Michaelsberg Abbey (german: Abtei Michaelsberg) is a former monastery of the
Benedictine Order, belonging to the
Subiaco Congregation (1064-2011). The monastery is situated on the ''Michaelsberg'' ("St. Michael's Mount"), about 40 metres above the town of
Siegburg
Siegburg (i.e. '' fort on the Sieg river''; Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, 10 kilometres from the former seat ...
. For this reason it is also often known as Siegburg Abbey.
History
Foundation
The hill called the Michaelsberg, formerly known as the ''Siegberg'', was first inhabited about 800 by the Counts of Auelgau, who built a castle there. In 1064 the
Archbishop of Cologne,
Anno II of Cologne
Anno II ( – 4 December 1075) was Archbishop of Cologne from 1056 until his death. From 1063 to 1065 he acted as regent of the Holy Roman Empire for the minor Emperor Henry IV. Anno is venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church.
Life
He was b ...
, founded a monastery there, dedicated to the
Archangel Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
, from whom both the mountain and the abbey henceforward took their names. He appointed the monk Erpho (died 1076) as the first
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...
. Anno himself died at the abbey in 1075 and was buried there.
[Abtei Michaelsberg, Siegburg "Geschichte"]
/ref>
Archbishop Anno was canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
in the abbey church on 29 April 1183 by Cardinal Giovanni Conti da Anagni and Bishop Pietro of Luni, acting as papal legates of Pope Lucius III
Pope Lucius III (c. 1097 – 25 November 1185), born Ubaldo Allucingoli, reigned from 1 September 1181 to his death in 1185. Born of an aristocratic family of Lucca, prior to being elected pope, he had a long career as a papal diplomat. His pa ...
. At this time his remains were translated to the Chapel of St. Anno, which can still be seen in the abbey church. By this time, however, the early spirit of these founders was beginning to dim among the monks. The community had developed a luxurious lifestyle, one which was so open that they were publicly criticized by a nearby Cistercian abbey.
During the 14th century, after a long legal battle, the abbey was recognized as an Imperial abbey
Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of impe ...
(that is, directly subject to the Holy Roman Emperor alone). This led to bitter rivalry, and on occasion even war, with the town of Siegburg. In 1676 the abbey again became subject to the local territorial power. During the period of the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, the abbey became a center of literary and musical studies.
Modern era
The abbey was suppressed during the German Mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number ...
of 1802–03. Until their resettlement by Cistercian monks on 2 July 1914, the buildings were used for varied purposes, for some time as a barracks, but also at other times as a lunatic asylum and a slaughterhouse. The new monks came from the Abbey of Merkelbeeck in the Netherlands to establish a monastery there again. This was not an easy endeavor, as part of the abbey was soon taken over for use as a military hospital during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
In 1941 the abbey was again dissolved, this time by the Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...
(SS); the monks were expelled and the buildings commandeered. The buildings were almost completely destroyed by a bombing raid in 1944, although they were in use as a military hospital and flying the flag of the Red Cross. In 1945 the monks who had been expelled four years previously were finally able to return, some from captivity as prisoners of war, others from exile. They had to rebuild the monastery virtually from scratch.
Since 1997 the Edith Stein
Edith Stein (religious name Saint Teresia Benedicta a Cruce ; also known as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross or Saint Edith Stein; 12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942) was a German Jewish philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a ...
Retreat House of the Archdiocese of Cologne
The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
History
The Electorate of Cologn ...
has operated at this location, using the north wing and also a large part of the west wing of the abbey.
Dissolution
In 2005 the monastic community of Michaelsberg Abbey consisted of 13 monks and a novice
A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience.
Religion Buddhism
...
. The financial situation was uncertain and in December 2010 the community voted to close the abbey, effective the following June. At that time the remaining 12 monks left the abbey for various other monasteries, and the abbey was transferred to the Archdiocese. The abbey church (except the crypt) remains open daily to the public.
It was announced in 2012 by the Archdiocese that six friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...
s of the India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carme ...
would open a priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
in a part of the former abbey after renovation of the building.
Alcohol production
In 1504 production of the abbey's liqueur, ''Siegburger Abtei-Likör'', began. After an interruption, production was resumed in 1952.[Abtei Liqueur official website]
In 2004 a line of beer was also brewed here, called ''Michel''.
Both products ceased to be produced with the closing of the abbey.
Notes
References
* Firmenich, H., 1978: ''Die Abtei Michaelsberg in Siegburg''. (Rheinische Kunststätten 99). 6th edn. Neuss: Gesellschaft für Buchdruckerei.
* Mittler, Placidus, 1987: ''Abtei Michaelsberg, Siegburg. Geschichte und Leben''. Siegburg: Schmitt.
* Weber, Wunibald, 1953: ''Michaelsberg. Geschichte einer 900jährigen Abtei''. Siegburg.
External links
*
Official website
{{Authority control
Imperial abbeys
Former countries in Europe
Christian monasteries established in the 11th century
States and territories established in 1512
States and territories disestablished in 1803
Benedictine monasteries in Germany
Monasteries in North Rhine-Westphalia
1064 establishments in Europe
2011 disestablishments in Germany
Buildings and structures in Rhein-Sieg-Kreis