Appingen Abbey

The monastery Appingen is a former monastery of the Carmelites in the parish Greetsiel, which was under the patronage of Saint Mary. It is named after the town.

History

The old village was Appingen origin and starting point of the subsequent comital Cirksenas, who possessed there over extensive land holdings. A first church to have been built since 1200. Consecrated she was the Virgin Mary.

After Appingen was cut off by diking from the sea and thus gradually lost its importance, the Cirksenas 1362-1388 moved their headquarters to the castle in the newly created Greetsiel. The Church in Appingen was then downgraded to the chapel. In 1433 founded Enno Cirksenas, father of the first Imperial Count of Ostfriesland, Ulrich I., the now abandoned the Carmelite parish church and asked them to set up a monastery there.

The required papal approval granted Eugene IV on December 10, 1433. At the Council of Basel, founded in 1435 was given final in order. With the implementation of the Carmelites tasked the Prior General of the Order, John Faci, as well as the Provincial Prior of the Lower German Province, Peter of New Churches. Thus, the year 1435 is considered the founding year of the Convention. Three years later, took the Provincial Chapter of the Carmelite Monastery in Mainz Appingen as 26th in the province of the order on.

The Convention in Appingen was the only branch of the Carmelites in East Friesland and the last in the region, founded at all. Not much is known about the history of the monastery. In addition to the existing church, the founding family had built a stone house for the monks and a mill for the Cirksenas owned rights. At first it was only applied for three to four priests, but was probably expanded significantly in later times. At its heyday, lived in the monastery for at least 20 monks.

Shortly before the Reformation of Appingen from the monastery still Atens in today's city was founded by Nordenham. The first prior of the subsidiary Abbey, John Kruse, had previously worked in the same capacity in Appingen.

In 1526, the Office of the Priors was last awarded by the provincial chapter. 1530 was sacked Balthasar von Esen the monastery at one of his many feuds with the Count of East Frisia. Balthasar but it did not destroy - such as the nearby monastery Dykhusen of the Dominican Order - completely. The monastery has been restored and adopted in 1531, the nuns of Dykhusen on. In the period after the monastery was secularized and leased from 1545 by the Count of East Frisia. Several attempts by the Carmelites, to regain the monastery again failed in the sequence. When the buildings were demolished, is unknown. In Appingen there are no remains of walls rising more. Since the archive and the library were lost in the course of the resolution, is about the location and extent of the former buildings not known. Archaeological excavations took place not in Appingen to date.

Today, the former village Appingen and the monastery has remained only a yard belonging to Visquard.