Monastery of Bebenhausen 2008

On this cloudy day we went on a tour with Nicki Schaepen to the Monastery of Bebenhausen in the small cozy village of Bebenhausen. Nicki Schaepen has a doctoral in art history, is studying theology and is a candidate for the priesthood of Rottenburg. We thus had quite a bit of trust in his knowledge. We left Tübingen at 13:40 and arrived at our specific bus stop at about 14:15, from there we walked through beautiful woods (mainly beech and oak). We arrived at the monastery surrounded by (typical) German, traditional houses at about 14:40.
Throughout the tour our informative guide (Nicki) explained the history of the monastery, which I will do my best to summarise. The Monastery’s foundations were built in (1183 A.D) because of the Cistercian, which is the time when Bernard of Clairvaux wanted to reform back to the original monasterial beliefs of Saint Benedict (6th century). In the 16th century it was closed, by the duke, because of the famous Reformation. In the early 17th century the “monk life” was again established but this only lasted for three years. After this the building was established, by the Duke, as a school for theologians until 1806. It was used for various other reasons until it was declared a museum in 1975. For more detailed information you can visit: www.tuebingen.de/en/1564_1734.html and www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/bebenhausen-monastery .
We saw was the fortified walls which are amazingly still in a good standard after 700 years. We also noticed the herb garden where the monks grew herbs and other plants for themselves.
We started our tour by the Cloister, which is the courtyard area and is surrounded by the various rooms. We were told by Nicki that we, especially the girls, were very privileged (as we always are here in Germany J) to be able to have a full guided tour because firstly only monks were allowed in the Cloister, secondly no woman were allowed anywhere in the monastery and thirdly not even the monks were allowed to speak (except one room) openly in the quiet monastery.
We then made our way into the “Brunnenhaus” (fountain room). The ceilings have a gothic architecture and I was disappointed to find out that the most important part of the room was missing, the fountain, which was used for washing of mostly everything (hands, dishes, etc.). It is very appealing to me that the monks dedicated their whole life/day to God, take for example the fountain, the monks did everything (even washing dishes) in a divined sense to the Lord.
The next stop was the “Sommerrefektorium”, this is the room where eating took place and is considered to be the most beautiful room. It is a big hall, built in 1359, where the monks ate mainly fish and vegetables. A monk was elected to read the scriptures in the corner (where the pool pit was located). It was funny to hear that if a monk didn’t get enough or any food he was still not allowed to complain (no talking), so no one would help him unless one of his colleagues noticed and said something.
Then we went to the “Bruderhalle” (scriptural room), this was the work/study room, mainly copying scriptures, and is one of the oldest, being built in the 12th century. It has a beautiful roof and it still amazes me how hard and sophisticated the people, back in those times, worked to produce such magnificent architectural and artistical masterpieces (even to today’s standards).
Our fourth last stop was the “Patel”; this was where the monk’s were allowed to speak freely. I am very curious to know what they spoke about here? I still wonder if it would be religious talks or not. I accidently dropped my book, with all my notes, down the hole in the centre in the room but luckily for you Nicki was allowed to fetch it, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading such a detailed personal report but would rather be reading text with unusually different fonts :).
The next room was the “Kapitelsaal” (Chapter room). This was where important decisions were made and where the congregation would gather after holy mass and read a chapter of Saint Benedict’s (founder of “monk life”) manuscripts. If a monk sinned he was to kneel down in the middle of the room, under four paintings of Jesus’ passion, and judged by the abbot. If a monk wanted to join he also knelt here for his inauguration.
Now it was time to see the “Dormitorium”, this was a big hall where all the monks slept. It contained cells along the side which were only installed in the 16th century. This was where we felt and heard how tough the life of a monk was, examples include: going to bed at 01:00 and waking up at 04:00; temperatures reaching -20ºC, praying 8 times a day. The young monk’s had to sleep between two elder monks so that he would be motivated and forced into the disciplined life of a divined follower of God. Monk’s interestingly had an average age of about 34!
We walked to the most important room in the monastery, the Church, which is only half its earlier size. We sat on the wooden pews and listened to Nicki for a while (he explained the paintings, he answered my question on why Catholics burn candles, etc). There was a very interesting painting of Christ being carried down from the cross by St. Benedict and Bernard of Cleavaux watching all of this.
We then were done. I (and I am sure the rest of the group) enjoyed seeing the cozy town of Bebenhausen and its splendid monastery. I have also gained more respects for monks. We, like most experiences here in Germany enjoyed the trip and learnt a lot. I would like to end off with the thought of if we should have monks and monasteries (yesterday, today, tomorrow)?

By Berndt Lindner

 

Last Update (23/01/08)