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ELTEN WOMEN'S MONASTERY

 

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The Abbesses' House, Hochelten

Count Wichmann founded a women's monastery around 967 in Elten (a little village which is now part of Emmerich, close to the German/Dutch border). In 968, Emperor Otto I donated an imperial estate to the Elten Abbey Church, namely the estate that Count Wichmann had held as a fief. Furthermore, in 970, Emperor Otto I confirmed the hereditary properties that the church had received from Count Wichmann.

In the same year, Count Wichmann transferred the abbey church to the Pope. The founder's daughter, Liutgard, became the first abbess. The monastery (also known as Stift Elten or Reichsstift Elten) was dedicated to Saint Vitus. Otto II placed the monastery under imperial protection in 973. The canonesses were now granted the right to freely elect their abbess and immunity. However, the bishops of Utrecht were granted the right to confirm the abbess.

One list has been preserved (dated 1380), containing the names of twelve canonesses and their twelve intended successors. At that time, the number of prebends was therefore twelve. Apart from that document, there is little surviving documentation regarding Elten Abbey's abbesses and canonesses.

The church and the abbey buildings were destroyed in the war between Spain and the Netherlands in 1585. The canonesses then lived for sixty years in a house belonging to the abbey in Emmerich. After its destruction, the church was initially only partially rebuilt and replaced by a new building in 1670.

The first church from the founding years was converted into a large Romanesque basilica in 1100. It was 65 meters long and had an octagonal dome. In 1129, the church was consecrated by Bishop Sigward of Minden in the presence of King Lothar.

On March 18, 1811, Napoleon abolished the abbey. As a result of the Congress of Vienna, the area became Prussian again in 1815. In 1816, Prussia incorporated it into the Rees district.

The abbey church was destroyed during the Second World War. The reconstruction was inspired by the Romanesque building, built to the dimensions it had had in 1670. Only a few of the abbey's buildings remain, apart from the church. Today, the abbess's house (Hochelten) houses the Stanislaus College, a Jesuit retreat centre.

Source: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stift_Elten







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