Former Cistercian monastery in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Ruins of Eldena Abbey in spring
Ruine Eldena
by
Caspar David Friedrich
(1825)
Eldena Abbey
(
German
:
Kloster Eldena
), originally
Hilda Abbey
(
German
:
Kloster Hilda
) is a former
Cistercian
monastery near the present town of
Greifswald
in
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
,
Germany
. Only ruins survive, which are well known as a frequent subject of
Caspar David Friedrich
's paintings, including the famous
Abtei im Eichwald
("Abbey in the Oak Forest").
History
[
edit
]
Monastery
[
edit
]
In the 12th century the
Baltic
coast south of the island of
Rugen
belonged to the
Rani
principality of Rugen
, which in its turn was subject to the
Danes
. The Danish Cistercian monastery,
Esrum Abbey
, was thus able to found a daughter house in the area,
Dargun Abbey
, at
Dargun
, west of
Demmin
, in 1172. When in 1198 this monastery was destroyed in fighting between Denmark and
Brandenburg
,
Jaromar I
, Prince of the Rani, whose wife was of the Danish royal house, offered to re-settle the monks at a new site at the mouth of the River
Ryck
, close to the boundary between the territory of the Princes of Rugen, and the
County of Gutzkow
,
[1]
since the early 1120s subordinate to the
Duchy of Pomerania
.
The offer of the site, which included profitable
salt pans
,
[1]
was accepted, and in 1199 Hilda Abbey, now Eldena Abbey,
[2]
was founded,
[1]
and confirmed by
Pope Innocent III
in 1204.
[3]
The princes of Rugen further endowed the new monastery with extensive lands in the border country between the Rugen-owned territories of
Gristow
and
Wostrose
(
Wusterhusen
), the area of
Lositz
(
Loitz
) which was debated between Rugen and
Mecklenburg
, and the
County of Gutzkow
.
The monastery became wealthy from the salt trade and was very influential in the Christianisation of
Western Pomerania
. It also brought about the foundation at the beginning of the 13th century of the town of Greifswald, which started out as the monastery's trading settlement opposite the salt pans, near the point where the
via regia
, an important trade route, crossed the river. After the
Battle of Bornhoved
in 1227 the Danes withdrew from this part of their former territories, and despite some competition from the princes of Rugen, the
Duke of Pomerania
,
Wartislaw III
, was able in 1248/49 to press the abbey into subinfeudating Greifswald to him. Wartislaw was later buried in Eldena Abbey, as were later members of the ducal family, the
House of Pomerania
.
Memorial plaque recording the burials at Eldena Abbey of
Wartislaw III
and later members of the
ducal family
Throughout the 13th century, Eldena Abbey organized the cultivation and settlement of its growing estates in the
Ostsiedlung
process, allocating and founding
Wendish
,
Danish
and
German
villages.
[4]
In the growing town of
Greifswald
however, the
Cistercians
of Eldena lost much of their influence the foundation in the town in the mid-13th century of friaries of the
Franciscans
(Greyfriars) and the
Dominicans
(Blackfriars).
The east end of the abbey church was built in about 1200, while the conventual buildings date from the mid-13th and 14th centuries, all in
Brick Gothic
. The final stages of construction were the west front and the nave of the church, which were completed in the 15th century.
Dissolution and later history
[
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]
The abbey was dissolved in 1535, when the
Reformation
was introduced into Pomerania by Duke
Philip I
, who took over its estates. The buildings were severely damaged during the
Thirty Years' War
. In 1634 the site was given to the
University of Greifswald
. The buildings fell derelict during the
Swedish occupation of western Pomerania
(1648?1815), and bricks were taken away to build fortifications.
Caspar David Friedrich:
Abtei im Eichwald
(1809-10), based on the ruins of Eldena Abbey
By the beginning of the 19th century, when the
Romantic
painter Caspar David Friedrich knew the abbey, it was a ruin, which he made the subject of several paintings. Renewed public interest led to the beginning of restoration work in 1828, and on the basis of designs by the
Prussian
landscape gardener
Peter Joseph Lenne
a park was laid out on the abbey precinct.
In 1926-1927, scientific excavations were carried out in order to reconstruct the exact layout of the site. In the 1960s further work was carried out to make the site suitable for use for public and cultural events. Still more works were authorised from 1996 onwards jointly by both the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments (
Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege
) and the town of Greifswald, which eventually led to the declaration of the ruins as a cultural site of the
Pomerania Euroregion
.
List of abbots
[
edit
]
- Liwinius 1193?1207
- Sueno I 1207?1215
- Johannes I 1234?1241
- Andreas 1241
- Sueno II 1249?1254
- Christian 1256
- Reginarus 1265
- Rudolf 1270?1274
- Johannes II 1275?1290
- Hermann I 1293
- Nikolaus I Witte 1294?1295
- Heinrich I 1297?1303
- Jakob Stumpel 1304?1306
- Heinrich II 1306?1309
- Robert 1319
- Johannes III of Hagen c. 1325
- Arnold of Lubeck c. 1329
- Gerhard I 1335
- Heinrich III 1337
- Gerhard II 1341
- Martin 1347?1367
- Johannes IV Rotermund 1369
- Johannes V 1369?1388
- Johannes VI 1392?1415
- Nikolaus II 1415?1434
- Hartwich 1436?1447
- Everhard 1448?1452
- Sabellus Crugher 1455?1456
- Theodorich 1458
- Hermann II 1459?1470
- Johannes VII 1470?1473
- Nikolaus III 1473-1486
- Gregorius Groper 1486?1490
- Lambert von Werle 1490?1499
- Matthias 1499?1510
- Enwaldus Schinkel 1510?1535
-
Eldena Abbey ruins...
-
...in the autumn...
-
...and in the winter
-
Gravestone in Eldena
Notes
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
Christian Lubke,
Struktur und Wandel im Fruh- und Hochmittelalter: eine Bestandsaufnahme aktueller Forschungen zur Germania Slavica
, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998, p.305,
ISBN
3-515-07114-8
- ^
"Hilda" was the original name of the locality now known as Eldena, and now part of Greifswald, to which the monastery was very close
- ^
the foundation legend, based on the apparent meaning of the name "Greifswald" ("griffin's wood"), was that the monks were shown the site of the monastery by a griffin living in a tree growing in the future high street of Greifswald
- ^
Christian Lubke,
Struktur und Wandel im Fruh- und Hochmittelalter: eine Bestandsaufnahme aktueller Forschungen zur Germania Slavica
, Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998, pp. 308?310,
ISBN
3-515-07114-8
Sources and external links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Geographic
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54°05′21″N
13°27′08″E
/
54.0892°N 13.45222°E
/
54.0892; 13.45222