Gandersheim Abbey

Gandersheim Abbey ("Stift Gandersheim") is a former house of secular canonesses ("Frauenstift") in the present Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 852 by Liudolf, Duke of Saxony, founder of the dynasty of the Liudolfings. He obtained permission and the relics of former popes and saints Anastasius and Innocent [father and son] from Pope Sergius II during a pilgrimage to Rome in 846. The community was at first settled in Brunshausen until the completion of the church in Gandersheim. It was a proprietary foundation of the Liudolfing family, whose rich endowments ensured its stability and prosperity.

The "Imperial free secular foundation of Gandersheim" ("Kaiserlich freie weltliche Reichsstift Gandersheim"), as it was officially known from the 13th century to its dissolution in 1810, was a community of the unmarried daughters of the high nobility, leading a godly life but not under monastic vows, which is the meaning of the word "secular" in the title.

Church

In the collegiate church the original Romanesque church building is still visible, with Gothic extensions. It is a cruciform basilica with two towers on the westwork, consisting of a flat-roofed nave and two vaulted side-aisles. The transept has a square crossing with more or less square arms, with a square choir to the east. Beneath the crossing choir is a hall-crypt. The westwork consist of two towers and a connecting two-storey block; it originally had in addition a projecting entrance hall, also on two storeys, the "paradise". The present church building, which has been subject to restoration in the 19th and 20th centuries, was begun in about 1100 and dedicated in 1168. Remains of the previous building are incorporated into the present structure.

History

Foundation

In 852 Gandersheim Abbey was founded by Liudolf of Saxony, first of the Liudolfings and founder of the Ottonian dynasty, and his wife Oda, who obtained the permission of Pope Sergius II for the new establishment and also the relics of the sainted popes Anastasius I and Innocent I, who are still the patron saints of the abbey church.

The community settled first at Brunshausen. The first abbess was Hathumod, a daughter of Liudolf, as were the two succeeding abbesses. In 856 construction began on the church at Gandersheim and in 881 Bishop Wigbert dedicated it to the Saints Anastasius, Innocent and John the Baptist, after which the community moved in.

Already in 877 King Louis the Younger placed the abbey under the protection of the Empire, which gave it extensive independence. In 919 King Henry I granted it "Reichsunmittelbarkeit". The close connection to the Empire meant that the abbey was obliged to provide accommodation to the German kings on their travels, and numerous royal visits are recorded.

Middle Ages

The establishment of the abbey by the founder of the Liudolfingers gave it especial importance during the Ottonian period. Until the foundation of Quedlinburg Abbey in 936, Gandersheim was among the most important Ottonian family institutions, and its church was one of the Ottonian burial places.

The canonesses, commonly known as "Stiftsdamen", were allowed private property and as they had taken no vows, were free at any time to leave the abbey. The Ottonian and Salian kings and their entourages often stayed in Gandersheim, and the canonesses were by no means remote from the world. Apart from the memorial masses for the founding family, one of the main duties of the canonesses was the education of the daughters of the nobility (who were not obliged to become canonesses themselves).

One of the abbey's best-known canonesses was Roswitha of Gandersheim, famous as the first female German language poet. During a period of approximately 20 years - from about 950 to 970 or so - she wrote historical poetry, spiritual pieces and dramas, and the "Gesta Ottonis", expressing her veneration of Otto I.

In the Great Gandersheim Conflict, as it is called, originating from the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries, the Bishop of Hildesheim asserted claims over the abbey and its estates, which were located in an area where the boundaries between the Bishopric of Hildesheim and the Archbishop of Mainz were unclear. The pressure from Hildesheim moved the abbey increasingly into the sphere of Mainz. The situation was only eventually resolved by a privilege of Pope Innocent III of 22 June 1206 freeing the abbey once and or all from all claims of Hildesheim, and granting the abbesses the title of Imperial princesses ("Reichsfürstinnen").

With the death of the last Salian king in 1125 the importance of the abbey began to diminish and it came more and more under the influence of the local teritorial rulers. The Welfs in particular attempted until the dissolution of the abbey to gain control over it. The abbey were not able to establish their own territorial lordship. No later than the mid-1270s, the Dukes of Brunswick succeeded in obtaining the "Vogtei" of the abbey and in the late 13th century built a castle in Gandersheim. Another way to gain influence over the abbey was to place relatives in the abbess's chair. This took the Dukes of Braunschweig-Lüneburg rather longer to achieve, but they were at last successful in 1402 with the election of their first family abbess, Sophia III, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Lüneburg.

Reformation

The Reformation was first introduced into the Principality of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel in 1542 when troops of the Schmalkaldic League occupied it. The Reformers ignored the abbey's "Reichsunmittelbarkeit" and ordained the use of Lutheran church services, the introduction of which however the canonesses were able to postpone on account of the absence of the prioress ("Dekanin") who was governing the abbey on behalf of the seven-year-old abbess. The townspeople of Gandersheim had received the Reformation enthusiastically and on 13 July 1543 undertook an iconoclastic attack on the abbey church, where they destroyed images and altars. Henry V, changed his mind however and the principality changed back to Roman Catholicism. He made good at least some of the damages, and the church was re-dedicated.

In 1568 the Reformation was finally implemented under Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The abbey and its dependencies at Brunshausen and Clus became Lutheran, and the "Marienkloster" and the Franciscan friary were suppressed. A period now began of conflict between the abbess and the duke as both tried to extend their spheres of influence, a conflict which was not settled until 1593, when a treaty finally settled the points of disagreement.

Baroque

Under the abbesses Henriette Christine zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and Elisabeth Ernestine von Sachsen-Meiningen there began a new golden age of the abbey. The abbesses promoted arts and sciences. Elisabeth Ernestine Antonie had the summer castle at Brunhausen built, as well as the Baroque wing of the abbey with the Kaisers' Hall ("Kaisersaal"), and refurbished the church.

Dissolution

In 1802, faced with imminent secularisation, the abbey surrendered their "Reichsunmittelbarkeit" to the sovereignty of the Dukes of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, thus ending the centuries-long struggle with the Welfs.

During the French occupation Gandersheim belonged to the Kingdom of Westphalia. The abbess, who had fled, was permitted by Napoleon to return to the abbey and to live there until her death on 10 March 1810, after which there were no further elections for a successor. The abbey was dissolved, its assets were taken by the Westphalian crown and the remaining occupants pensioned off.

Even after the end of the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1813 the Duchy of Brunswick did not restore the abbey.

Burials

* Liudolf, Duke of Saxony
* Otto I, Duke of Saxony

Present

The abbey is now used by the Evangelical-Lutheran parochial group of St. Anastasius and St. Innocent. During restoration works in 1997 there came to light some of the old church treasure: relics, textiles and reliquaries. These have been on display since March 2006.

List of abbesses

* Hathumod 852-874
* Gerberga I 874-896/7
* Christina I 896/7-919
* Liudgard I 919-923
* Hrotsuit (Rotsuita) 923-933
* Wendelgard (Windilgardis, Wildigrat) 933-949
* Gerberga II 949-1001
* Sophia I 1001-1039
* Adelheid I 1039-1043
* Beatrix I 1044-1061
* Adelheid II 1061-1096
* Adelheid III 1096-1104
* Frederun (Vrederun) 1104-1111
* Agnes I 1111-1125
* Bertha I 1126-1130
* Liutgard II 1130/31-1152
* Adelheid IV (von Sommerschenburg) 1152/53-1184
* Adelheid V (von Hessen) 1184-1196
* Mechthild I (von Wohldenberg) 1196-1223
* Bertha II 1223-1252
* Margarete I (von Plesse) 1253-1305
* Mechthild II (von Wohldenberg) 1305-1316
* Sophia II (von Büren) 1317-1331
* Jutta (Judith) (von Schwalenberg) 1331-1357
* Ermegardis (von Schwalenberg) 1357-1358
* Lutgard III (von Hammerstein) 1359-1402
* Sophia III. Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Lüneburg 1402-1412
* Agnes II, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Grubenhagen 1412-1439
* Elisabeth von Dorstadt 1439
* |Elisabeth (Ilse), Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Grubenhagen 1439-1452
* Sophia IV, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Grubenhagen (1452)1467-1485
* Walburg (von Spiegelberg), rival abbess 1452-1467
* Agnes III, Prinzessin von Anhalt 1485-1504
* Gertrud, Gräfin von Regenstein und Blankenburg 1504-1531
* Katharina, Gräfin von Hohenstein, rival abbess 1504-1536
* Maria, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1532-1539
* Clara, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1539-1547
* Magdalena von Chlum 1547-1577
* Margareta von Chlum 1577-1589
* Elisabeth, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, rival abbess 1577-1582
* Margarete von Warberg, rival abbess 1582-1587
* Anna Erica (Erich), Gräfin zu Waldeck 1589-1611
* Dorothea Augusta, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1611-1626
* Catharina Elisabeth, Gräfin zu Oldenburg und Delmenhorst 1626-1649
* Maria Sabina, Gräfin zu Solms 1650-1665
* Dorothea Hedwig, Prinzessin zu Schleswig-Holstein 1665-1678
* Christine Sophie, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1678-1681
* Christina II, Prinzessin zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1681-1693
* Henriette Christine, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1693-1712
* Marie Elisabeth, Prinzessin zu Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1712-1713
* Elisabeth Ernestine Antonie, Prinzessin zu Sachsen-Meiningen 1713-1766
* Therese Natalie, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1767-1778
* Auguste Dorothea, Prinzessin zu Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1778-1810 [Martin Hoernes/Hedwig Röckelein (eds.): "Gandersheim und Essen. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu sächsischen Frauenstiften" (Essener Forschungen zum Frauenstift, Band 4), Essen 2006]

Notes

References

* Goetting, Hans, 1973: "Das reichsunmittelbare Kanonissenstift Gandersheim". In Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte (ed.): "Germania sacra: historisch-statistische Beschreibung der Kirche des Alten Reiches". Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-004219-3
* Hoernes, Martin, and Röckelein, Hedwig (eds.), 2006: "Gandersheim und Essen. Vergleichende Untersuchungen zu sächsischen Frauenstiften". In: "Essener Forschungen zum Frauenstift" (vol. 4). Essen: Klartext Verlag. ISBN 3-89861-510-3
* "Portal zur Geschichte: Schätze neu entdecken! Auswahlkatalog" (ed. Martin Hoernes and Thomas Labusiak). Delmenhorst 2007
* Wäß, Helga, 2006: "Form und Wahrnehmung mitteldeutscher Gedächtnisskulptur im 14. Jahrhundert. Katalog ausgewählter Objekte vom Hohen Mittelalter bis zum Anfang des 15. Jahrhunderts" (vol. 2, pp. 222 f). Bristol/Berlin: Tenea. ISBN 3-86504-159-0
* Friedrich, Ernst Andreas, 1989: "Wenn Steine reden könnten." Hanover: Landbuch-Verlag. ISBN 3-7842-0397-3

External links

* [http://www.portal-zur-geschichte.de Gandersheim Abbey church: permanent exhibition] de icon
* [http://www.bad-gandersheim.de Bad Gandersheim official website] de icon