Huysburg
Encyclopedia
Halberstadt
Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
, in Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
First foundation: Huysburg Abbey
Founded in 1080, Huysburg Abbey was among the earliest monasteries to join the reform movement of the Bursfelde CongregationBursfelde Congregation
The Bursfelde Congregation, also called Bursfelde Union, was a union of predominantly west and central German Benedictine monasteries and nunneries working for the reform of Benedictine practice. It was named after Bursfelde Abbey.-Background:...
in the late 15th century. It was one of the very few Catholic monasteries of the region which survived the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
under the provisions of the Treaty of Westphalia. The abbey was dissolved in 1804 as part of the secularisation process and its estates were taken by the Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
n State.
Second foundation: Huysburg Priory
The Benedictine community which is now located within the walls of the Huysburg was founded in 1972, and was the only Benedictine monastery in the DDRGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
.
After the establishment of the DDR, a branch seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
of the seminary in the Diocese of Paderborn was set up here for those parts of the diocese lying in the DDR. The seminary was closed in 1993 after the reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
of Germany.
Since September 2004 Huysburg Priory has been joined with St. Matthias' Abbey, Trier
St. Matthias' Abbey, Trier
St. Matthias' Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The abbey church, a Romanesque basilica, is a renowned place of pilgrimage because of the tomb of Saint Matthias the Apostle, after whom the abbey is named, located here since the 12th century, and the only...
, and is now therefore a priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
of the abbey. In August 2005 the brothers of St. Matthias' and of the Huysburg priory elected a joint abbot, Ignatius Maass, resident in Trier.
Church
In the RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
abbey church is the tomb of the Blessed Ekkehard
Ekkehard of Huysburg
The Blessed Ekkehard of Huysburg was a member of the cathedral chapter at Halberstadt and Benedictine abbot of Kloster Huysburg in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany.Ekkehard lived in the 11th century...
, the first abbot of Huysburg. In 2004, at his own request, the former apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Magdeburg
Diocese of Magdeburg
The Diocese of Magdeburg is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church located in the Germany. Its seat is Magdeburg; it is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Paderborn....
, Bishop Johannes Braun, was also laid to rest here.
Pilgrimages
The Huysburg is one of the main places of pilgrimagePilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
in the Diocese of Magdeburg, and many Catholics come there every year, for example on the first Sunday in September for the Family Pilgrimage of the Diocese.