Kreuzlingen Abbey
Encyclopedia
Kreuzlingen Abbey in Kreuzlingen
in Switzerland
, on the border with Germany
, was founded in about 1125 by Ulrich I of Dillingen, Bishop of Constance, as a house of Augustinian Canons. In 1848 the government of the Canton of Thurgau dissolved the monastery and took over its property. The former abbey church of Saint Ulrich
and Saint Afra
, decorated in the Baroque
style, is noteworthy.
, Bishop of Constance from 935 to 976, brought back from Jerusalem a fragment of the True Cross
, which he presented to the hospital he had founded in the suburb of Stadelhofen and from which it took the name of "Crucelin" which later became Crucelingen / Kreuzlingen. In 1093 this hospital was burnt down during hostilities between the Bishop of Constance and the Abbot of St. Gall
.
, and in 1145 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
took the monastery under their protection. Kreuzlingen became an Imperial abbey. The abbots, now Imperial prelates, were territorial lords of the small lordship of Hirschlatt north of Friedrichshafen
, and this was also their place of refuge in times of war.
The first monastery, as the result of the construction of the town wall intended to protect Stadelhofen from Appenzell
, stood outside the suburb.
At the time of the Council of Constance
(1414-1418) the abbot of Kreuzlingen gave shelter from 27 to 28 October 1414 to the later deposed Pope John XXIII
, who in return granted the abbot the right to use the pontificalia.
After the Swabian War
, in the Peace of Basle of 15 October 1499 the Duke of Milan ceded the sovereignty of Thurgau
to the Swiss. This so angered the inhabitants of Constance that they burned down the abbey of Kreuzlingen. The city was compelled to rebuild the abbey, and on 17 April 1509 Abbot Peter I von Babenberg (1498-1545) was able to rededicate the new church.
During the Thirty Years' War
, despite the neutrality of the Swiss, an army entered Thurgau
via Stein am Rhein
, advanced on Kreuzlingen and besieged Constance unsuccessfully, losing several thousand men. When on 2 October the troops left Kreuzlingen, the people of Constance destroyed the abbey a second time. It was now decided that the monastery should not be rebuilt right up against the walls of Constance, but should be removed from it by not less than the distance of a cannon shot.
It was constructed according to plans by Michael Beer of Vorarlberg
, the founder of the Auer Zunft between 1650 and 1653, by the master builder of Constance, Stephan Gunertsreiner, and the mason Melchior Gruber. The Chapel of the Mount of Olives
was constructed in 1760, and four years later the church and parts of the monastery were remodelled in the Rococo
style.
The ceiling paintings by Franz Ludwig Herrmann show scenes from the monastic life of Saint Augustine of Hippo
. The magnificent choir screen was made in 1737 by Johann Jakob Hoffner. The statues, larger than life-size, of Saints Ulrich and Afra were carved by Hans Christoph Schenk. Of particular interest is the Chapel of the Mount of Olives with a crucifix and a Calvary
. The ceiling painting shows Moses
with the brazen serpent and is also by Franz Ludwig Herrmann (1761). The representation of the Mount of Olives
, made out of beechwood by Innozenz Beck, contains about 250 original statuettes, about 30 centimetres high, carved of Swiss stone pine wood ("Arvenholz") in about 1720-1730 somewhere in the south-eastern Alpine region.
Kreuzlingen
Kreuzlingen is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in north-eastern Switzerland. It is the seat of the district and is the second largest city of the canton, after Frauenfeld, with a population of over 18,000...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, on the border with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, was founded in about 1125 by Ulrich I of Dillingen, Bishop of Constance, as a house of Augustinian Canons. In 1848 the government of the Canton of Thurgau dissolved the monastery and took over its property. The former abbey church of Saint Ulrich
Ulrich of Augsburg
Saint Ulrich , sometimes spelled Uodalric or Odalrici, was Bishop of Augsburg and a leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany. He was the first saint to be canonized.-Family:...
and Saint Afra
Saint Afra
Saint Afra was a Christian martyr. Her actual existence is not mentioned until the 5th century martyrologies, giving her dubious historicity.-Biography:...
, decorated in the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style, is noteworthy.
Before the foundation
Saint ConradConrad of Constance
-Life:Conrad was a member of the powerful Welf family, son of Count Heinrich of Altdorf. After an education at the cathedral school in Constance, he became provost of Constance Cathedral and in 934 was made Bishop of Constance....
, Bishop of Constance from 935 to 976, brought back from Jerusalem a fragment of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
, which he presented to the hospital he had founded in the suburb of Stadelhofen and from which it took the name of "Crucelin" which later became Crucelingen / Kreuzlingen. In 1093 this hospital was burnt down during hostilities between the Bishop of Constance and the Abbot of St. Gall
Abbey of St. Gall
The Abbey of Saint Gall is a religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in present-day Switzerland. The Carolingian-era Abbey has existed since 719 and became an independent principality during the 13th century, and was for many centuries one of the chief Benedictine abbeys in Europe. It was...
.
Foundation
Ulrich I, bishop of Constance from 1111 to 1127, restored the derelict hospital of Kreuzlingen in about 1125 by founding, on the eastern edge of the suburb of Stadelhofen, a house of Augustinian Canons (indeed, one of the earliest) dedicated to Saints Ulrich and Afra.The first and second buildings
In 1144 Pope Lucius IIPope Lucius II
Pope Lucius II , born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was pope from March 9, 1144, until his death Feb 15, 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated with the Commune of Rome, and its attempts to wrest control of the city from the papacy.-Early life:Gherardo Caccianemici...
, and in 1145 Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
took the monastery under their protection. Kreuzlingen became an Imperial abbey. The abbots, now Imperial prelates, were territorial lords of the small lordship of Hirschlatt north of Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen
This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
, and this was also their place of refuge in times of war.
The first monastery, as the result of the construction of the town wall intended to protect Stadelhofen from Appenzell
Appenzell
Appenzell is a region and historical canton in the northeast of Switzerland, entirely surrounded by the Canton of St. Gallen....
, stood outside the suburb.
At the time of the Council of Constance
Council of Constance
The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...
(1414-1418) the abbot of Kreuzlingen gave shelter from 27 to 28 October 1414 to the later deposed Pope John XXIII
Antipope John XXIII
Baldassarre Cossa was Pope John XXIII during the Western Schism. The Catholic Church regards him as an antipope.-Biography:...
, who in return granted the abbot the right to use the pontificalia.
After the Swabian War
Swabian War
The Swabian War of 1499 was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of Habsburg...
, in the Peace of Basle of 15 October 1499 the Duke of Milan ceded the sovereignty of Thurgau
Thurgau
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-History:...
to the Swiss. This so angered the inhabitants of Constance that they burned down the abbey of Kreuzlingen. The city was compelled to rebuild the abbey, and on 17 April 1509 Abbot Peter I von Babenberg (1498-1545) was able to rededicate the new church.
During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, despite the neutrality of the Swiss, an army entered Thurgau
Thurgau
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population, , is . In 2007, there were a total of 47,390 who were resident foreigners. The capital is Frauenfeld.-History:...
via Stein am Rhein
Stein am Rhein
Stein am Rhein is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.The town has a well-preserved medieval centre, retaining the ancient street plan. The site of the city wall, and the city gates are preserved, though the former city wall now consists of houses...
, advanced on Kreuzlingen and besieged Constance unsuccessfully, losing several thousand men. When on 2 October the troops left Kreuzlingen, the people of Constance destroyed the abbey a second time. It was now decided that the monastery should not be rebuilt right up against the walls of Constance, but should be removed from it by not less than the distance of a cannon shot.
The third building 1760-1848
On 4 July 1650 the foundation stone of the new premises was laid and on 25 October 1653 the church of Saints Ulrich and Afra was dedicated.It was constructed according to plans by Michael Beer of Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...
, the founder of the Auer Zunft between 1650 and 1653, by the master builder of Constance, Stephan Gunertsreiner, and the mason Melchior Gruber. The Chapel of the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
was constructed in 1760, and four years later the church and parts of the monastery were remodelled in the Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
style.
Dissolution
The monastery was severely restricted from 1798 by the cantonal government, and despite considerable resourcefulness in developing new educational functions in order to remain in existence, was eventually dissolved in 1848 by the Canton of Thurgau. Some of the buildings, including the library wing and the Lady Chapel with the crypt, were demolished. The remaining buildings were designated for use by the canton's teacher training college. The church was preserved for the use of the town and is now a basilica minor.Church
In the early 1960s, the church was totally renovated. Shortly afterwards, on the night of 19-20 July 1963, as a result of welding work in the roof of the seminary, the entire building burnt down. The fire did not claim the external walls, the choir screen, the choir ceiling and the choir stalls, or the greater part of the wooden figures in the Chapel of the Mount of Olives. Thanks however to the enormous contributions of the conservator Albert Knoepfli and the deacon Alfons Gmür the church was rebuilt under the direction of Hans Burkard by 1967.The ceiling paintings by Franz Ludwig Herrmann show scenes from the monastic life of Saint Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
. The magnificent choir screen was made in 1737 by Johann Jakob Hoffner. The statues, larger than life-size, of Saints Ulrich and Afra were carved by Hans Christoph Schenk. Of particular interest is the Chapel of the Mount of Olives with a crucifix and a Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
. The ceiling painting shows Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
with the brazen serpent and is also by Franz Ludwig Herrmann (1761). The representation of the Mount of Olives
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem with three peaks running from north to south. The highest, at-Tur, rises to 818 meters . It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes...
, made out of beechwood by Innozenz Beck, contains about 250 original statuettes, about 30 centimetres high, carved of Swiss stone pine wood ("Arvenholz") in about 1720-1730 somewhere in the south-eastern Alpine region.