Nonnenwerth
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Nonnenwerth (formerly also Rolandswerth) is an island in the river Rhine in Germany between Rolandseck and Bad Honnef (at river kilometer 642) opposite the island of Grafenwerth . The island has been the site of a monastery with interruptions since the beginning of the 12th century, was originally founded by the Benedictines and taken over by the Franciscans in 1854. Since then, the monastery has also been home to a Franciscan educational institution, which began as a girls' boarding school and later became a general high school.
Geography
The island of Nonnenwerth is around two kilometers long and almost 180 meters wide at its widest point. The main part with the monastery and school facilities is located in the area of the city on the left bank of the Rhine in
The island is located orographically on the left or west of the main current of the river in the so-called Nonnenwerther split of the Rhine, which widens to three (formerly four) branches. The split was comprehensively changed in the 19th century, with the island of Nonnenwerth receiving its current northern tip in 1866/67 and its current southern tip in 1870–72 each as a 400–500 m long straightening or separating unit. The area covered by the
The island lies morphologically immediately before the Rhine emerges from the
History
Benedictine monastery
According to a document dated August 1st, 1126, probably in 1112 or 1122, Abbot
The order of a Benedictine reform movement, the
In 1706, a new phase of expansion in the building history of the monastery was heralded: a new confessional and annex were built by 1710. 1730 was followed by the construction of a residential accommodation for religious who was called the “manor house”; the four-wing complex, which was built around the cloister of the monastery, was completed by 1736. On January 31, 1773, the monastery buildings from the first half of the century burned down. Abbess Benedikta Conradt quickly decided on a complete reconstruction, which began with the laying of the foundation stone on April 14, 1773 and was inaugurated in the summer of 1775. It was built according to plans by the Koblenz construction director Nikolaus Lauxen and was carried out for flood protection on a ground level increased by 1.20 m.
Secularization and inn
Until the end of the 18th century, the Rolandswerth monastery belonged to the Godesberg-Mehlem district of Cologne, in 1798 it was assigned to the Mairie Remagen under French administration. In 1802, the monastery was expropriated in the course of secularization on the left bank of the Rhine. By imperial order of October 30, 1804, the nuns were allowed to remain on the island until the end of their lives. In 1815, the monastery complexes came into the possession of the Kingdom of Prussia and were auctioned in 1821 to Caspar Anton Sommer, the former rent master of the Prince von der Leyen, who opened an inn with a pension there. The inn had 50 rooms and several banquet and dining rooms. Sommer had extensive gardens and a beech forest created on the southern edge of the island.
The inn was not very profitable, so the owner tried to sell it in vain as early as 1826 using a lottery system. Later, with the consent of Sommers, the premises were used by students from the University of Bonn, presumably for legally prohibited dining halls. Among the most famous guests of the inn were the American writer James Fenimore Cooper and the piano virtuoso and composer Franz Liszt, who with his partner, Countess Marie d'Agoult, spent the summer months from 1841 to 1843 here. During this time he created his first male choirs and several song settings for German poems. The play "The Cell in Nonnenwerth" and the so-called "Liszt plane tree" which he planted for his 30th birthday in 1841 recall his stay. In the course of the 19th century, the name Nonnenwerth, first used for the monastery in the middle of the 17th century, gradually became the name of the island.
Franciscan monastery
From 1835 Auguste von Cordier owned the island. At his instigation, the house and island were handed over on August 8, 1854 to the Franciscans in
The monastery of the Franciscans of Penance and Christian Love on Nonnenwerth bears the name St. Clement and has been the seat of the Province of Maria Immaculata since 1948. In 2010, there were 97 sisters, 25 of whom lived in the St. Clemens Monastery. The monastery archive houses a collection of historical sources, which include the Great Benedictine Chronicle, the Housekeeping Book and the Unkel Chronicle. An open monastery museum has existed since 1991. The monastery allows guests and holiday stays to a limited extent, there is even a Saturday fair on the island. A visit is only possible via the monastery ferry on the left bank of the Rhine or during school time via the private passenger ship "Grafenwerth" (on the right bank of the Rhine, accessible from Grafenwerth). Visitors must be registered with the monastery to visit the island.
Gymnasium Nonnenwerth
The monastery is also home to the Nonnenwerth private high school. In 1852 the house received state permission to set up a boarding school under the direction of Auguste von Cordier. In 1863 it was home to a hundred pupils. From 1879 to 1889, the sisters transferred their teaching to the Netherlands due to the cultural struggle, which resulted in a ban on all educational activities. In 1908 the boarding school was officially recognized as a full lyceum; this year there were already two hundred students. In the fall of 1941, the school was closed by the Nazi government.
In 1945 the school was reopened. In 1978 the boarding school was closed and the admission of boys was introduced. The school was given a secular headmaster for the first time. From 1982-1985 the school was rebuilt and expanded. It received new science rooms, an outdoor sports facilities and a new gym. Additional specialist rooms for music and art were created. All classrooms and specialist rooms, the administration room and the staff room have been renovated. In 1991 the
Since 1988, a 24-hour run has usually been held every two years on Nonnenwerth, the proceeds of which are usually donated to projects in the countries of the third world. Since the school year 2005/2006, the school, which all parents can voluntarily join, has provided financial support to the island school. In addition, there is a sponsorship association (VFFE) that mainly subsidizes investments and material expenses. The eight-year high school with all-day school has been gradually introduced since the 2009/2010 school year.
The Nonnenwerth high school is part of the MINT-EC network. In the school year 2016/17, of the 705 students, 412 were 58%, girls and 42% boys. Of these, 66% were Catholic, 37% Protestant and 7% belonged to other religions. Of the students, 33% lived on the left bank of the Rhine and 67% on the right bank of the Rhine. 70% came from Rhineland-Palatinate (mainly from the Ahrweiler and Neuwied districts) and 30% from North Rhine-Westphalia (mainly Rhein-Sieg-Kreis and Bonn).
Well-known former students are: Marc Metzger (comedian), Daniel Buballa (football player), Robert Landfermann (jazz musician) and Benjamin Bidder (journalist). Due to the island's location and the lack of bridges, extreme water levels can disrupt school operations if the school's two ferries are no longer able to safely transport students and teachers. In recent years, there have been repeated dropouts due to high and low water.
Nonnenwerth in the arts
Nearby
Franz Liszt wrote eight versions of a piano piece called "Die Zelle in Nonnenwerth" ("The cell in Nonnenwerth"), between 1840 and 1883 (see List of compositions by Franz Liszt).
External links
- (in German) Timeline of Nonnenwerth
50°38′N 7°13′E / 50.633°N 7.217°E