Alpirsbach Abbey

Alpirsbach Abbey (Kloster Alpirsbach) is a former monastery and seminary located at Alpirsbach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Alpirsbach Abbey
Kloster Alpirsbach
Map location and basic information
General information
LocationAlpirsbach, Germany
Coordinates48°20′46″N 8°24′15″E
OwnerBaden-Württemberg
Website
www.kloster-alpirsbach.de/en/home

The monastery was established in the late 11th century by the donation of land by three Counts to the Benedictine Order. It enjoyed considerable freedoms for an ecclesiastical property at that time, but would in the 13th century become a de facto possession of the Dukes of Teck and then the County of Württemberg. In the 15th century, the monastery enjoyed economic prosperity and it physically expanded the monastery. In the 16th century, however, it was dissolved with the conversion of the by-then Duchy of Württemberg to Lutheranism. The monastery became a seminary and boarding school until the 17th century, after which it began a decline. Alpirsbach Monastery was physically reduced over the 19th century by land sales and demolition.

History

Early in 1095,[1] three noblemen – Adalbert, Count of Zollern, Alwik, Count of Sulz, and Ruotmann von Neckarhausen[2] – donated about 50 square kilometers (19 sq mi) of property to the Order of Saint Benedict.[1][3] The site was forested and mountainous, and remote, only accessible from nearby towns by the Kinzig and Kleine Kinzig rivers. This isolated locale, Alpirsbach, was inspired by the Hirsau Reform,[2] which sought to free the Church from the control of the nobility.[1] The monastery's founders, its first abbot, Uto, who had expanded the monasteries at Wiblingen, Ochsenhausen, and Göttweig, and the Bishop of Constance, Gebhard (III) of Constance, all supported Pope Gregory VII against Emperor Henry IV in the Investiture Controversy. The monastery was settled by monks from Sankt Blasien Abbey in the Black Forest, another reform monastery, and its church was consecrated in 1099 by Bishop Gebhard. The abbey received Papal protection in 1101, and in 1123 Emperor Henry V confirmed its right to choose its own abbot and vogt. They chose the Count of Zollern and, in spite of Papal and Imperial guarantee, the title of vogt would become hereditary. It passed from the Counts of Zollern to the Dukes of Teck, who held it in the 13th and 14th centuries, and then finally to the Counts of Württemberg.[3]

The founders also endowed Alpirsbach Abbey with a number of pfleghofe in villages in the Baar, along the Neckar. Count Adalbert joined the monastery around 1100 and donated more property to it in the wine-growing Breisgau region. The protection of the County and later Duchy of Württemberg allowed the monastery to prosper.[3] It entered an economic boom in the 15th century,[2] a period marked by monastic reform that Alpirsbach's monks, who were mostly local nobility, tried to resist. In 1479, Hieronymous Hulzing was elected as abbot of Alpirsbach and began a series of construction projects, but also joined the Bursfelde Congregation, a coalition of reformist Benedictine monasteries.[3]

Early modern period

In 1556, Duke Christoph dissolved Alpirsbach and the other 12 remaining monasteries in Württemberg.[4] Their grounds were reused for Protestant seminaries and boarding schools.[1] The Alpirsbach seminary lasted from 1556 to 1595 and taught around 200 students.[3]

Modern period
Alpirsbach Abbey from the north, 1881

In the 19th century, much of the monastery's grounds were sold and the buildings on those lands demolished. Construction of a railroad between 1882 and 1886, and a road south of the monastery,[5] resulted in the loss of its medieval defenses.[2]

In 1958, a collection of 15th and 16th century clothes, papers, and material refuse was found in the walls of the cloister. Among the items was a pair of men's pants, 17 leather shoes, and shirts consist with the attire of the seminary students. These items have all been dated to the 15th and 16th centuries[6] and are now housed in the monastery museum.[7]

Architecture

Alpirbach Abbey's plan was informed by Benedictine custom and follows after that of Cluny Abbey. Much of the monastery was constructed between 1125 and 1133 in the Romanesque style,[8] with additions were made between 1480 and 1494 in the Gothic style.[2] The cloister is attached to the south side of the abbey church and it is lined with the monks' living spaces. To the southeast of the abbey were offices, barns, an infirmary, and a bathhouse.[5] No major alterations or additions were made to the monastery during period of the Renaissance, though Renaissance-influenced murals are present in the dormitories.[9] Following the demolitions of the 19th century, the only surviving portion of the monastery's defenses is the vogt's tower house.[2]

Abbey church
Tympanum above the door into the abbey church

The abbey church is a three-aisled, Romanesque basilica on a cruciform plan,[8] dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and consecrated in May 1128 by Bishop Ulrich II of Constance.[3] It is entered from the narthex, which is called "the Paradise" and once contained a small chapel, at the west end. The tympanum above the narthex entrance,[8] carved around 1150, shows Jesus Christ at its center, seated on a throne and wreathed in a mandorla and flanked by two angels. Two kneeling humans appear at the ends of the image;[3] Adalbert von Zollern is the male figure. Inside the church, the bases and capitals of its columns are images of the Last Judgment. During its monastic existence, the abbey church was richly decorated wall hangings, frescoes, furniture, and icons. Of this inventory,[8] only some 13th century frescoes of the Crucifixion and the Last Judgement in the choir niches,[3] stained glass, some choir pews, and the Late Gothic altar remain. The rood screen that divided the choir monks from the lay brothers has also been removed.[8] From 1878 to 1891, the interior of the abbey church was repainted with stenciled imitation medieval designs.[5] These were removed during a restoration of the church to its original appearance in the 1960s.[9]

Altar of St. Mary

The choir stalls, reduced in number and size since the Middle Ages, are presently on the second floor of the cloister's south wing. They have two rows, though 19th century photographs taken when the stalls were still in the abbey church show three. Paint is still present on the ornamental canopies of the back row, and the cheeks at either end of the stalls have carved images of Saints Vitus and Jerome. A signature on the stalls states that they were completed by an "H.M.", likely a Swabian master craftsman, on St. Martin's Day, 1493.[10]

On display in the northern transept is the Altar of St. Mary, originally one of eight altars in the abbey church. The altar is a Late Gothic winged altar that was produced between 1520 and 1525 by the Ulm workshop of the Swabian master woodcarver Niklaus Weckmann. When opened, it displays the life of Mary through the paintings of the Annunciation on the left and the Visitation on the right, and the Coronation of the Virgin in the central carved image. When closed, two images from the Passion of Jesus, the Flagellation and the Crowning with Thorns, are visible. The paintings were made in brown with white highlighting. Their author is unknown, but Weckmann historically worked with some of Ulm's most famous artisans.[11]

Attached to the north side of the facade, flanking the choir, is the bell tower, 43.5 meters (143 ft) tall. The tower, stylistically similar to those of abbeys in Lorraine, originally stood at parity with the roof of the abbey church. In the mid-12th century, shortly after the completion of the church, another story was added to the tower, built of ornamental ashlar that also corresponds to Upper Rhenish Romanesque masonry. Another two stories, and a buttress at the base of the tower, were added in the 15th century, but were plain in make so as to not contrast with the rest of the tower. The Gothic belfry has been dated to around 1360, meaning bells were hung in the tower from at least that date. The final story was added in the 1550s and clad in the Renaissance style with a stepped gable roof.[12]

Cloister and dormitory

The south and east wings of the cloister contained the chapter house, common areas, living quarters, kitchen, and refectory. The west wing was the residence of the abbot and was faced out and was where visitors to the monastery were received. Beneath the wings is an undercroft, where stores were kept.[5]

Museum

The Monastery Museum displays items from the monastery's thousand-year existence. Much of its collection comes from the 1958 find, of apparel, letters and ledgers of paper or parchment, tiles, bricks, and gaming paraphernalia. These items are on display in the "Monks and Scholars" exhibition, located in the abbot's residence.[7] Of particular note are a pair of pants made of linen and prominently featuring a codpiece that has been dated to between 1500 to 1520. They are one of the only surviving pieces of common attire from the 16th century.[6]

See also

Citations
  1. Alpirsbach Monastery: Milestones.
  2. Alpirsbach Monastery: Monastery.
  3. Klöster in Baden-Württemberg: Alpirsbach.
  4. Alpirsbach Monastery: Alpirsbach Monastery.
  5. Alpirsbach Monastery: Buildings.
  6. Alpirsbach Monastery: Clothing.
  7. Alpirsbach Monastery: Museum.
  8. Alpirsbach Monastery: Church.
  9. Alpirsbach Monastery: History of Design.
  10. Alpirsbach Monastery: Choir Stalls.
  11. Alpirsbach Monastery: St. Mary's Altar.
  12. Alpirsbach Monastery: Bell Tower.

References
  • "Alpirsbach Monastery". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Monastery". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Buildings". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Monastery Church". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Cloistered Conclave". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Dormitory". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Bell Tower". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Choir Stalls". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "The Altar of St. Mary". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "Milestones". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  • "History of Design". Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
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