| Werden Abbey |
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Information AboutWerden Abbey |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT WERDEN ABBEY | |
| monasteries in germany | |
| benedictine monasteries | |
| buildings and structures in north rhine-westphalia | |
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THE FOUNDATION OF THE ABBEY Near Essen , the new monastery of Helmstedt in the Diocese of Halberstadt was founded from Werden. It was ruled over by a provost, and remained a dependency of Werden till its secularization in 1803. Werden was a wealthy abbey with possessions in Westphalia , Frisia , eastern Saxony and around the abbey itself, where it had a territory of 125 km&2. Under Hildigrim II the monastery, which up to that time had been the property of the family of Saint Ludger, obtained on 22 May 877 , the right of free abbatical election and immunity. Henceforth the abbots of Werden were Imperial Prince s and had a seat in the imperial Diet s. The abbey church of Werden, destroyed by fire in 1256, was rebuilt in the late Romanesque style (1256-75). Thereafter the monastery began to decline to such an extent that under Abbot Conrad von Gleichen (1454-74), a married layman, the whole community consisted of but three, who had divided the possessions of the abbey among themselves. After a complete reform, instituted in 1477, by Abbot Adam von Eschweiler of the Bursfelde Congregation , Werden continued until its secularization in 1803 . EARLY MODERN TIMES Problems arose after the Reformation when the '' Vögte '' (lords protectors) of the abbey were the Protestant rulers of Brandenburg , who had inherited the neighbouring County Of The Mark . The construction of Baroque abbey buildings, textile production and coal mining formed the economic basis of the territory of Werden in the 18th century. THE END OF THE ABBEY During the Secularization in 1803 the abbey and its territory became part of Prussia , but three years later it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy Of Berg . In 1815 it became Prussian again as part of the Rhine Province . SOURCES, REFERENCES & EXTERNAL LINKS |
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