Mariawald, die Abtei Dm83 foto10 2016-09-10 10

Mariawald Abbey (german: link=no, Abtei Mariawald) was a

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 whi ...

of the

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

(formally known as the Cistercians of the Strict Observance), located above the village of Heimbach, in the district of Düren in the Eifel, in the forests around

Kermeter The Kermeter is an upland region, up to , which is part of the Rureifel within the North Eifel in the districts of Aachen, Düren and Euskirchen in the southwestern part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The Kermeter ridge is ...

, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.Trappist Info
, a Trappist directory; p. 26. Accessed online 4 December 2006. In September 2018, the last remaining monks left Mariawald Abbey and the monastery is currently up for sale.

History

Cistercians

Following Heinrich Fluitter's vision of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

, a shrine and chapel were built on the site of it, which became a place of pilgrimage, the ''Marienwallfahrt''. For the proper care of the site and the pilgrims land was given in 1480 to the Cistercians of Bottenbroich Abbey, who established a priory here, which they were able to move into on 4 April 1486. The new monastery took its name from the shrine to Mary and from the woods in which it was situated: "Marienwald", or "Mary's wood" In 1795 the monastery was closed as a result of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

and the monks were expelled. The image of the Virgin was removed to safety in Heimbach. The priory buildings were abandoned and allowed to fall into decay.

Trappists

In 1860 the priory was re-settled by Trappist monks from

Oelenberg Abbey Oelenberg Abbey ( la, Abbatia B.M.V. de Oelenberg; french: Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Oelenberg; gsw, Kloschter vum Eelabarg) is a Trappist monastery located in Reiningue near Mulhouse, France. It has been an important place of worship in Alsace since ...

in Alsace. From 1875 to 1887 the monks were exiled because of the '' Kulturkampf'' ("cultural conflict") policies of the Imperial German government. In 1909, Mariawald was raised from the status of priory to that of an abbey. The monks had to leave the monastery yet again under the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, from 1941 until April 1945, when the surviving members of the community were able to return. The monastery had to be largely rebuilt, because it had been seriously damaged in the war. After World War II, a brewery was run at the abbey until 1956 when beer production ceased, in part due to availability of water and brewing ingredients.

Present day

Mariawald Abbey is the only extant men's Trappist monastery in Germany. The monks follow the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

and the constitution of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance. Visitors can also stay a few days in the abbey's guesthouse, but the parts of the monastery used by the monastic community cannot be visited. The abbey runs a tavern and bookshop. It also produces and sells its own liqueur. In 1997 it was one of eight Trappist abbeys which founded the International Trappist Association (ITA) to protect the Trappist name from commercial misuse. By the end of January 2018 became known that somewhere in the year the abbey will be closed and the monks distributed over other abbeys. The monastery has now been officially closed. However, the tavern and bookshop remain open and the production of liqueur is still ongoing. The abbey's motto is ''Luceat lux vestra'' ("Let your light shine"), from Matthew 5.16. In late 2018, the association "Trappistenkonvent Mariawald e.V." had been renamed in "Kloster Mariawald e.V.". New members joined this associaten, and they elected a new executive board.

Old Rite

During the tumultuous 1960s, the abbey embraced the current liturgical fashions. However, in 2008 on the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple (21 November), Mariawald Abbey gained from

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

permission to return to the Old Rite and their original religious discipline. This makes Mariawald unique among Trappist monasteries around the world, in that they adhere to their traditional, strict rule, including the office of the liturgical books in force in the Catholic Church in 1962 (particularly the traditional Latin Mass according to the old Trappist use).

Abbots

*Laurentius Wimmer (1909–1929) *Stephan Sauer (1929–1939) *Christophorus Elsen (1947–1961) *Andreas Schmidt (1961–1966) *Otto Aßfalg (1967–1980) *Meinrad Behren (1983–1992) *Franziskus de Place (1993–1999) *Bruno Gooskens (1999–2005) *Josef Vollberg (2006–2016) from 2017 as prior

References

External links

Mariawald Abbey website
{{Coord, 50, 37, 12, N, 06, 28, 51, E, region:DE-NW_type:landmark, display=title Religious buildings and structures completed in 1486 Trappist monasteries in Germany Monasteries in North Rhine-Westphalia 1480s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Religious organizations established in the 1480s Christian monasteries established in the 15th century Buildings and structures in Düren (district) 1486 establishments in Europe 2018 disestablishments in Germany