Hersfeld

Hersfeld
Hersfeld
An ancient imperial abbey of the Benedictine Order

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Hersfeld
    Hersfeld
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Hersfeld
    An ancient imperial abbey of the Benedictine Order, situated at the confluence of the Geisa and Haune with the Fulda, in the Province of Hesse-Nassau, Prussia. Sturmi, a disciple of St. Boniface, originally founded a monastery here in 742, but, owing to its position being exposed to attacks from the Saxons, he transferred it to Fulda. Some years later (about 768) after the defeat of the Saxons by the Franks, Lullus, Bishop of Mainz, re-founded the monastery at Hersfeld. Charlemagne (who had recently succeeded to the crown) and other benefactors provided endowments, and Pope Stephen III granted exemption from episcopal jurisdiction to the house, which soon possessed 1050 hides of land and a community of 150 monks. It became a place of pilgrimage after 780, owing to the bringing thither of the Relics of St. Wigbert, and the reputed occurrence of Miracles. A valuable library was collected, the annals of the monastery were regularly kept, and it became renowned as a seat of piety and learning. Towards the close of the tenth century Hersfeld suffered from the general decadence of the age, and the monastic discipline became relaxed. Some years later, however, the observance was reformed by St. Gotthard (afterwards Bishop of Hildesheim), and we find members of the community sent out to other houses of the order to carry out in them the work of religious revival.
    During the long struggle between the Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, Hersfeld espoused the imperial cause. Henry himself visited it not infrequently, sometimes accompanied by his consort; and their son Conrad (who afterwards succeeded to the throne) was born and baptized within the precincts of the abbey. In the last decade of the eleventh century the abbey seems to have been fully restored to papal favour, and it continued to prosper for a long subsequent period. The town of Hersfeld, outside the abbey walls, also grew and flourished, one result of this being that it found itself strong enough to assert its independence of the rule of the monks, and in 1371 formally placed itself under the protection of the Landgraves of Hesse. As time went on the state of the monastery again deteriorated, and in 1513 it was at so low an ebb that the abbot (Wolpert) resigned his office into the hands of Pope Leo X, and the Abbot of Fulda was authorized by the Emperor Maximilian to incorporate the house into his own famous abbey. A melancholy account has come down to us of the condition into which the venerable Abbey of Hersfeld had at this time been allowed to fall. The library was in a state of ruin and decay, many precious volumes had altogether disappeared, and manuscripts containing the archives and records of the house were used in the kennels as litter for the dogs. This forced union between Hersfeld and Fulda lasted little more than two years, and a new Abbot of Hersfeld was chosen. Abbot Krato, who held office in 1517, was in sympathy with Lutheranism, and he swore allegiance to Philip, the Lutheran Landgrave of Hesse, in 1525. The abbey church was consequently closed to Catholic worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass being said only in a chapel within the monastery.
    During the remainder of the century the abbey dragged on an inglorious existence, and on the death of the last abbot (Joachim Röll) in 1606, Otto, hereditary Prince of Hesse, was elected lay administrator. The pope made a fruitless endeavour, after Otto's death, to replace the abbey under Catholic administration. It continued in the hands of the princely family until about the middle of the seventeenth century, when, after the conclusion of the Treaty of Westphalia, Hersfeld was, as an imperial fief, united to Hesse under the title of a principality. The town of Hersfeld continued to rank as the capital of a principality until 1828. It is now the chief town of a circle in the government district of Kassel, and has a population of nearly 8000, with some important manufactures. The Stadtkirche, dating from about 1300, was restored in 1899, and there is a Rathaus of the sixteenth century. The ruined collegiate church, in the Romanesque style, was built in the early part of the twelfth century, but was destroyed by the French in 1761, in the course of the Seven Years War. Outside the town, of which the old walls are still preserved, are the remains of the once famous monastery, with its extensive surrounding grounds. The "Annales Hersfeldienses" are often cited as sources of medieval German history (see below).
    Annales Hersfeldienaes in PERTS, Mon. Germ. Hist.; Script. (Hanover, 1839), III, 18-116; HAFNER, Die Reichsabtei Hersfeld bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrh. (Hersfeld, 1890); LORENZ, Die Jahrbücher von Hersfeld (Leipzig, 1885); Gallia Christiana, V (Paris, 1877), 567-572; ERSCH-GRUBER, Allgem. Encyclop. (Leipzig, 1830). VII, 46-52; STREBER in Kirchenlex., s. v.; GAUTSCH, Das Lehnsverhältnis zwischen Hersfeld und den Markgrafen von Meissen in Archiv. sächs. Gesch., V (Leipzig, 1867), 233-263.
    D. O. HUNTER-BLAIR.
    Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • Hersfeld [2] — Hersfeld, ehemals Hauptort des Fürstentums H., jetzt Kreisstadt im preuß. Regbez. Kassel, am Einfluß der Geis und Haun in die Fulda, Knotenpunkt der Staatsbahnlinien Frankfurt a. M. Bebra und H. Treysa, 199 m ü. M., hat eine um 1320 erbaute… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Hersfeld — steht für: die Stadt Bad Hersfeld in Hessen die Abtei Hersfeld Lampert von Hersfeld (um 1028 um 1085), Geistlicher und Geschichtsschreiber Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur U …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hersfeld — may refer to: *Bad Hersfeld, a town in Hesse *Hersfeld Abbey, a monastery in Hesse …   Wikipedia

  • Hersfeld — Hersfeld, 1) sonst Reichsabtei, nachher eignes Fürstenthum, 10,2 QM.; 37,000 Ew.; dann 2) Provinz im Kurfürstenthum Hessen, seit 1821 Kreis zur Provinz Fulda gehörig; 71/2 QM., 30,000 Ew. Das Fürstenthum H. entstand aus der Benedictinerabtei;… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Hersfeld [1] — Hersfeld (Herholfsfeld, Herocampia), ehemalige Benediktinerabtei und nachheriges Reichsfürstentum von 450 qkm (8 QM.), als Abtei 768 gegründet und von Karl d. Gr. reich dotiert, wurde schon unter dem ersten Abt Lullus (s. Lul) unmittelbar dem… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Hersfeld — Hersfeld, Kreisstadt im preuß. Reg. Bez. Cassel, an der Fulda, (1900) 7908 E., Amtsgericht, Gymnasium, Realgymnasium, Kriegsschule; Tuch , Wollwarenindustrie. Die Benediktinerabtei H. (auch Hirschfeld), 770 von Erzbischof Lullus von Mainz… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Hersfeld — Hersfeld, Hirschfeld, kurhess. Stadt an der Fulda mit Domruine, 3 aufgehobenen Klöstern, Schloß, 7500 E., Wolleindustrie. H. war gefürstete, an Land u. Leuten reiche Benediktinerabtei, von St. Bonifacius Nachfolger, dem Erzbischof Lullus von… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Hersfeld — Hẹrsfeld,   Bad H., Kreisstadt des Landkreises Hersfeld Rotenburg, Hessen, in einer Talweitung am Zusammenfluss von Haune und Fulda, 209 m über dem Meeresspiegel, 31 000 Einwohner; nach Fulda bedeutendstes städtisches Zentrum in Osthessen;… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Hersfeld Abbey — was an important Benedictine imperial abbey in the town of Bad Hersfeld in Hesse (formerly in Hesse Nassau), Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Geisa, Haune and Fulda.HistoryHersfeld was founded by Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface …   Wikipedia

  • HERSFELD (RUINES DE) — HERSFELD RUINES DE Ancienne abbaye bénédictine, située au sud de Kassel (Hesse). Fondée au VIIIe siècle, elle fut reconstruite sous une forme grandiose entre 831 et 850; brûlée en 1038 et aussitôt rebâtie sur les mêmes fondations, l’abbaye reçut… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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