Hildesheim-Marienrode Klosterkirche Teich

Hildesheim-Marienrode StCosmasDamian Sued

Marienrode Priory is a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nunnery in Marienrode, a district of

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. An

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

monastery was founded here in 1125 by the

Bishop of Hildesheim This list records the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim (german: link=no, Bistum Hildesheim). Between 1235 and 1803 the bishops simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of ...

, Berthold I von Alvensleben, in a place then known as ''Baccenrode''. It lasted until 1259. The site was re-settled later, at first by

s and afterwards as a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery. The Cistercians gave the community its current name of Marienrode which has officially been used since 1439. The foundation stone of the present church was laid in 1412. The church was built in gothic style with three naves and completed in 1462. The

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

ridge turret A ridge turret is a turret or small tower constructed over the ridge or apex between two or more sloping roofs of a building. It is usually built either as an architectural ornament for purely decorative purposes or else for the practical housing ...

was added in the 18th century. In the church, there are two noteworthy baroque altars dating from 1750 approximately and a gothic sandstone sculpture of Saint Mary which was made in 1460. The organ dates from the middle of the 18th century. Most of the present buildings of the monastery consisting of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

were built in the 18th century. In the inner court there is a noteworthy pigeon tower. After the

secularization 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 ...

of 1806, the monastery was used as a farm until 1987. A small chapel of the priory, Saint Cosmas and Damian, which was built in 1792 was converted into a small Protestant church in 1830. It is not only used by the Protestants living in Marienrode, but also by those from Neuhof and Hildesheimer Wald, two districts of Hildesheim which do not have churches. The altar dates from 1835 and the organ from the end of the 18th century. According to Cistercian tradition, the chapel has a ridge turret instead of a tower. From 1983, the new Bishop of Hildesheim, Josef Homeyer, was active in the re-establishment of monastic houses. As a result, Marienrode Priory was re-settled by ten Benedictine nuns from

Eibingen Abbey Eibingen Abbey (german: Abtei St. Hildegard, full name: Benedictine Abbey of St. Hildegard) is a community of Benedictine nuns in Eibingen near Rüdesheim in Hesse, Germany. Founded by Hildegard of Bingen in 1165, it was dissolved in 1804, but r ...

on 5 May 1988. Since 1998, Marienrode has been an independent priory within the

Beuronese Congregation The Beuronese Congregation, or Beuron Congregation, is a union of mostly German or German-speaking religious houses of both monks and nuns within the Benedictine Confederation. The congregation stands under the protection of Saint Martin of Tours. ...

. Around the priory, a small village (Marienrode) developed which was incorporated into Hildesheim in 1974. The former village school which was operated by the priory was built in 1716. The windmill of Marienrode was built in 1839 and used as such until 1939. From the village it can be reached through a tree-lined avenue consisting of 200-year-old lindens, with a historic pavement. The large fishpond in the South of the village was laid out by the Cistercians in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Sources

*Segers-Glocke, Christiane: ''Baudenkmale in Niedersachsen, Band 1.4 - Hildesheim'', p. 260-269. Hameln 2007.

External links

Marienrode Priory Website

Website of St. Hildegard's Abbey
{{Authority control 1120s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1125 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1120s Christian organizations established in 1988 Buildings and structures in Hildesheim Monasteries in Lower Saxony Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Benedictine nunneries in Germany Buildings and structures in Hildesheim (district)