The monastery Stift zum Heiligengrabe

Erika Schweizer

Reflective articles

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The monastery Stift zum Heiligengrabe

Erika Schweizer

Reflective articles

[origineel]

Among the numerous former women’s monasteries in the Mark Brandenburg, Heiligengrabe is a place worth visiting with its almost complete medieval preservation of the enclosure including the monastery church. It has always been spiritually animated for over 700 years of its existence. That is a very strong continuity and encouragement!

The monastery was founded in 1287 as a Cistercian monastery with 12 nuns by the Ascanian margrave with the support of Bishop Heinrich von Havelberg. It is located in Brandenburg, about halfway between Berlin and Hamburg, in the province of Prignitz. The Holy Sepulcher is mentioned as early as 1312.

When the regional pilgrimage increased around 1500, Heiligengrabe was also an important station, and is now part of the 22km long St. Anne’s pilgrimage, a for visitors to the monastery attractive pilgrimage route which serves spiritual contemplation. In the course of the Reformation, the monastery had to adopt the new Protestant church order in 1548. In 1564 the Kurfürst eventually converted the monastery into an evangelical ‘Fräuleinstift’. In 1740 Friedrich II elevated the monastery to a ‘Damenstift’.

For almost 100 years (1847-1945) the abbey housed a secondary school for girls from impoverished noble families. The Stiftsdamen were studied women who gave the lessons and also had their apartments in baroque half-timbered houses on the so-called “Ladies Square”. Today these historic, beautiful buildings have been expanded again. About 15 people live there, who have chosen this place as their place to stay, mostly with a strong interest in volunteering (gardening, monastery tours for tourists, etc.) and in general taking part in the spiritual life of the monastery.

In 1933-45 the National Socialists tried to convert the church boarding school into a ‘Heimschule’, which was prevented by the abbess Armgard von Alvensleben. In 1945 the abbess fled to the west with the last of her pupils. Eight Stiftdamen stayed in Heiligengrabe.

In 1946, fleeing from Upper Silesia, deaconesses moved into the abbey together with 300 orphans. The state recognition of the social diaconal work of the “Friedenshort” finally contributed to the fact that the continued existence of the foundation could be secured. The sisters of the “Friedenshort” found support above all in the vicar and later pastor of the Lutheran parish of Heiligengrabe by Ingeborg Maria von Werthern, who was appointed the new abbess of the monastery in 1952 and who gallantly and bravely, with some Stifsdamen and the deaconesss, nurtured the spiritual tradition.

The nuns who were still living in Heiligengrabe after the end of the war initially lived in the village and later moved into their own apartments on the monastery grounds. The Stiftsdamen continued to cultivate the spiritual community through regular prayer hours held in the Holy Sepulcher Chapel. During the long period of political chill, the monastery was supported by the Evangelical Church of the Union (part of the EKD , that is to say that of the regional churches E.evangelical K church in D. Germany). The women of Heiligengrab also received spiritual and material support from the “Aid Association of the West of Former Holy Grave students” founded by former collegiate students. Today this support continues to work as the “Friends of the Protestant Monastery Stift zum Heiligengrabe eV” In the meantime, it also has new members. Contact with the monastery is lively. The annual members’ meeting with a detailed program takes place on the first weekend in June.

During the GDR, a parament workshop was set up (which no longer exists today), and guest operations were started with the construction of a guest house and many visitors were attracted by a series of summer concerts. The guest house – today the ‘Klosterhof’ – as well as the high quality concert series every Saturday in the summer from June to September still exist today.

With the political change in 1989, the dream came true to be able to continue the spiritual tradition of the place under changed conditions. The “Friedenshort”, now reunited with the western part of the sisterhood in Freudenberg / Siegerland, also faced new tasks and challenges. New houses for deaconesses were built on the site of the former collegiate gardens and in 1997 the Friedenshort moved out of the abbey into the immediate vicinity. In the meantime, all deaconesses moved to the mother house in Freudenberg. The Friedenshort continues to exist as a social diaconal institution. Contacts with the neighbourhood of the monastery and the Friedenshort as well as the Protestant parish in Heiligengrabe are good, with mutual participation and sharing in the spiritual life.

In 2001 Dr. Friederike Rupprecht was introduced as abbess. Like her predecessor, Frau von Werthern, she was also a pastor. After 14 years she handed over the abbess’s staff to me, Dr. Erika Schweizer. Thus the last three abbesses are each studied Protestant theologians who have worked in pastoral service. That’s a nice, solid, little tradition! During the time of Dr. Friederike Rupprecht (2001-2015) it was possible to tackle the necessary renovation and restoration work on the many buildings of the monastery. The Stift zum Heiligengrabe monastery was recognized as a monument of national importance and accordingly received state funding. In 2004, Dr. Manfred Stolpe and Mrs. Ingrid Stolpe took over the patronage of the monastery, which they affectionately and aptly described as “little miracle in the Prignitz”. Both have been very committed to the concerns of the monastery, in particular Manfred Stolpe, as Prime Minister of Brandenburg, was able to effectively assert his political contacts after the fall of the Wall. His death in December 2019 means a real human loss for our monastery community.

In 2016 I took over the monastery as a spiritual-cultural meeting place, already provided with offers for retreats, for Judeo-Christian doctrinal discussions and many other events. The monastery museum, the monastery shop, the ponds with the labyrinth, the overall generously and neatly preserved or restored facility with extensive gardens, is also a destination for tourists. The monastery is alive! The Brandenburg Jugendbauhütte also has its permanent location in the old manor houses for the arts and crafts seminars and enriches this special monastery landscape.

The Stiftsfrauenkonvent currently has 8 Stiftsfrauen, another application has been submitted, which will be decided at our next chapter. Most of the Stiftsfrauen do not live locally, but some live nearby. We are united by the convent order as well as a spiritual order, midday prayers, with fixed Bible reading texts, as well as religious services and the annual retreat. In addition, the nuns contribute to different areas of responsibility. We are not an order, but an open community of women. We are guided by the old Benedictine and Cistercian preservation “Ora et labora”.

There are several reasons why I, as pastor, took on the role of abbess in this place: the continuity of spiritual life in a formerly monastic site that has retained its charisma. Then the modern cut and the rich potential. The Stift zum Heiligengrabe monastery is a spiritual / secular interface. There you will find space, liveliness and silence in a time when people seek, need and love such spiritual places.

The Stiftsfrauenkonvent currently has 8 nuns, another application has been submitted, which will be decided at our next exam. Most of the collegiate women do not live locally, but some live nearby. We are united by the convent order as well as a spiritual order, midday prayers, with fixed Bible reading texts, as well as collegiate services and the annual retreat. In addition, the nuns contribute with different areas of responsibility. We are not an order, but an open community of women. We are guided by the old Benedictine and Cistercian preservation “Ora et labora”.

There are several reasons why I, as pastor, took on the role of abbess in this place: the continuity of spiritual life in a formerly monastic site that has retained its charisma. Then the modern cut and the rich design options. The Stift zum Heiligengrabe monastery is a spiritual / secular interface. There you will find space, liveliness and silence in a time when people seek, need and love such spiritual places.

About the author

Erika Schweizer

Erika Schweizer is abbess of the monastery of Heiligengrabe in the East-German Land of Brandenburg. Started as a monastery for Cistercian Sisters, the monastery after the Reformation was turned in a so-called Stift. Erika Schweizer describes the very eventful history of the monastery as well as the development once again into a spiritual center at the service of the surrounding population and way beyond. German.

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