The Neuenwalde Convent (N. Low Saxon: Klooster Niewohl, ; Robert Wöbber, „Geschichtliches über die Ortschaft Neuenwalde“ , on: Internetpräsenz der Ortschaft Neuenwalde, retrieved on 2 December 2014.) is a Lutheran damsels' convent in Neuenwalde, a locality of Geestland, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Since 1683 the convent is owned by the corporation of the Bremian Knighthood and used for Lutheran conventuals and continues to function as such today.June Mecham, "Neuenwalde" (section: Miscellaneous Information), on: Monastic Matrix: A scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE , retrieved on 15 January 2015. It is the only convent preserved in the Elbe-Weser triangle out of a former sample of 14 monasteries.„Kloster Neuenwalde“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 2 December 2014. The convent was established as a Roman Catholic nunnery in 1219, and was recorded in 1282 for pursuing the Benedictine observance. The convent relocated twice in 1282 and 1334.
Tasks and work According to the Klosterordnung (monastic statute) of 1684, at times altered and amended, at last in 2004, the convent is owned by the . The Bremian Knighthood, established by 1300,„Ritterschaft des Herzogtums Bremen“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 2 December 2014. was formerly the estate of the noble families within the Bremian prince-archbishopric and later the Duchy of Bremen. Its 20 members today are the proprietors of the landed estates registered in 1577 as knightly allods.Christa Kraemer, „Die Ritterschaft übernahm das Kloster: Vor 325 Jahren gaben die Schweden den Neuenwalder Besitz ab“, in: Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt (No. 728, August 2010), pp. 1seq., here p. 2.
The Knighthood committed itself, within the limits of its financial resources, to provide for the funds necessary to fulfill the tasks of the convent.§ 1 (1) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014. The convent is directed by the president of the Knighthood.§ 1 (2) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014. The president is the legal representative of the convent, unless he entrusts competences to the prioress.§ 1 (3) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014.
The convent preserves venerable, historical traditions, therefore it serves exclusively and immediately charitable, ecclesiastical and cultural purposes, such as (a) combining celibate Protestant women within the convent to form a community on a Christian basis, in order to let them serve cultural, ecclesiastical and charitable purposes for the general good (b) stewarding and maintaining the listed protected convent buildings, the convent church as well as the cloister garden, to keep the compound accessible for the general public, in as far as this is compatible with the other tasks of the convent (c) acting as a spiritual and cultural centre for the region.§ 2 (1) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014.
Women applying for the conventual community should be physically and mentally healthy and able to make their living and to keep their household independently, as well as capable of contributing to the convent life.§ 2 (2) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014. Each conventual, as the inhabitants are termed, has an apartment of her own.Ida-Christine Riggert-Mindermann, „Neuenwalde – Das Damenstift der Bremischen Ritterschaft“, in: Evangelisches Klosterleben: Studien zur Geschichte der evangelischen Klöster und Stifte in Niedersachsen, Hans Otte (ed.), Göttingen: V & R Unipress, 2013, (=Studien zur Kirchengeschichte Niedersachsens; vol. 46), pp. 273–279, here p. 279. . Applicants should not be older than 70 years.
Before being permanently admitted as a conventual applicant and president will stipulate a three-months novitiate.§ 2 (3) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014. Since 2004 admittance is not restricted to women of noble descent any more. Unlike stipulated in the earlier version of the statute, today nobody is entitled to be admitted into the convent.§ 2 (4) Klosterordnung, cf. „Klosterordnung“, on: Kloster Neuenwalde: Aktuelles, retrieved on 19 December 2014. Thus the former privilege of the 20 families, forming the membership of the Knighthood, to nominate female relatives for vacancies in the convent does not apply any more. Since May 2005 there are again several conventuals forming the community. In 2014 they were four.
The president of the Knighthood appoints a prioress for a five-year term, which may be extended several times until the prioress reaches the age of 75. Currently Veronika von der Decken functions as the prioress.
In order to broaden its cultural and spiritual activities the convent started in 2012 a coöperation with the Evangelisches Bildungszentrum Bad Bederkesa (Protestant Centre for Education at Bad Bederkesa). According to its president, , the Knighthood modernised and adjusted convent premises for about €1 million.„Bildungszentrum statt Damenstift — Historischer Umbruch im Kloster Neuenwalde“, Evangelischer Pressedienst — Landesdienst Niedersachsen-Bremen (ed.), on: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers, retrieved on 2 December 2014. Seminar rooms and 13 little apartments were installed, also offering guests a retreat. In the Zehntscheune (i.e. tithe barn) a modern canteen kitchen and a refectory were added.
History
In Midlum from 1219 to 1282 The oldest known deed on the convent records for 1219 that six members of the family of the Lords of Diepholz,Elke Freifrau von Boeselager, „Das Land Hadeln bis zum Beginn der frühen Neuzeit“, in: Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser: 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.), Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995), vol. III 'Neuzeit (2008)', (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), ISBN (vol. I) , (vol. II) , (vol. III) , vol. II: pp. 321–388, here p. 373. owning estates in and near Midlum, founded the nunnery and endowed them to it.Nicola Borger-Keweloh, „Das Kloster Neuenwalde – wie es zur Gründung kam“, in: Niederdeutsches Heimatblatt (No. 718, October 2009), p. 2.Bernd Ulrich Hucker, however, holds that the convent was only founded by 1231/32. Cf. Hucker, „Die landgemeindliche Entwicklung in Landwürden, Kirchspiel Lehe und Kirchspiel Midlum im Mittelalter“ (first presented in 1972 as a lecture at a conference of the historical work study association of the northern Lower Saxon Landschaftsverbände held at Oldenburg in Oldenburg), in: Oldenburger Jahrbuch, vol. 72 (1972), pp. 1—22, here p. 16. The Diepholz Lords then owned the Hollburg Castle between and Midlum on the brink of the Wesermünde Geest ridge,Otto Edert, Neuenwalde: Reformen im ländlichen Raum, Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2010, p. 27. . allowing a good view over the lower Land of Wursten, then a corporation of free Frisian peasants under only loose overlordship of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen. Rather than establishing the nunnery as their proprietary monastery the Diepholz family made it over to the cathedral chapter of the Bremen archdiocese. However, the Diepholz family adopted the advocacy (Vogtei) over the nunnery, later passed on to the Knights of Bederkesa who were related by marriage.Otto Edert, Neuenwalde: Reformen im ländlichen Raum, Norderstedt: Books on Demand, 2010, p. 29. .
The foundation of the nunnery by six sonsIohannes (canon at Bremen Cathedral, son of Gottschalk I, Lord of Diepholz), Wilhelmus (canon at Minden Cathedral, son of William I, Lord of Diepholz), Cono (or Conrad, canon at Halberstadt Cathedral, son of William I too), Rodolfus (since 1219 ruling as Rodolphe I, Lord of Diepholz, son of Gottschalk I too), Cono de Dhefholte (i.e. Diepholz, son of Gottschalk I too), and Gottschalk de Dhefholte. Cf. Johann Hinrich Pratje, Nachrichten von dem adlichen Jungfrauenkloster Neuenwalde Herzogthums Bremen: Samt einer Anzeige der Generalkirchenvisitation in der Neuhäusischen Probstey, und Synoden in dem Beverstedter und Osterstadischen Kirchenkreise, Stade: Erbrich, 1758, p. 3; cf. also Heinz-Joachim Schulze, „Neuenwalde“ (article), in: Germania Benedictina: 12 vols. so far, Bayerische Benediktiner-Akademie München / Abt-Herwegen-Institut Maria Laach (ed.), St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1970seqq., vol. XI: 'Norddeutschland: Die Frauenklöster in Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg' (1984), Ulrich Faust (compil.), pp. 429–446, here p. 429. . of William I, Lord of Diepholz and the disgraced Gottschalk I, Lord of Diepholz, one of the first rulers of the Diepholz Lordship, aiming for their readmittance as a princely ruling family, is therefore also seen as an act of atonement with Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, against whom his cousin Henry the Lion had rebelled. Gottschalk I, recorded since 1177, and a loyal vassal of the defeated Henry, is said to have had joined him into his exile with the English king in 1182.
In 1227 Prince-Archbishop confirmed and thus recognised the foundation of the convent.Adolf Hofmeister, „Der Kampf um das Erbe der Stader Grafen zwischen den Welfen und der Bremer Kirche (1144–1236)“, in: Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser: 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehem. Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol II, pp. 105–157, here p. 41. The nuns had the privilege to freely elect their provost, their legal warden. The Midlum St. Pancras Church,The baptismal font from the monastic period dating from the late thirteenth or fourteenth century is preserved. Cf. Heinz-Joachim Schulze, „Neuenwalde“ (article), in: Germania Benedictina: 12 vols. so far, Bayerische Benediktiner-Akademie München / Abt-Herwegen-Institut Maria Laach (ed.), St. Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 1970seqq., vol. XI: 'Norddeutschland: Die Frauenklöster in Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg' (1984), Ulrich Faust (compil.), pp. 429–446, here p. 441. . which existed before, was integrated into the convent. No remains of cloister or conventual outbuildings remain, and there are only few documentary references to them.June Mecham, "Neuenwalde" (section: State Of Medieval Structure), on: Monastic Matrix: A scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE , retrieved on 15 January 2015.
In 1232 Emperor Frederick II issued a writ of protection in favour of the convent and thus confirmed and acknowledged the foundation, denoting it a Cistercian nunnery. This was maybe because Gebhard of Lippe preferred the Cistercians. holds that the nuns were Premonstratensians.Hermann Hoogeweg, Verzeichnis der Stifter und Klöster Niedersachsens vor der Reformation: umfassend die Provinz Hannover, die Herzogtümer Braunschweig und Oldenburg, die Fürstentümer Lippe-Detmold und Schaumburg-Lippe, die Freien Städte Bremen und Hamburg und Hessisch-Schaumburg [Hanover and Leipzig: Hahn, 1908], Reprint: Hanover: Hahn, 1986, p. 96. . The convent's actual original affiliation to a monastic order is not documented. No hint is recorded that the convent strove to be incorporated into the Cistercian Order.