Postel Abbey is a
PremonstratensianThe Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
abbey in the
BelgianThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
municipality of
MolMol is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Mol proper. On January 1 2007 Mol had a total population of 33,054 inhabitants. The total area is 114.26 km² which gives a population density of 289 inhabitants per km².Mol is a popular...
.
In 1138 Premonstratensian canons from
Floreffe AbbeyFloreffe Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastery, the second of the order to be founded, situated on the Sambre, about seven miles southwest of Namur, Belgium.-History:...
founded the monastery at Postel as a dependent priory. In 1613 Postel became independent of Floreffe and in 1618 was raised to the status of abbey. In 1797, the abbey was closed, and the canons expelled, in the course of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, when French troops invaded the
Austrian NetherlandsThe Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and captured by France...
. In 1847, the community here was re-established, after which the abbey buildings were restored in several phases.
From 1943, until the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
Herman Van BredaHerman Leo Van Breda was a Franciscan, philosopher and founder of the Husserl archives at the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium....
hid part of the manuscripts of
Edmund HusserlEdmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher who is deemed the founder of phenomenology...
(Husserl Archives) in the abbey.
The abbey church was built in the
RhinelandThe Rhineland is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. After the collapse of the French Empire in the early 19th century, the German and Dutch speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia...
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
style and dates supposedly from the end of the 12
th century (1190).
Postel Abbey is a
PremonstratensianThe Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...
abbey in the
BelgianThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
municipality of
MolMol is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality only comprises the town of Mol proper. On January 1 2007 Mol had a total population of 33,054 inhabitants. The total area is 114.26 km² which gives a population density of 289 inhabitants per km².Mol is a popular...
.
History
In 1138 Premonstratensian canons from
Floreffe AbbeyFloreffe Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastery, the second of the order to be founded, situated on the Sambre, about seven miles southwest of Namur, Belgium.-History:...
founded the monastery at Postel as a dependent priory. In 1613 Postel became independent of Floreffe and in 1618 was raised to the status of abbey. In 1797, the abbey was closed, and the canons expelled, in the course of the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, when French troops invaded the
Austrian NetherlandsThe Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and captured by France...
. In 1847, the community here was re-established, after which the abbey buildings were restored in several phases.
From 1943, until the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
Herman Van BredaHerman Leo Van Breda was a Franciscan, philosopher and founder of the Husserl archives at the Higher Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium....
hid part of the manuscripts of
Edmund HusserlEdmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher who is deemed the founder of phenomenology...
(Husserl Archives) in the abbey.
Architecture
The abbey church was built in the
RhinelandThe Rhineland is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. After the collapse of the French Empire in the early 19th century, the German and Dutch speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia...
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
style and dates supposedly from the end of the 12
th century (1190). The church has since been rebuilt several times, as a result of which the building shows some characteristics of
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
and
Baroque stylesBaroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. New architectural concerns for color, light and...
. The abbey was surrounded by walls, and partially surrounded by ditches.
Products of the abbey
Traditionally, Postel abbey produces
Postel, the abbey beer. This beer is no longer brewed within the abbey itself but in a commercial brewery in
OpwijkOpwijk is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Mazenzele and Opwijk proper. On January 1 2006 Opwijk had a total population of 12,239. The total area is 19.69 km² which gives a population density of 622 inhabitants per...
. The abbey also produces cheese. Since 1994, the monks have also exploited a
botanical gardenBotanical gardens grow a wide variety of plants primarily to categorize and document for scientific purposes. Botanists and horticulturalists tend the flora and maintain the garden's library and herbarium of dried and documented plant material. Botanical gardens may also serve to entertain and...
of medicinal plants, where they cultivate
ginsengGinseng is any one of eleven distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, in the Panax genus, in the family Araliaceae. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in eastern Asia , typically in cooler climates; Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng...
.
Sources
Postel Abbey official website Postel Abbey botanical garden