildings, which in 1926 were acquired by the Salesians. [1]

Buildings

Parts of the monastery buildings were refurbished by Dominikus Zimmermann in the Rococo style: the monastic church, St. Anne's chapel in the cloisters, and also the nearby parish church. [1]

The Buxheim Carvings

A masterpiece of Baroque carving, the choir stalls in the chapel with their rich ornament and figurative decoration, known as the Buxheim Carvings, are still almost complete. Created between 1687 and 1691 by the Tyrolean sculptor and woodcarver Ignaz Waibl, they are of international significance. The carvings have a varied history. They were sold to a Governor of the Bank of England and subsequently installed in St. Saviour's Hospital, Osnaburgh Street, London, while it was run by the Community of the Epiphany, an order of Anglican nuns. The sisters later withdrew to Cornwall and their work was taken over by another Anglican order, the Community of the Presentation. In 1960 the sisters relocated to their other convent at Hythe, Kent, taking the carvings with them. The community dwindled in size and was forced to hand the hospital over to a charitable trust. The sisters decided to return the carvings to Buxheim, which finally took place in the early 1980s. The Reverend Mother of the Presentation Sisters attended a special repatriation ceremony, and was awarded the Freedom of the City of Buxheim, only the second person ever to receive that honour. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carthusians</span> Catholic Church religious order founded in 1084

The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians, are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the Statutes, and their life combines both eremitical and cenobitic monasticism. The motto of the Carthusians is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, Latin for 'The Cross is steady while the world turns'. The Carthusians retain a unique form of liturgy known as the Carthusian Rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choir (architecture)</span> Area of a church or cathedral

A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, so at right-angles to the seating for the congregation in the nave. Smaller medieval churches may not have a choir in the architectural sense at all, and they are often lacking in churches built by all denominations after the Protestant Reformation, though the Gothic Revival revived them as a distinct feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schussenried Abbey</span> German abbey

Schussenried Abbey is a former Catholic monastery in Bad Schussenried, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is famed for its Baroque library hall. The abbey was established in the 12th century by the Premonstratensian Order and made an Imperial Abbey in the 15th century. The monastery sustained immense damage in the Thirty Years' War. In the 18th century, the abbey began expansions in the Baroque style, but was unable to complete them. The abbey was secularized in 1803 and twice awarded during the process of German Mediatization, eventually becoming a possession of the Kingdom of Württemberg. Its second king, William I, opened a foundry on its grounds, which was followed by a nursing home. These ceased operation or moved out of the monastery in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Swabian Baroque Route</span>

The Upper Swabian Baroque Route is a tourist theme route through Upper Swabia, following the themes of "nature, culture, baroque". The route has a length of about 500 km. It was established in 1966, being one of the first theme routes in Germany. There is an extension to the route into Switzerland and Austria around Lake Constance.

Ursberg Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery, now a convent of the Franciscan St. Joseph's Congregation, situated in the small village of Ursberg in the district of Günzburg, Bavaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Baptist Zimmermann</span> German painter

Johann Baptist Zimmermann was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindau Abbey</span>

Lindau Abbey was a house of secular canonesses in Lindau on the Bodensee in Bavaria, Germany, which stands on an island in the lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaming Charterhouse</span> Former Carthusian monastery in Austria

Gaming Charterhouse is a former Carthusian monastery in Gaming near Scheibbs in the Mostviertel of Lower Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astheim Charterhouse</span>

Astheim Charterhouse, also known as Marienbrück Charterhouse, was a Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, in Astheim near Volkach in Kitzingen, Bavaria, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marienau Charterhouse</span> Monastery in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Marienau Charterhouse is a Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, the successor to the Maria Hain Charterhouse in Düsseldorf, located since 1964 in Marienau, a part of Bad Wurzach, district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg. It is the only extant Carthusian monastery in Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cologne Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery in Germany

Cologne Charterhouse was a Carthusian monastery or charterhouse established in the Severinsviertel district, in the present Altstadt-Süd, of Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1334, the monastery developed into the largest charterhouse in Germany until it was forcibly dissolved in 1794 by the invading French Revolutionary troops. The building complex was then neglected until World War II, when it was mostly destroyed. The present building complex is very largely a post-war reconstruction. Since 1928, the Carthusian church, dedicated to Saint Barbara, has belonged to the Protestant congregation of Cologne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignaz Waibl</span>

Ignaz Waibl otherwise Ignatzius Woibl or Waibel was an Austrian woodcarver. His carvings are among the most significant of the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Güterstein Charterhouse</span> Former Carthusian monastery in Germany

Güterstein Charterhouse was a Carthusian monastery in the Swabian Alb near Bad Urach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koblenz Charterhouse</span> Carthusian monastery in Germany

Koblenz Charterhouse was a Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It stood on the Beatusberg, a hill that forms the north-easterly tip of the Hunsrück overlooking the city. The site was first occupied by a Benedictine monastery, the Kloster St. Beatusberg, which was closed in 1315, when the monks were replaced by a community of Augustinian Canons until the Carthusians took over the site in 1331.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Ulrich (Amendingen)</span> St. Ulrich is a baroque church located in Amendingen

The Catholic parish church St. Ulrich is a Baroque church of the 18th century in Amendingen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buxheim choir stalls</span> High baroque choir stalls

The Buxheim choir stalls are high baroque choir stalls created by Ignaz Waibl between 1687 and 1691 in the monastery church of St. Maria in Buxheim in Upper Swabia. Following the dissolution of the charterhouse in the course of secularization, it came into the possession of the count in 1803. Count Hugo Waldbott von Bassenheim had it auctioned off in Munich in 1883. When the chair came under the hammer again in 1886, the director of the Bank of England bought it at auction and donated it to the Sisters of St. Saviour's Hospital in London, England, who took it with them when the hospital was moved to Hythe in the county of Kent. When the hospital in Kent was dissolved, the choir stalls were bought back by the county of Swabia in 1980 for 450,000 pounds sterling, which is roughly equivalent to a price of 1.05 million euros. It was extensively restored between 1980 and 1994 and has since been returned to its original location in the former charterhouse in Buxheim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fürstenzell Abbey</span> Cistercian Abbey in Fürstenzell

Fürstenzell Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in Fürstenzell, in Bavaria, in the diocese of Passau. It was a daughter monastery of the Aldersbach monastery from the filiation of the Morimond primary abbey - Ebrach monastery.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Klöster in Bayern: Buxheim
  2. See full history by Bruce Tait in Hythe Civic Society Newsletter, edition 153 (2010).

Further reading

47°59′58″N10°08′02″E / 47.99944°N 10.13389°E / 47.99944; 10.13389