Abbey Neuburg

According to the Lorsch Code , a male Benedictine monastery on a mountain between Neuenheim and Ziegelhausen (today Heidelberg) was founded ( cellam Niwenburg iniciavit ) around 1130 by a certain Anselm, a monk from Lorsch Abbey , who built a cell and a church in the name of St. Bartholomew . Since there is evidence that Anselm transferred his entire fortune to the new monastery, and taking into account the geographical location, it can be assumed that Anselm, having taken a tonsure, converted his estate to a monastery, or the castle above Neckar; however, there is no reliable information confirming this version.

An image of Neuburg engraved by M. Merian . OK. 1645

In 1144, Pope Lucius II took Neuburg under his protection, which, however, did not save him from the gradual extinction and financial problems.

In 1195, on the initiative of Konrad Staufen , the first Rhine palatine graph , and his wife Irmingard, the monastery became a female monastery.

With the transfer of the Lorsch monastery to the jurisdiction of the Mainz bishops , Neuburg was also subordinate to the bishopric of Mainz, in whose territory he was, and later to the bishopric of Worms .

Influenced by the Reformation movement emanating from the French Abbey of Sito , Neuburg, together with the Abbey of Schönau in Odenwald in 1 third of the 14th century. joined the Cistercians .

Meanwhile, despite the regular support of the Palatinate, the financial situation of the monastery remained difficult, and in the middle of the XIV century. the number of nuns was limited to twenty.

Around 1460, under the influence of Frederick I, Neuburg again became a Benedictine monastery; while the nuns were relieved of the duties of peasant labor, discipline was also strengthened. The proximity to the courtyard can also be explained by the fact that in 1515 the younger daughter of the Palatine Philip , Katarina, entered the monastery, soon becoming an abbess.

In the XVI century. during the abbess Brigitte von Palatinate-Zimmernskaya (1516-1562), sister of Frederick III , who joined the Reformation , the nuns began to leave the monastery or lead a secular lifestyle. It is believed that after her death the monastery was officially abolished; on the other hand, there is evidence that the convention lasted until 1568, and the last nun left the walls of Neuburg in 1572, having married. The monastic estates were transferred to Kurpfalz, and in 1598 the new Elector Frederick IV transferred the former monastery buildings to his wife Louise Juliana for arranging a country residence.

Around 1700, a shelter for the poor was set up in Neuburg, and in 1706, Elector Johann Wilhelm transferred the former monastery to the Jesuit Order , invited to Heidelberg as early as the 1680s. It was during this period, until 1773, when the order was banned, that Neuburg, on the whole, gained its modern appearance.

After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the monastery was re-secularized, and in 1804 passed into private ownership. In 1825, to equip the summer residence, it was acquired by the imperial adviser Johann Friedrich Heinrich Schlosser , whose uncle Johann Georg Schlosser was married to Goethe Cornelia's sister. Thanks to family ties, a kind of art salon for admirers and friends of Goethe and one of the centers of Heidelberg romanticism arose in Neuburg; So, Marianne von Willemer stayed here for a long time.

In 1851, Neuburg inherited the Bernus family associated with the Schlossers: Friedrich Alexander von Bernus (1838–1908), and then his adoptive son Alexander von Bernus (1880–1965), who continued the traditions of the salon until 1926, visitors to which were different the times were Karl Maria von Weber , Josef Görres , Baron vom Stein , Johann Brahms , Joseph von Eichendorf , Clemens Brentano , Rudolf Steiner , Hermann Hesse , Stefan Gheorghe , Rainer Maria Rilke and Klaus Mann .

In 1926, Neuburg was sold to Boyron Abbey , and after minor construction work, the Benedictines soon reopened their (male) monastery here. The first abbot of the newly founded monastery was Adalbert von Neipperg , who died in 1948 in Vrsac in a prisoner of war camp.

Neuburg is a functioning monastery in which 14 monks lived in 2013 under the command of Abbot Francis Heeremann ( Franziskus Freiherr Heereman von Zuydtwyck ).

Along with the liturgical tasks of monastic life, the monks maintain a guest house, which until 2011 was open only to men, and conduct various kinds of readings and lectures on religious topics.

Brewery, livestock and fisheries leased for a long time. A restaurant was opened several years ago, serving local specialties.

On the last weekend of June, a “monastery holiday” is held, when the doors of the monastery are open for free access.

In December, a Christmas market is organized at the former monastery courtyard.

• Boyron Congregation

• Norbert Bosslet: Benediktinerabtei Stift Neuburg. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2000. ISBN 3-7954-6247-9
• Otmar A. Geiger: Stift Neuburg. In: Romantisches Neckartal. S. 68f. Schimper, Schwetzingen 1998. ISBN 3-87742-133-4
• F. Heermann: Stift Neuburg. In: E. Mittler (Hg.): Heidelberg. Geschichte und Gestalt. Heidelberg 1996, 236-241.
• Ambrosius Leidinger OSB, Peter Stadler: Die nach Gott Ausschau halten. Benediktinerabtei Stift Neuburg. Heidelberg 2013. ISBN 978-3-00-043072-5
• R. Sillib: Stift Neuburg bei Heidelberg. Seine Geschichten und Urkunden. In: Neues Archiv für die Geschichte der Stadt Heidelberg und der rheinischen Pfalz 5 (1903), 167-246, 6 (1905), 1-64.