Medingen Convent | |
---|---|
Medingen Convent St. Maurice | |
Coordinates: 53°05′26″N10°33′55″E / 53.090601°N 10.565176°E | |
Location | Medingen, Lower Saxony |
Country | Germany |
Denomination | Protestant Lutheran |
Previous denomination | Catholic |
Website | www |
History | |
Status | Convent |
Founded | 1241 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Medingen Abbey or Medingen Convent (German: Kloster Medingen) is a former Cistercian nunnery. Today it is a residence for women of the Protestant Lutheran faith (German: Damenstift ) near the Lower Saxon town of Bad Bevensen and is supervised by the Monastic Chamber of Hanover (Klosterkammer Hannover). The current director of the abbey (Äbtissin) is the art historian Dr Kristin Püttmann. [1]
A founding legend ascribes the convent's origins to a lay brother called Johannes; the convent's history from its founding to the election of abbess Margaretha Puffen was formerly depicted in a cycle of 15 painted wooden boards, that were destroyed in the fire of 1781; the only surviving copy is the affix in Johann Ludolf Lyßman's Historische Nachrichten (1772). [2] The legend has it that Johannes claimed divine guidance in his quest to build the new convent. The community was founded 1228 in Restorf am Höhbeck by Johannes and four nuns who joined him in Magdeburg, but the group did not stay there. For unknown reasons, they moved on to Plate near Lüchow and later Bohndorf, before they eventually settled in Altenmedingen, where the first buildings were consecrated on 24 August 1241. [3]
The military road passing through the convent yard presented an ever-present danger of attacks or arson, so the convent decided to move one last time, to the village of Zellensen, today's Medingen. The new church was consecrated on 24 August 1336. [4]
1479 saw the advent of the convent reforms under the influence of the devotio moderna . Many convents at that time did not follow the Cistercian rule very strictly; nuns were allowed to keep their belongings and keep in touch with their relatives once they joined the convent. The Cistercian order was re-established and the prioress Margarete Puffen was made an abbess in 1494. [5] After the reforms, a scriptorium became one of the focal points of the convent and to this day a large number of manuscripts found worldwide can be attributed to the sixteenth-century nuns of Medingen. Hymns (Leisen) noted down in these texts are still part of both Catholic and Protestant hymnbooks today, e.g. in the current German Protestant hymnal Evangelisches Gesangbuch EG 23 "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ", EG 100 "Wir wollen alle fröhlich sein" and EG 214 "Gott sei gelobet und gebenedeiet", even though they were wrongly dated to the 14th century by the music historian Walther Lipphardt. [6]
The Reformation attempted to be introduced in Medingen in 1524, was met with resistance from the nuns. They hid their confessor in the attic, publicly burned the Lutheran bible and almost faced the dissolution of the convent. In 1541, the Uelzen Landtag decided to ensure the economic security of Medingen and the five other convents nearby. This was in the nobility's interests, because their unmarried daughters could benefit from the livelihood and education befitting their status. In 1542, all of the convent's goods and earnings were confiscated and contact between the nuns and their family was prohibited. The abbess, Margareta von Stöterogge, did not give in to the demands of bringing all remaining property to Celle, but rather went to Hildesheim for two years, taking the convent's archive and valuables with her. It took her brother, Nikolaus von Stöterogge, to convince her finally to accept the communion under both forms. [7] Eventually, in 1554, the convent became Protestant and from then on, the Klosterordnung (convent order) was defined by the Landesherr or territorial lord. [8]
After the Reformation had been introduced, life changed drastically: The incumbents were now allowed to marry, but had to leave the convent when they did so. In 1605, they replaced the traditional Cistercian habit with an attire in accordance with the convent order introduced by Duke William in 1574. The Thirty Years' War left its mark on the convent and its surrounding area. A new convent order was introduced by Kurfürst (elector) George Louis in 1706. [9]
Most of the convent buildings were destroyed in a fire in January 1781, although valuable possessions like the archives and the abbesses' crosier from 1494 were able to be salvaged. The ruins were demolished in 1782 and the convent re-built in the early neoclassic style. Completed in 1788, the new buildings were consecrated on 24 August. [10]
Name | From | Until |
---|---|---|
Helmerich | 1236? | 1240 |
Nikolaus I | 1241 | 1249 |
Johannes | 1261 | 1261 |
Nikolaus II | 1261 | 1286 |
Hartwig von der Sülze | 1286 | 1306 |
Christian | 1306 | resigned 1326 |
Ludolf von Lüneburg | 1326 | 1355 |
Dietrich Bromes | 1355 | 1358 |
Dietrich von Langlingen | 1359 | 1370 |
Johannes Ostermann | 1370 | 1380 |
Dietrich Brand (von Melle?) | 1380 | 1396 |
Johannes Meyer | 1396 | 1416 |
Lüdiger Tolner | 1416 | resigned 1446 |
Ludolf Lützken | 1446 | 1464 |
Dr iur utr Johannes Mahler | 1464 | 1467 |
Tilemann von Bavenstedt | 1467 | 1494 |
Ulrich von Bülow | 1494 | 1516 |
Johann von Mahrenholtz | 1516 | 1516 |
Bruno von Alten | 1516 | 1518 |
Johann von Mahrenholtz | 1518 | 1529 |
Name | From | Until |
---|---|---|
Imma I | 1263 | 1284 |
Imma II | 1284 | 1315 |
Imma (Irmgard) III | 1315 | 1323 |
Imma IV Ruffen | 1323 | 1332 |
Wigburg | 1327 | 1327 |
Mechthild I von Meding | 1333 | 1343 |
Elisabeth I von Bernowe | 1344 | 1366 |
Alburg von dem Sande | 1368 | 1371 |
Elisabeth II | 1376 | 1379 |
Elisabeth III | 1379 | 1399 |
Druda von Dageförde | 1399 | 1428 |
Mechthild II Semmelbecker | 1428 | 1435 |
Caecilia von dem Berge | 1435 | 1445 |
Elisabeth IV Langendorf | 1445 | 1464 |
Mechthild III von Römstedt | 1464 | 1479 |
Margaretha I Puffen | 1479 | 1494, later abbess |
Name | From | Until | Denomination |
---|---|---|---|
Margaretha I Puffen | 1494, former prioress | 1513 | Catholic |
Elisabeth I von Elvern | 1513 | 1524 | Catholic |
Margaretha II Stöterogge | 1524 | 1567 | Catholic |
Getrud I von Töbing | 1567 | 1588 | Protestant Lutheran |
Elisabeth II von Töbing | 1588 | 1630 | Protestant Lutheran |
Anna I von Sarstedt | 1630 | 1635 | Protestant Lutheran |
Margaretha III von Dassel | 1636 | 1667 | Protestant Lutheran |
Margaretha IV von Dassel | 1667 | 1680 | Protestant Lutheran |
Catharina Prigge | 1681 | 1706 | Protestant Lutheran |
Clara Anna von Lüneburg | 1707 | 1719 | Protestant Lutheran |
Anna von Laffert | 1720 | 1721 | Protestant Lutheran |
Elisabeth Catharina von Stöterogge | 1722 | 1741 | Protestant Lutheran |
Sophia Catharina von Meiseburg | 1741 | 1750 | Protestant Lutheran |
Sibylla Hedewig von Laffert | 1751 | 1755 | Protestant Lutheran |
Margaretha Elisabeth von Braunschweig | 1755 | 1793 | Protestant Lutheran |
Luise Charlotta von Heimburg | 1793 | 1797 | Protestant Lutheran |
Sophie Eleonore von Töbing | 1798 | 1810 | Protestant Lutheran |
Rahel Charlotte von Töbing | 1810 | 1814 | Protestant Lutheran |
Luise Amalie von Wallmoden | 1814 | 1825 | Protestant Lutheran |
Auguste von Töbingen | 1826 | 1849 | Protestant Lutheran |
Ottilie von Brömbsen | 1850 | 1906 | Protestant Lutheran |
Auguste von Schmidt-Phiseldeck | 1907 | 1917 | Protestant Lutheran |
Emma von Laffert | 1917 | 1930 | Protestant Lutheran |
Luise von Brömbsen | 1931 | 1943 | Protestant Lutheran |
Ilse von Döring | 1944 | 1972 | Protestant Lutheran |
Helge von Bülow | 1972 | 1989 | Protestant Lutheran |
Gisela Rothbarth | 1989 | 1999 | Protestant Lutheran |
Monika von Kleist | 1999 | 2012 | Protestant Lutheran |
Dr. Kristin Püttmann | since 2012 | Protestant Lutheran |
A large number of medieval manuscripts were produced in Medingen, 44 of which have survived and are conserved all over the world. The nuns enhanced the liturgy written in Latin with Low German prayers and songs, producing unique compilations of illuminated texts that were important to them as well as the noblewomen in the surrounding areas. [12]
Furthermore, the brewery (German: Brauhaus), built in 1397, survived the fire of 1781 and can still be seen today. It attests to the fact that the convent was originally built in the Brick Gothic style. [13]
Margareta Ebner was a German professed religious from the Dominican Nuns. Ebner – from 1311 – experienced a series of spiritual visions in which Jesus Christ gave her messages which she recorded in letters and a journal at the behest of her spiritual director; she was ill for well over a decade as she experienced these visions. The backdrop of much of Ebner's religious life was the bitter fighting between Pope John XXII and Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Bavarian, in which she and her convent faithfully backed Louis.
Williram of Ebersberg was a Benedictine Abbot. He is best known for his 'Expositio in Cantica Canticorum', a complex commentary of the Song of Songs which includes an Old High German translation and a Latin verse paraphrase.
Baindt Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Baindt, was a Cistercian nunnery in Baindt in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Wienhausen Abbey or Convent near Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany, is a community of Evangelical Lutheran women, which until the Reformation was a Cistercian Catholic nunnery. The abbey owns significant artworks and artifacts, including a collection of tapestries and the earliest surviving example of a type of eyeglasses.
Ebstorf Abbey is a Lutheran convent of nuns that is located near the Lower Saxon town of Uelzen, in Germany.
Lüne Abbey is a former Benedictine nunnery in the Lower Saxon town of Lüneburg. Today it is a Protestant Lutheran convent and is managed by the Klosterkammer Hannover. The current abbess is Reinhild Freifrau von der Goltz.
"Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" is a Lutheran hymn, written by Martin Luther in 1524. It was first published in 1524 in the Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn. For centuries the chorale has been the prominent hymn (Hauptlied) for Christmas Day in German speaking Lutheranism, but has also been used in different translations internationally. It has appeared in hymnals of various denominations including the Catholic Church.
The Abbey of the Holy Cross in Rostock, Germany, was founded in the 13th century by Cistercian nuns. It is the only fully preserved abbey in the city. The complex includes the former abbey church which is used today as the University Church (Universitätskirche). The remaining former convent buildings house the Museum of Cultural History for the city of Rostock.
Agnes of Landsberg was a German noblewoman. She was the third child of Conrad II (1159–1210), Margrave of Lusatia, and his wife, Elisabeth, the daughter of Mieszko III the Old (1126–1202), Duke of Poland. She was a daughter-in-law of Henry the Lion.
Henrike Lähnemann is a German medievalist and holds the Chair of Medieval German, University of Oxford. She is a Fellow of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
The Birgittenkloster is a Bridgettine convent in Bremen, Germany, founded in October 2002. The first convent to be founded in Bremen since the Reformation, it has adopted an ecumenical role in line with the teachings of Saint Bridget.
The ceremonial Landesvater is a German college custom developed in the 18th century, where student caps are pierced with the blade of a sword, during the recital of a particular song. The song that accompanies this event is also called 'Landesvater'. The word Landesvater is also used as a name for the prime ministers of the individual German states, or Länder.
Himmelpforten Convent was founded as a monastery of nuns following the Cistercian Rule during the 13th century in Himmelpforten, in today's Lower Saxony, Germany. During the 16th century, it was converted into use as a Lutheran Damsels' Convent. The Himmelpforten Convent was founded before 1255 and finally dissolved in 1647. The convent complex was built between 1300 and 1330. After 1645 the buildings, including the abbey, increasingly decayed, until they were little by little demolished. The dilapidated abbey was demolished in 1737 and replaced by today's St. Mary's Church which partially covers the foundations of the former abbey.
Nigel Fenton Palmer FBA was a British Germanist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Oxford.
The Neuenwalde Convent is a Lutheran damsels' convent in Neuenwalde, a locality of Geestland, Lower Saxony, Germany.
The Holy Cross Church is the church of the Neuenwalde Convent. Convent and Holy Cross Church are owned by the Bremian Knighthood, based in Stade. However, church and parsonage, are used per usufruct by the Lutheran Neuenwalde Congregation in Neuenwalde, a locality of Geestland, Lower Saxony, Germany. Besides the Holy Cross Church, only used, the congregation uses and owns the chapel in Hymendorf.
Günterstal Abbey, earlier also Güntersthal Abbey, was a Cistercian nunnery that existed from 1221 to 1806 located in Günterstal, which today is a district in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
St. Michaelis is one of the main churches in Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. It was first an abbey church of the former monastery of Benedictines, built from 1376 in brick Gothic style. It became Lutheran during the Reformation. Johann Sebastian Bach was for two years a pupil at the school of St. Michaelis.
The Klosterkammer Hannover, based in Hanover, is a special authority within the scope of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. It administers former ecclesiastical, mediatized property and maintains churches and convents. In addition, as a foundation body (Stiftungsorgan), it administers four independent foundations under public law.