Sonnefeld Abbey

Last updated
The abbey church, south side Klosterkirche-Sonnefeld.jpg
The abbey church, south side
North side Sonnefeld-Klosterkirche.jpg
North side
View from 1825 (drawing by Karl Koch) Sonnefeld Karl Koch.JPG
View from 1825 (drawing by Karl Koch)
Choir Kloster Sonnefeld 056.JPG
Choir

Sonnefeld Abbey (German : Kloster Sonnefeld; Latin : Campus Solis) is a former Cistercian nunnery in Sonnefeld in Bavaria, Germany. The former abbey church, or Klosterkirche, is now an Evangelical Lutheran parish church.

Contents

History

Foundation

The nunnery, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded in 1260 by Henry II von Sonneberg [1] and his wife Kunigunde. Initially it was located in Ebersdorf bei Coburg but after a fire in 1287 it was moved to Hofstädten, where the abbey with its surrounding settlement and district adopted the name "Sonnefeld". (In 1889 Sonnefeld and Hofstädten merged to become the present municipality of Sonnefeld). The landowner was the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg, Berthold of Leiningen, who was trying by means of the monastic foundation to stop the territorial advances of the Counts of Henneberg. The spiritual leader was the Bishop of Würzburg. The settlement was made by nuns from Maidbronn Abbey. The endowment included the nearby villages of Frohnlach and Ebersdorf. In 1262, the abbots of Ebrach and Bildhausen inspected progress and arranged for recognition by the Cistercian Order.

Development

The abbey gradually fell under the influence of the Hennebergs. Under Abbess Anna von Henneberg, who died in about 1363 and whose epitaph and funerary monument have been preserved, it saw a brief flourishing. The 14th century however also saw a decline. The number of nuns had risen beyond the economic limits of the nunnery and had to be restricted to 50. The provisions for the unmarried daughters and widows of nobles and wealthy townspeople soon became the focus of the life of the community. Private property became common, contrary to the rules of the order, while the number of lay servants decreased. Under Abbess Margaretha von Brandenstein (c. 14601503), the abbey saw a last short period of prosperity, because the abbess succeeded in paying off the nunnery's debts and began several construction projects. In 1504, most of the nuns turned against the next abbess, because she wanted to reintroduce claustration, supported by the abbot of Georgenthal Abbey, who was appointed Visitor and forced some of the nuns to be enclosed.

Possessions

Beginning with the former episcopal Bamberg estates of Sonnefeld, Frohnlach and Ebersdorf, the abbey increased its possessions with other properties from the bishopric of Bamberg, and the Benedictine Banz Abbey and Saalfeld Abbey. A papal letter of protection of 1291 named 34 localities. By the end of the Middle Ages the abbey had grown into one of the largest landowners in the Coburger Land. The property book or feodary of 1514 notes abbey properties in 77 locations. [2] An almost entirely enclosed lordship developed around Sonnefeld. There were also endowments from local noble families, especially the von Schaumbergs and the Marschälle von Kunstadt. From 1331 the abbey had a right of residence in a house in Bamberg and owned several houses in Coburg. Through Abbess Anna von Henneberg the abbey gained possession of vineyards in Nassach (Aidhausen) and in Nüdlingen.

Dissolution

In 1524, against the will of the last abbess, Margaretha von Zedtwitz, the nuns insisted on a Lutheran preacher. A year later, when the abbess died, the officials of John, Elector of Saxony, appointed an administrator over the abbey's property. Of the 14 nuns, five left for a life in the world; of those who remained, the last died in 1572. The abbey's territory passed into the hands of the rulers of Coburg. A few decades later, Anna of Saxony spent several years of her captivity in the former nunnery and after she died in 1613 was brought back here for burial in the church.

Abbesses

  1. Agnes, (presumably) von Sonneberg, 1264
  2. Irmengardis, (presumably) von Sonneberg, 1276
  3. Jutta von Meissen, 1287–1289
    Monument of Anna von Henneberg Kloster Sonnefeld 018.JPG
    Monument of Anna von Henneberg
  4. Elisabeth von Henneberg, 1296
  5. Mechtildis von Sonneberg from Lichtenfels, 1302–1303
  6. Jutta II von Henneberg-Coburg, 1304
  7. Agnes II, (presumably) von Sonneberg, 1305
  8. Mechtildis II from Lichtenfels, 1305
  9. Agnes III, (presumably) von Sonneberg, 1306 (possibly identical with Agnes II)
  10. Jutta III von Henneberg from Lusatia, 1306–1325
    Arms of Dorothea von Kemmaten on keystone Kloster Sonnefeld 045.JPG
    Arms of Dorothea von Kemmaten on keystone
  11. Sophia, 1328
  12. Margaretha, 1329–1334
  13. Ottilia, 1334
  14. Margaretha II Marschalk, 1335–1344
  15. Ottilia II Truchsess, 1345–1351
  16. Adelheidis Marschalk, 1354–1360
  17. Felicitas, 1362–1363
  18. Anna von Henneberg, died circa 1363 [3]
  19. Margaretha III von Heldritt, 1364–1375
  20. Elisabeth II von Lichtenstein, 1379–1386
  21. Anna Marschalk, 1390–1396
  22. Barbara von Smeheim, 1398
  23. Katharina von Füllbach, 1401–1406
  24. Dorothea von Gotlecher, 1408
  25. Katharina II von Füllbach, 1409–1419 (probably identical with Katharina I)
  26. Barbara II von Walsberg, 1425–1430
  27. Margaretha IV von Giech, 1433–1437
  28. Elisabeth III, 1441–1448
  29. Dorothea II von Kemmaten, 1454–1455 (her arms are on the keystone)
  30. Margaretha V von Brandenstein, 1462–1503
  31. Dorothea von Pfersfeld, 1503–1515
  32. Margaretha von Zedtwitz, died 1525 [4]

Buildings

The church was built, according to the custom of the Cistercians, with a ground-level vault next to the choir and nave, which supported the nuns' gallery ( Nonnenempore ). The choir area was the work of Heinrich Parler but its character was partially lost because of fires and renovations. Among other things, the roof turret, a Parler trademark, was removed. Only a few gravestones have survived from the time of the nunnery: the monuments of Abbess Anna von Henneberg and of knights of the von Schaumberg family. The abbey church became the parish church for the Protestants in 1540. The previous parish church is the present graveyard chapel.

In 1634 the abbey and church burned to the ground. In 1856, they were restored. Of the monastic buildings only a part of the east wing is preserved. A keystone in the arch bears the arms of Abbess Dorothea von Kemmaten (circa 1453). The remains of paintings from the second half of the 15th century can still be seen.

The entire monastery area consisted of several buildings, which were surrounded by a moat. The buildings, besides the residential ones, were used mostly for agriculture and administration, including a mill. The buildings also included a district office, a Fronfeste (fortified tower) and a school.

Notes and references

  1. Henry was also among the witnesses of the foundation of Himmelkron Abbey in 1279.
  2. Walter Lorenz: Campus Solis. Geschichte und Besitz der ehemaligen Zisterzienserinnenabtei Sonnefeld bei Coburg, p.159. Verlag Kallmünz, 1955
  3. not included by Wank because of lack of dates
  4. according to Wank, this was Margaretha VI von Brandenstein [1515–1531])

Literature

Coordinates: 50°13′18″N11°08′03″E / 50.22167°N 11.13417°E / 50.22167; 11.13417

Related Research Articles

Saxe-Coburg

Saxe-Coburg was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany.

Baindt Abbey

The Imperial Abbey of Baindt was a Cistercian nunnery in Baindt in the district of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Langheim Abbey

Langheim Abbey was a well-known Cistercian monastery in Klosterlangheim, part of the town of Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, in the Bishopric of Bamberg.

Sonnefeld Place in Bavaria, Germany

Sonnefeld is a municipality in the district of Coburg in Bavaria in Germany.

Göss Abbey

Göss Abbey is a former Benedictine nunnery and former Cathedral in Göss, now a part of Leoben in Styria, Austria. After the abbey's dissolution in 1782 the church, now a parish church, was the seat of the short-lived Bishopric of Leoben.

Heggbach Abbey

Heggbach Abbey was a Cistercian nunnery in Heggbach, now part of the municipality of Maselheim in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Niedermünster, Regensburg

The Niedermünster or Niedermünster Abbey, Regensburg, was a house of canonesses (Frauenstift) in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. At the height of its power it was one of the wealthiest and most influential in Bavaria. The church is still in use as the parish church of Regensburg Cathedral.

The Obermünster, or Obermünster Abbey, Regensburg, was a collegiate house of canonesses (Frauenstift) in Regensburg, Bavaria, second only to Niedermünster in wealth and power.

Wienhausen Abbey

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.

St. Clares Priory, Stockholm

St. Clare's Priory, Stockholm, was a Roman Catholic nunnery of the Poor Clares in Stockholm, Sweden that was active from 1289 to the Swedish Reformation in 1527.

Ebstorf Abbey is a Lutheran convent of nuns that is located near the Lower Saxon town of Uelzen, in Germany.

St. Marienthal Abbey

St. Marienthal Abbey is a Cistercian nunnery in Saxon Upper Lusatia. The abbey is the oldest nunnery of the Cistercian Order in Germany to have maintained unbroken occupation of its house since its foundation.

Henry II of Sonneberg was the descendant of the von Sonneberg family and the founder of the Sonnefeld Monastery.

Frohnlach Ortsteil of Ebersdorf bei Coburg in Bavaria, Germany

Frohnlach is located in Upper Franconia (Oberfranken) in the district of (Landkreis) Coburg. It is the easternmost part of the municipality (Gemeinde) of Ebersdorf bei Coburg and, with around 2,000 inhabitants, the largest district after Ebersdorf.

Von Pfersfeld family

The von Pfersfeld family, also known as Pfersfelder, was one of the oldest families of nobility in Franconia, Germany.

Rottenmünster Abbey, also the Imperial Nunnery of Rottenmünster, was a Cistercian abbey located near Rottweil in Baden-Württemberg. The self-ruling Imperial Abbey was secularized in the course of the German mediatization of 1802–1803 and its territory annexed to the Duchy of Württemberg. The monastery was closed in 1850. The buildings of the former abbey now house a hospital.

Günterstal Abbey

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.

Askeby Abbey

Askeby Abbey was a Cistercian nunnery in operation from the late 12th century until 1529. It was located in Askeby outside Linköping, Sweden.

Diederik III count of Limburg Hohenlimburg and Broich

Diederik III of Limburg Hohenlimburg, born around 1328, was the eldest son of Everhard II van Limburg Hohenlimburg and Juta of Sayn. His father Everhard died on 11 November 1344. Twenty years later he followed the 9th of August 1364 his grandfather Diederik II count of Limburg Hohenlimburg. In 1366 Diederik III became the Amtmann of Angermünde, the district between Duisburg and Düsseldorf. As the successor to lord Diederik III of Broich, who five years later would become his father-in-law. He also was Voght of the Rellinghausen Abbey. On 3 July 1371. Diederik married Ludgardis (Lukarda) daughter of Diederik of Broich and Katharina of Steinfurt. Lukarda was heiress of the Lordship Broich. At his wedding, he receives a dowry of 1,600 old gold shields.