Alpirsbach Abbey

In 1522, Alpirsbach's prior, a monk named Ambrosius Blarer, left the monastery for his native Constance after being stripped of his position. Blarer, who had been giving Lutheran sermons at the monastery and had met and befriended the Lutheran reformer Philip Melanchthon during his studies, returned to Württemberg in 1534 to become one of Duke Ulrich's chief reformers. The other reformer Ulrich brought to Württemberg was Erhard Schnepf,[5] a student of Zwingli with whom Blarer worked to reform the Duchy. Blarer governed the highlands of the Duchy that included Alpirsbach,[6] but was replaced in all his offices by Schnepf in 1538.[5] The Protestant Reformation was imposed on Alpirsbach in 1535 and its administrative apparatus dissolved into a new district of Alpirsbach. Until the monastery's final dissolution in 1806, its abbot would be a Protestant clergyman.[4]

In 1556, Duke Christoph dissolved Alpirsbach and the other 12 remaining monasteries in Württemberg.[7] Their grounds were reused for Protestant seminaries and boarding schools.[1] The Alpirsbach seminary lasted from 1556 to 1595 and taught around 200 students.[4] When the primary school at Alpirsbach closed, it left the schools at Blaubeuren and Adelberg monasteries as the only primary schools in the Duchy.[8]

Alpirsbach Abbey from the north, 1881

In the 19th century, much of the monastery's grounds were sold and the buildings on those lands demolished. Construction of a railroad between 1882 and 1886, and a road south of the monastery,[9] resulted in the loss of its medieval defenses.[3]

The cloister began to be used as a music venue for classical music in 1952,[10] with five concerts a year in the months of June, July, and August. By the 60th anniversary of the concerts in 2012, over 90 orchestras had played in over 220 concerts for audiences of 400 to 1500 visitors.[11]

In 1958, a collection of 15th and 16th century clothes, papers, and material refuse was found in the walls of the cloister. Among the items was a pair of men's pants, 17 leather shoes, and shirts consistent with the attire of the seminary students.[12] These items are now housed in the monastery museum.[13]

In 1999, Alpirsbach Monastery was added to the Northern Black Forest Monastery Route.[14]

As a result of the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, Baden-Württemberg's cultural monument management agency Staatliche Schlosser und Garten announced on 17 March 2020 the closure of all its monuments and cancellation of all events until 3 May.[15] Monuments began reopening in early May, from 1 May to 17 May,[16] with Alpirsbach Monastery reopening on 12 May 2020. Renovations on the abbey square from March to August 2020, which had moved its entrance, caused much confusion for returning visitors.[17]

Tympanum above the door into the abbey church

The abbey church is a three-aisled, Romanesque basilica on a cruciform plan,[2][19] dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and consecrated in May 1128 by Bishop Ulrich II of Constance.[4] The architecture of the church is derived from Hirsau Abbey and copies its narrow, Romanesque columns and block capitals.[2] It is entered from the narthex, which is called "the Paradise" and once contained a small chapel, at the west end. The tympanum above the narthex entrance,[19] carved around 1150, shows Jesus Christ at its center, seated on a throne and wreathed in a mandorla and flanked by two angels. Two kneeling humans appear at the ends of the image;[4] Adalbert von Zollern is the male figure.[19] Above Christ is a carved inscription, in Latin, of John 10:9.[21]

Inside the church, the bases and capitals of its columns are images of the Last Judgment. During its monastic existence, the abbey church was richly decorated with wall hangings, frescoes, furniture, and icons. Of this inventory,[19] only some 13th century frescoes of the Crucifixion and the Last Judgement in the choir niches,[4] stained glass, some choir pews, and the Late Gothic altar remain. The rood screen that divided the choir monks from the lay brothers has also been removed.[19] From 1878 to 1891, the interior of the abbey church was repainted with stenciled imitation medieval designs.[9] These were removed during a restoration of the church to a more accurate approximation of its original appearance in the 1960s.[20] Along the south side of the nave is an open gallery stretching over the north side of the cloister created in the last years of the 15th century.[22]

Altar of St. Mary

The choir stalls, reduced in number and size since the Middle Ages, are presently on the second floor of the cloister's south wing. They have two rows, though 19th century photographs taken when the stalls were still in the abbey church show three. Paint is still present on the ornamental canopies of the back row, and the cheeks at either end of the stalls have carved images of Saints Vitus and Jerome. A signature on the stalls states that they were completed by an "H.M.", likely a Swabian master craftsman, on St. Martin's Day, 1493.[23]

On display in the northern transept is the Altar of St. Mary, originally one of eight altars in the abbey church. The altar is a Late Gothic winged altar that was produced between 1520 and 1525 by the Ulm workshop of the Swabian master woodcarver Niklaus Weckmann. When opened, it displays the life of Mary through the paintings of the Annunciation on the left and the Visitation on the right, and the Coronation of the Virgin in the central carved image.[24] No paint is applied to the carved image except for flesh tones.[25] When closed, two images from the Passion of Jesus, the Flagellation and the Crowning with Thorns, are displayed. The paintings were made in brown with white highlighting,[24] which is unusual for the inside images.[26] Their author is unknown, but Weckmann historically worked with some of Ulm's most famous artisans.[24]

Attached to the north side of the facade, flanking the choir, is the bell tower, 43.5 meters (143 ft) tall. The tower, stylistically similar to those of abbeys in Lorraine, originally stood at parity with the roof of the abbey church. In the mid-12th century, shortly after the completion of the church, another story was added to the tower, built of ornamental ashlar that also corresponds to Upper Rhenish Romanesque masonry. Another two stories, and a buttress at the base of the tower, were added in the 15th century, but were plain in make so as to not contrast with the rest of the tower. The Gothic belfry has been dated to around 1360, meaning bells were hung in the tower from at least that date. The final story was added in the 1550s and clad in the Renaissance style with a stepped gable roof.[27]

South end of the dormitory

Attached to the south side of the abbey church is an ensemble of buildings that the monks lived and worked in.[9] This ensemble is constituted by the cloister, and the western, southern, and eastern wings. The cloister was rebuilt by Abbot Hulzing from 1480 in the Gothic style, which replaced all of the original Romanesque, except for a section of the east wing. The Gothic rib vaulting is ornate, featuring several carved images, and was once painted. This remodeling also added a second floor above the cloister that connected the abbey church and the east and south wings, but not the west wing.[22]

The west wing is where the entrance into the cloister is found and the residence of the abbot, on the second floor. The abbot's suite was made up by a reception room, an office, and living room.[22] Today it contains an exhibit of the Monastery Museum.[13] Also in the west wing is access to an cellarium,[22] where foodstuffs were kept,[9] but as of 2020 houses the information center. The south wing contains the refectory, calefactory, and kitchen. The east wing was where the monks resided and contained, on its ground floor, the workshops, common room, and the parlatorium, and the dormitory on the second floor.[22] The dormitory was originally a large, open room that in the late 15th century was subdivided into cells with half-timber walls that were painted with faux brickwork and, later, graffiti by seminary students. The second floor of the cloister allowed the addition of another row of cells, entered via a short staircase to account for the difference in height. There is an entryway from the dormitory into the abbey church.[28]

The Monastery Museum displays items from the monastery's thousand-year existence. Much of its collection comes from the 1958 find of apparel, letters and ledgers of paper or parchment, tiles, bricks, and gaming paraphernalia. These items are on display in the "Monks and Scholars" exhibition, located in the abbot's residence.[13] Of particular note are a pair of pants made of linen and prominently featuring a codpiece that has been dated to between 1500 and 1520. They are one of the only surviving pieces of common attire from the 16th century.[12]

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