Appingen Abbey (german: Kloster Appingen) is a former

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the parish of

Greetsiel Greetsiel is a small port on the bight of Leybucht in western East Frisia, Germany that was first documented in letters from the year 1388. Since 1972, Greetsiel has been part of the municipality of Krummhörn, which has its administrative seat in ...

, which is dedicated to Saint Mary. It was named after the village of the same name.

History

The monastery was founded in 1437 by the chieftain family of Cirksena. They gave the old parish church of Appingen to the Carmelite order. Originally the family came from this place, but left after the town was cut off from the sea by embankments and so gradually lost its importance to Greetsiel, the future seat of the Cirksena. The monastery in Appingen was the only branch of the Carmelites in East Frisia and the last to be founded in the region overall. The founder and benefactor of the monastery was Enno Cirksena, the father of the later imperial count, Ulrich Cirksena. Not much is known about the history of the monastery. In addition to the existing church, a stone house for the monks and a mill were built, for which the Cirksena also had rights of use. Initially it was established for just three or four priests, but in later times was considerably extended. In its heyday at least 20 monks lived in the abbey. Shortly before the Reformation, the monastery of Aten, in the present-day borough of Nordenham, was planted by Appingen. In 1530 the monastery of Balthasar von Esen was burned in one of his many feuds with the

counts of East Frisia The counts and princes of East Frisia from the noble East Frisian family Cirksena descended from a line of East Frisian chieftains from Greetsiel. The county came into existence when Emperor Frederick III raised Ulrich I the son of a local chief ...

, but not completely destroyed like nearby Dykhusen Abbey of the Dominican Order. The monastery was re-established and adopted in 1531 by the nuns of Dykhusen. In the subsequent period, the monastery was

secularized In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

and leased from 1545 by the counts of East Frisia. Of the former village and Appingen and its abbey, only a farm belonging to Visquard remains today.

References

{{Coord, 53.48282, N, 7.090448, E, type:landmark_region:DE-NI, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1437 Carmelite monasteries in Germany History of Friesland Christian monasteries established in the 15th century 1430s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1437 establishments in Europe 1545 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire