Niedermünster, Regensburg
Encyclopedia
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
, was a house of canonesses (Frauenstift) in Regensburg, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, 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...
. At the height of its power was one of the wealthiest and most influential in Bavaria. The church is still in use as the parish church of Regensburg Cathedral
Regensburg Cathedral
The Regensburg Cathedral , dedicated to St Peter, is the most important church and landmark of the city Regensburg, Germany. It is the seat of the Catholic diocese of Regensburg...
.
History
This women's religious community, dedicated to Saint Erhard of Regensburg at its founding and later to the Assumption of the Virgin MaryAssumption of the Virgin Mary
Many significant works of art depict the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. They include:* Assumption of the Virgin by Francesco Botticini* Assumption of the Virgin by Titian* Assumption of the Virgin by Antonio da Correggio...
as well, was recorded for the first time in about 889. However, the first church, if the traditional foundation by the seventh-century Saint Erhard is credited, would have already existed by about 700, and a religious community had been founded by 788
788
Year 788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 788 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Charlemagne conquers Bavaria.* Bermudo I...
by Tassilo III, Duke of Bavaria. The foundation tradition also credits Saint Erhard with the foundation of a nunnery here. It is not clear in fact whether at first the community was for men or for women, but it soon developed into one of the most important women's religious houses in Germany.
The church was entirely rebuilt on a grand scale by Henry I, Duke of Bavaria
Henry I, Duke of Bavaria
Henry I was Duke of Bavaria.He was the second son of the German King Henry the Fowler and his wife Matilda. He attempted a revolt against his older brother Otto I in 938 in alliance with Eberhard of Franconia and Giselbert of Lorraine, believing he had a claim on the throne. In 939 he was defeated...
, in about 950. Henry was buried here and his widow Judith
Judith of Bavaria
Judith , was Duchess of Bavaria. She was the eldest daughter of Arnulf the Bad of Bavaria and Judith of Sülichgau....
, who by virtue of her and her husband's generous endowment of the community, is counted as the founder, took the veil here, became abbess and was herself buried here in 990.
This close connection with the ruling and Imperial Ottonian house made Niedermünster powerful and wealthy. The treasures of Niedermünster include the Rule of about 990 and the Uta Codex or Evangeliary of about 1025 with its casket of chased gold, commissined by an abbess of Niedermünster and containing an illumination showing Saint Erhard presiding at Mass. There is also the magnificent cross given by Queen Gisela
Giselle of Bavaria
Blessed Gisela of Hungary was the first queen of Hungary.- Biography :Gisela was a daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria and Gisela of Burgundy....
, daughter of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
Henry II , called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, in German Heinrich der Zänker, was the son of Henry I and Judith of Bavaria.- Biography :...
, and wife of King Stephen I of Hungary, for the tomb of her mother, Duchess Gisela of Bavaria
Gisela of Burgundy
Gisela, Princess of Burgundy was the daughter of Conrad the Peaceful, King of Burgundy and Adelaide of Bellay, Conrad's second wife whom he probably married for love, as he had already produced an heir by his first, more dynastic, marriage and was thus free to wed as he pleased...
, who was buried here in 1006.
In 1002 Emperor Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
, son of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, granted the community Reichsfreiheit
Reichsfreiheit
Imperial immediacy was a privileged feudal and political status, which the estates of the realm such as an imperial city, a religious entity, a feudal principality, or a minor lordship could attain within the Holy Roman Empire...
(territorial and judicial independence of all save the Emperor) and it became an Imperial abbey, or Reichsstift.
Emperor Henry II later favoured his own foundation of Bamberg Cathedral
Bamberg Cathedral
The Bamberg Cathedral is a church in Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bamberg....
over Niedermünster, which accordingly lost prominence and influence.
The present Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
church was constructed after a fire in 1152 destroyed the previous one. The crypt of Saint Erhard remains from earlier buildings, however.
In the 17th and 18th centuries the church was modernised, although very modestly, and fitted out with some important works of art, including a monumental bronze crucifix and a sorrowing Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples, and the most important woman disciple in the movement of Jesus. Jesus cleansed her of "seven demons", conventionally interpreted as referring to complex illnesses...
by Georg Petel
Georg Petel
Georg Petel was a sculptor of the Early Baroque period and a European ivory carver. He was born in 1601/02 in Weilheim around forty kilometres south-west of Munich, the son of Clement Petle , a cabinetmaker...
. The silver shrine of the relics of Saint Erhard dates from the 19th century.
The community was dissolved in 1803 during the secularisation of Bavaria
German Mediatisation
The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....
. From 1820 the premises were partly rented out. In 1821 the Bishop of Regensburg was given rooms here for his residence, and the episcopal offices were also transferred here. Also in 1821 the former canonry church took over from St. Ulrich's the role of cathedral parish church.
During excavations the foundations of Roman military buildings and predecessors of the church were uncovered. These may be seen only on guided tours, but it is planned to make these unique and well-preserved discoveries more accessible to the public.
Burials in Niedermünster include:
- Saint Erhard
- Blessed Albert of Cashel
- Henry I, Duke of BavariaHenry I, Duke of BavariaHenry I was Duke of Bavaria.He was the second son of the German King Henry the Fowler and his wife Matilda. He attempted a revolt against his older brother Otto I in 938 in alliance with Eberhard of Franconia and Giselbert of Lorraine, believing he had a claim on the throne. In 939 he was defeated...
, his wife Judith of BavariaJudith of BavariaJudith , was Duchess of Bavaria. She was the eldest daughter of Arnulf the Bad of Bavaria and Judith of Sülichgau....
and their daughter-in-law Gisela of BurgundyGisela of BurgundyGisela, Princess of Burgundy was the daughter of Conrad the Peaceful, King of Burgundy and Adelaide of Bellay, Conrad's second wife whom he probably married for love, as he had already produced an heir by his first, more dynastic, marriage and was thus free to wed as he pleased...
, wife of Henry II, Duke of BavariaHenry II, Duke of BavariaHenry II , called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, in German Heinrich der Zänker, was the son of Henry I and Judith of Bavaria.- Biography :...
Abbesses of Niedermünster
- Wildrade von Lernberg 900-928
- Tutta I von Reidenburg 928-942
- Himetrade von Hohenburg 942 – before 974
- Judith of BavariaJudith of BavariaJudith , was Duchess of Bavaria. She was the eldest daughter of Arnulf the Bad of Bavaria and Judith of Sülichgau....
974-990 - Richenza I von Limburg 990-994
- Kunigunde I von Kirchberg 994-1002
- Uda I von Kirchberg 1002-1025
- Heilka I von Rothenburg 1025-1052
- Gertrud I von Hals 1052-1065
- Mathilde I von Luppurg 1065-1070
- Heilka II von Franken 1070-1089
- Uda II von Marburg 1089-1103
- Richenza II von Zolling 1103-1109
- Mathilde II von Kirchberg 1109-1116
- Richenza III von Abensberg 1116-1126
- Richenza IV von Dornburg 1126-1130
- Heilka III von Kirchberg 1130-1136
- Kunigunde II von Kirchberg 1136-1177
- Tutta II von Falkenstein 1177-1180
- Adelheid I von Wolffershausen 1180-1190
- Bertha von Frontenhausen 1190-1197
- Heilka IV von Rotheneck 1197-1218
- Heilka V von Wittelsbach 1218-1224
- Frideruna von Falkenstein 1224-1229
- Mathilde III von Henffenfeld 1229-1239
- Tutta III von Dalmässing 1239-1242
- Irmgard I von Scheyern 1242-1245
- Hildegard von Kirchberg 1245-1249
- Kunigunde III von Stein 1249-1257
- Kühnheit Pinzingerin 1257-1259 ?
- Wilburg von Lobsingen 1259 ?-1261
- Tutta IV von Putingen 1261-1264
- Gertrud II. von Stein 1264-1271
- Wilburg von Lobsingen 1271-1273 (again)
- Elisabeth I Stauffin von Stauffenburg 1273-1276
- Hedwig Kropflin 1276-1285
- Kunigunde IV Hainkhoverin 1285-1300
- Adelheid II von Treidenberg 1300-1304
- Irmgard II von Köfering 1304-1314
- Euphemia von Winzer 1314-1333
- Elisabeth II von Eschen 1333-1340
- Petrissa von Weidenberg 1340-1353
- Margarethe I Gösslin von Altenburg 1353-1361
- Margarethe II Pinzingerin 1361-1365
- Elisabeth III von Rhein 1365-1391
- Sophia von Daching 1391-1410
- Katharina I von Egloffstein 1410-1413
- Barbara I Höfferin 1413-1417
- Herzenleid von Wildenwarth 1417-1422
- Anna I von Streitberg 1422-1427
- Beatrix von Rotheneck 1427
- Osanna von Streitberg 1427-1444
- Ursula von Tauffkirchen-Hohenrain und Höchlenbach 1444-1448
- Ottilia von Abensberg 1448-1475 mit
- Margarethe III von Paulstorff 1469-1475
- Agnes von Rothafft 1475-1520
- Barbara II von Aham 1520-1569
- Anna II von Kirmbreith 1569-1598
- Katharina II Scheifflin 1598-1605
- Eva von Uhrhausen 1605-1616
- Anna Maria von Salis 1616-1652
- Maria Margarethe von Sigertshofen 1652-1675
- Maria Theresia von Muggenthal 1675-1693
- Regina Recordin von Rein und Hamberg 1693-1697
- Johanna Franziska Sibylla von Muggenthal 1697-1723
- Maria Katharina Helena von Aham-Neuhaus 1723-1757
- Anna Katharina von Dücker-Hasslen-Urstein-Winkel 1757-1768
- Anna Febronia Elisabeth von Speth-Zwyfalten 1769-1789
- Maria Franziska Xaveria von Königfeld 1789-1793
- Maria Violanta von Lerchenfeld-Premberg 1793-1801
- Maria Helena von Freien-Seiboltsdorf 1801-1803
See also
- Obermünster, RegensburgObermünster, RegensburgThe Obermünster, or Obermünster Abbey, Regensburg, was a collegiate house of canonesses in Regensburg, Bavaria, second only to Niedermünster in wealth and power.- History :...