User:Kenje13/Günterstal Cloister

The Günterstal Cloister was a Cisterian abbey in Günterstal, which nowadays is a district in Freiburg im Breisgau. It existed from 1221 to 1806.

History
The first documented mention of the Günterstal Cloister dates back to September 15th. 1224, when archbishop of Konstanz Konrad II von Tegerfelden inaugurated a new altar in the chapel of the yet unfinished cloister. In later self-portrayals, the cloister gives 1221 as the founding year. A nobleman of the Castle of Kybfelsen is said to have founded the cloister for his daughters Adelheid and Berta. They were joined by other women who were seeking to live in the monastic community. Soon, the community of the cloister came into contact with Tennenbach Abbey, which then was restricted to men only. It is presumed that the admission to the Cistercian religious order took place soon after 1224. The abbot of Tennenbach was pater imediatus of the cloister until the secularisation. As such, he supervised the cloister, took visitation and was responsible for the vote of the abbess as well as her inauguration. In 1233, |Pope Gregory IX. validated the possessions of the cloister. In 1238 the cloister changed location to Oberried, only to be relocated back to Güntersthal six years later. In 1246, |Pope Innocent IV. validated the cloister's possessions as well, which had grown through gifts and donations. Among the most important donations were the Günterstaler Dinghof (a courtyard) of the St. Peter cloister. It had been exchanged for a courtyard in Scherzingen. A property register from 1344 shows the cloister to own up to 90 locations among which the animal compound in Mundenhof. At this time the community of Günterstal consisted of 25 homes. The nobility from the region, such as the Küchlin, Geben and the Schnewlin families, made frequent donations to the cloister. Their unmarried daughters who wanted to join the cloister had to donate all their possessions to it, unlike regular convents. These lay sisters would provide abesses in Germany as well as in 'Further Austrias' estates. Abbots were selected from the local nobility that was supporting the cloister (such as the Schnewlin, Falkenstein, Blumegg).

The residents of the cloister consisted of noble sisters who gave directions on the one hand and lay sisters and attendants on the other. The chaplain and the confessor were provided by the Tennenbach cloister. The Günterstaler cloister also assisted the effort for reclamation of land by forest clearance. In 1278 the need for a bigger cloister became apparent. 1279 the first abbess Adelheid († 1281) resigned from her position

In 1486, the cloister was damaged by an inundation. During war times, it was repeatedly plundered. During the peasent war Deutscher Bauernkrieg in May 1525, abbess Agnes of Tußlingen, fleed to Freiburg where she later died. The cloister was plundered and later claimed an indemnity of 2218 gulden. In 1932, the lay sisters managed to escape the Swedish by fleeing to the | Rheinau abbey.

In 1674, the cloister discharged abbess Agnes of Greith and her subordinates of their peonage. After improving the financial situation of the cloister in 1727, abbes Maria Rosa of Neveu decided to replace the old cloister building with a new one. Between the timespan of 1728 to 1748 under abbess Maria Franziska Cajetanna of Zurthannen, the new cloister bulding is built after | Peter Thumbs baroque design.

Secularisation
The cloister managed to overcome the josephinian reform. After the electorate of Baden had declared any monasteries and cloister nullified on January 30. 1806, on February 3rd the cloister Günterstal was formally taken posession of. The abesses and sisters received pensions from the state and left the cloister before October 25. The last sister of the convent died in 1843.

The abbess
The last abbes was Maria Francisca von Thurn und Valsassina from 1770 to 1806.

The cloister after secularisation
The company Friedrich Mez & Comp., which was founded on 1st June 1812, bought the cloister building along wih the surrounding buildings and the plot of land, for 8000 Gulden on the 5th of September 1812. They constructed a cotton mill, which had to be auctioned off soon after in 1817. The new owners, Benedict and Marquard von Hermann then hired mainly children from the ages of 12–14 to work at the mill. In the night between the 3rd and 4th of April 1829, the mill was burnt almost completely to the ground. There were rumours that the fire had been caused by arson, maybe even by the owner himself. A reward was offered for any information relating to the crime.

The south and west wings of the former cloister building were completely destroyed, and the other two wings were burnt up to the first floor. These two wings were reconstructed again. However, the cotton mill was replaced by a brewery. In a neighbouring building, a weaving mill was being run. After the death of the owner in 1840, his widow sold the brewery to Gustav Schelte. The weaving mill was continued to be operated on by the family of von Hermann. In 1859 other shareholders were added, who lead the enterprise under the company name Mechanische Baumwoll-Weberei Güntersthal until it was completely taken over by a swiss shareholder named Gottlieb Siebenmann. The brewery had already been purchased in the name of the Catholic Orphanage Foundation in 1892 by Mathäus Jungmaier, who had constructed an orphanage there. In 1896 the foundation headed by Siebermann also purchased the old cloister building. Today, there is a French-German boarding school, a kindergarten, and a social institution in the two renovated wings.

The Church of Our Lady
The church (today called The Church of Our Lady), which was also destroyed in the fire of 1829, was rebuilt by the state in 1833/34 after the plans of Gottlieb Lumpp, who used the outside walls to help reconstruct the church. It was finally, renovated in the years 1998 to 2002. Efforts were made to keep as much as possible of the original interior design. Today, the church is being used by the catholic pastoral care Freiburg Wiehre-Günterstal.

Literatur

 * Josef Bader: Die Schicksale des ehemaligen Frauenstifts Güntersthal bei Freiburg i. Br. In: Freiburger Diözesan Archiv Band 5 (1870) S. 119–206  online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Das Kloster Günterstal: von d. Wahl d. letzten Äbtissin (1770) bis zur Franz. Revolution (1789). In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 108 (1989), S. 169–194 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Die Äbtissinnen des Zisterzienserinnenklosters Günterstal. In: Freiburger Diözesan Archiv Band 120 (2000) S. 5–51 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Kirche, Kloster und Kapellen in Günterstal. In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 106 (1987), S. 31–68 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Anmerkungen zur Gründungsgeschichte der Zisterzienserinnenklöster Wonnental und Günterstal. In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 110 (1991), S. 109–118 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Günterstal im Jahre 1795. In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 112 (1993), S. 105–134 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Die Gemeinde Günterstal zwischen 1806 und 1830, In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 114 (1995), S. 135–161 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Ernst Dreher: Die Gemeinde Günterstal von 1806 bis 1830 (2. Teil). In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 116 (1997), S. 253–281 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Karl Suso Frank: Kath. Pfarrkirche Liebfrauen Freiburg-Günterstal, Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lichtenberg, 2005, ISBN 3-89870-231-6
 * Franz Josef Gemmert: Die Schicksale der Textilfabriken in den säkularisierten Breisgauer Klöstern. In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 77 (1959), S. 62–89, Günterstal S. 76–82 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Constanze Kienast: Sei im Besitze und du wohnst im Recht. Der Günterstaler Berain von 1344: ein typischer Vertreter mittelalterlicher Güterverzeichnisse?. In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 112 (1993), S. 31-48 online bei UB Freiburg
 * Albert Krieger, Badische Historische Kommission [Hrsg.]: Topographisches Wörterbuch des Großherzogtums Baden, Band 1, Spalte 792–797 Heidelberg, 1904 online bei der UB Heidelberg
 * Fritz Ziegler: Wappenskulpturen des Klosters Günterstal. In: Schau-ins-Land, Bd. 51–53 (1926), S. 88–92 online bei UB Freiburg