Peasants' war in the forest idyll. Excavations at the abandoned Himmelpforte Monastery near Wernigerode, Germany
For the first time, the abandoned Himmelpforte monastery near Wernigerode is the focus of an excavation by the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt (LDA), supported by the participation of numerous interested voluntary helpers from the area. The monastery buildings were located; numerous finds tell of the everyday life of the Augustinian hermits. The discovery of four gold guilders throws a special spotlight on the time of the Peasants' War.
The Augustinian monastery Himmelpforte (also Himmelpforten), located near Wernigerode (district Harz), was founded before 1253 by the von Hartesrode family. It was an important religious, cultural and economic center in the region. Looted during the Peasants' War in 1525 and dismantled during the Reformation, the buildings were later almost completely demolished and decayed. In the idyllic forest valley at the foothills of the Harz Mountains, only a few ruins of the monastery wall, the name and a Luther memorial stone from 1917 are reminiscent of the sunken abbey. Not even its exact location was known until now.
In order to understand the architecture and history of the monastery, the LDA has been carrying out research on the monastery site with the support of the city of Wernigerode. The project is intended to bring this historical site, which has now been pushed to the periphery, back into the focus of an interested public. Geophysical prospecting was already carried out last year, which revealed the first indications of relics preserved in the ground from a rather small but stately monastery complex with the church in the north and the cloister buildings to the south, arranged around a cross courtyard. Their remnants are currently being examined with an excavation section a good 50 meters long and 2 to 5 meters wide.
This year's excavation led by Prof. Dr. Felix Biermann (LDA) produced exciting and promising results: Excavation pits of stone looters and foundations clearly trace the plan of the church and the monastery buildings. Particularly impressive are the more than 1 meter high foundations of a large late Gothic building with powerful buttresses, which was attached to the south wing of the cloister. It was probably the monks' dining room, the so-called refectory. The building, which was probably built in the 15th century, even had a washbasin integrated into the wall with a drain to the outside - testimony to the high hygienic standards of the convent at that time.
The current work included intensive metal detector investigations on the entire monastery area. Numerous finds from the 13th-16th Century bear witness to everyday life, the economy, trade and the prosperity of the monastic community, including brass book clasps from the library, a writing stylus, ceramics and animal bones, knives, horseshoes and various tools, a sickle and a high medieval spur as well as a lock fragment. Richly decorated cloth seals made of lead are evidence of large-scale trade. Weapon parts such as the pommel of a 14th-century knight’s sword and a short slashing weapon of the following century were also discovered. The latter finds tell of the times of conflict and war, in which the monastic community tried to live a life pleasing to God.
A hoard of four gold coins from the monastery building is exceptional: a guilder of the Roman-German Emperor Frederick III minted in Frankfurt am Main before 1493, a guilder of the Margraves Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Sigismund of Brandenburg-Kulmbach struck in Schwabach near Nuremberg in 1486-1495, and two guilders of the Archdiocese of Cologne minted in Bonn (1480-1481). Gold coins were of enormous value. The small fortune was presumably hidden by a member of the convention in an acutely dangerous situation that did not end well - in any case, he was denied subsequent salvage. There is much to suggest that the gold coins, some of which were already heavily worn, were hastily hidden when the rebellious farmers stormed the monastery in 1525 - impressive testimony to those dramatic events.
A special aspect of the excavations in Himmelpforte Monastery is the intensive involvement of interested volunteers. In addition to the excavation team of the LDA, a good 30 people from Wernigerode and the surrounding area are involved, who have responded to a call from the city and are able to test their historical-archaeological interest in practice for the first time.
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Prof. Dr. Felix Biermann
Project leader
fbiermann@lda.stk.sachsen-anhalt.de
State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
– State Museum of Prehistory –
Richard-Wagner-Straße 9
06114 Halle (Saale)
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