The Old Convent of Eibingen
Detail of an Aquatinta, around1850, after a drawing by Louis Bleuler
private collection Dr. Werner Lauter
Hildegard of Bingen founded two monasteries: the Rupertsberg convent near Bingen and the Eibingen convent not far from Rüdesheim. At Eibingen the noblewoman Marka of Rüdesheim had founded an Augustinian double convent in 1148, which was already deserted in 1165 due to the chaos of war caused by the Emperor Barbarossa. The constant growing of the Rupertsberg convent led Hildegard to acquire the damaged buildings in 1165. She had them restored for thirty Benedictine sisters and henceforth crossed the Rhine twice a week from the Rupertsberg to the new Eibingen community In 1219, on April 22nd, about four decades after Hildegard's death, Pope Honorius III. took the Eibingen convent under his protection. The rights of supervision, the 'Mistress' of the Rupertsberg had for her second foundation, were settled for the first time by a document dated November 28th, 1268.
According to the register of the abbesses of Eibingen -who were 'Mistresses' at first - Benigna of Algesheim had the honour and carried the burden of this office for 44 years (1373 - 1417) - a longer period than Hildegard's own time. The sisters of the Eibingen convent were partially of middle-class origin. During the last years of the 15th century and in the following course, there often arose tensions, as for example between Kurmainz and Palatinate; these often had effects on the convent. Around 1505, a reform of the Eibingen convent took place under the Archbishop of Mainz, Jakob of Liebenstein. But even this reform could not prevent the declining development. In 1575, only three sisters were still living in the Eibingen convent. Following the instruction of the Archbishop of Homburg, Daniel Brendel, they moved to the Cistercian sisters of the nearby Abbey Marienhausen. In the meantime, Eibingen was offering shelter for many years to the Augustinian sisters of St. Peter near Kreuznach, fleeing from the wave of the Reformation. After long negotiations, the Baroness Cunigundis of Dehrn, abbess of Rupertsberg, achieved the well documented restitution of the Eibingen monastery and its estate. This is why since 1603 the titie "Abbess of Rupertsberg and Eibingen' is customary.
In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, the Swedes destroyed the monastery of Rupertsberg by fire. Via Cologne the nuns arrived at the Eibingen monastery with the relics of St. Hildegard in 1636, where they suffered from poverty and privation. The plundering by mercenary troops gave cause for their later flight to Mainz. The sisters could only return at the end of 1641. Anna Lerch of Dirmstein, the last Abbess of Rupertsberg, stayed in Eibingen only for a short time; she had to resign from her office in 1642. A prosperous period began for the Eibingen convent with the young Abbess Magdalena Ursula of Sickingen. The monastic life with its alternation of prayer and work flourished again. At the age of 52, Abbess Magdalena died of pest in the Summer of 1666. Her coat of arms is decorating the sandstone doorframe in the inner court of the parish church of Eibingen.
Within several years, the economic situation of the Eibingen convent had been secured, so that also bigger building projects could be carried out. The renovation of the monastery's probably original square site proceeded in three stages. Supervised by architect Giovanni Angelo Barello, the church and the west wing were thoroughly restored from 1681 until 1683. According to a letter of indulgence written by Pope Clemens XI. in 1701, the church, dedicated to St. Rupert and St. Hildegard, contained seven altars. In 1709, a small prayer book was printed by the publisher Johann Mayren of Mainz, initiated by the Eibingen convent, saying: 'Register of the most noble relics ... So kept in the virgin convent of high nobility in Eibingen in the Rhine Province, respectfully preserved ..." In the same year a cross was put up "To the honour of God and for the deceased" which now has its place in the old part of the churchyard. Although the number of visitors of the convent had been increasing, an independent pilgrimage to Eibingen did not develop. Pilgrims moving to Marienthal or Nothgottes in the morning, only made a stop on their way home for a silent prayer, especially on the feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin (September 8th).
On February 21st of 1737, the pulling down of the east wing began. The architect Johann Valentin Thoman of Mainz had drawn up the building plans. The solemn laying of the foundation-stone took place on March 21st, the feast of St. Benedict. Walls with weight-bearing capacity were included in the building. Until November 8th, the carpenters had put up the rafters. The roof could be covered with slate in October 1738. Between 1746 and 1752, the south wing as well as stables and barn were built. What the old Eibingen monastery looked like, can be seen on a drawing by Provost Josep h Otto (1763-1788).
During the time, when the convent was led by Maria Hildegard of Rodenhausen (1780-1788), signs of a new current of thought, the Enlightenment, were increasing. Under the Elector Friedrich Karl Joseph of Erthal, it was planned to convert the convent of Eibingen into a secular home for gentlewomen. This plan provoked the sisters' vehement protest. In 1789, the year of the outbreak of the French Revolution, as a precaution the archives of the convent were transferred to Alzey, where they remained until 1798. The loss of the possessions on the left side of the Rhine affected the economic situation, however. Moreover, the "zeitgeist" had undermined the monastic life. In 1802, the convent was closed and, in accordance with the decision of the government of Nassau, evacuated. The authorities transformed the east wing into an armoury, the church into an arsenal. With the pulling down of the west and the south wing in 1817, the complex of buildings lost its square form. In 1831, the local community of Eibingen bought the property and used the former convent church as parish church instead of the dilapidated village church. The latter's Patron Saint, St. John the Baptist, remained Patron also for the parish church. In 1857, the parish priest Ludwig Schneider succeeded in proving the authenticity of the Hildegard relics.
Dr. Werner Lauter
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