Altenberger Dom


The Altenberger Dom is the former abbey church of Altenberg Abbey which was built from 1259 in Gothic style by Cistercians. Listed as a cultural heritage, it is located in Altenberg, now part of Odenthal in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Until 1511, the church was the burial site of counts and dukes of Berg and the dukes of Jülich-Berg.
Badly damaged after the monastery was dissolved in 1803 due to the secularisation of Germany, the church was rebuilt with support from Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia, who decreed in 1857 that it was to serve as a parish church simultaneously for a Catholic and a Protestant parish.
The German name has sometimes been translated to English as Altenberg Cathedral, but it was never a cathedral, a bishop's seat.

History

The Counts of Berg settled in the area northeast of Cologne. Their castle was named Berg, in Latin "Mons", later "veterus Mons" in German "Alter Berg" or "Altenberg", situated above the river Dhünn. The castle's name was transferred to the county and the counts, and today the area is called the Bergisches Land. In 1133 the senior line of the counts resettled in Burg Castle, latin "Novus Mons" and transferred the castle at Altenberg to the Cistercians who arrived from Morimond. They founded Altenberg Abbey on the river, and its first church was consecrated in 1160. In 1259 the archbishop of Cologne, Konrad von Hochstaden, laid the foundations of a larger church called "St. Mariä Himmelfahrt". The choir of the new church, in Gothic style, was consecrated in 1276. The choir's floor plan is similar to that of the Cologne Cathedral, and the choir is similar to the destroyed choir of Royaumont, probably because the builders of Altenburg were familiar with that site. The church was built over 140 years and served as the abbey church for centuries.
The monastery was dissolved in 1803 during the secularisation of Germany. The buildings were used for a chemical plant, and in 1815 a fire destroyed most of thems. Count Fürstenberg von Stammheim bought the ruins in 1833 and turned them over to the Prussian king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who was fond of medieval history.
The king supported the rebuilding of the Altenberger Dom, and also the completion of Cologne Cathedral. He suggested in the 1830s that the Altenberger Dom should be used by both Catholics and Protestants as a simultaneum, and finalized the idea in a royal decree of 1856.

Windows

The windows are predominantly in shades of grey, with some coloured windows, especially the large window in the west facade.

Church music

The church serves also as a concert venue. From May to October, sacred music and vespers take place regularly at 11:45 a.m.
The organ was built in 1980 by Klais Orgelbau, Bonn, an instrument of 6300 pipes, 88 stops, four manuals and pedal, with the last pedal stops added from 2007. The organ has been used for concerts and recordings.

Graves of nobility

According to a Benedictine tradition, members of the noble family owning the abbey were buried in the church.
  • Count
  • Adolf IV, Count of Berg, founder of the abbey
  • Count Adolf VII of Berg
  • Count William I of Berg
  • Provost
  • Count Gerhard VI of Jülich, Count of Berg and Ravensberg and his wife, Margaret of Ravensberg
  • Duke William VII of Jülich, 1st Duke of Berg
  • Duke Adolf, Duke of Jülich-Berg
  • Duke Gerhard VII, Duke of Jülich-Berg
  • Duke William IV, Duke of Jülich-Berg and his wife Sibylle of Brandenburg

    Literature

  • Martin Banniza: Geschichte und Architektur – Der Altenberger Dom. In: Bergische Blätter. 21, 1998, 3
  • David Bosbach: Altenberg. Der Dom und das Tal der Dhünn. Gaasterland-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2005,.
  • Nicolaus J. Breidenbach: Die Güter und Beziehungen der Abtei Altenberg zu Wermelskirchen. In: Altenberger Hefte. Nr. 35, Odenthal 2006.
  • Karl Eckert: 700 Jahre Altenberg im künstlerischen Bildwerk vom 13. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Beiträge zu Bau- und Kunstdenkmälern im Rheinland 4. Johann Heider, Bergisch Gladbach 1956.
  • Festschrift 75 Jahre Altenberger Dom-Verein 1894–1969. Bergisch Gladbach 1969.
  • Ursula Francke: Archäologische Untersuchungen im Altenberger Dom. In: Ökumenerat der evangelischen und katholischen Kirchengemeinden Altenberg : Altenberg 1847. 1857. 1997. Festschrift 150 Jahre Wiederherstellung, 140 Jahre Simultangebrach des Altenberger Domes. Odenthal 1997.
  • Uwe Gast, Daniel Parello, Hartmut Scholz: Der Altenberger Dom.. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2008,.
  • Susanne Heydasch-Lehmann, Andreas Stürmer, Klaus Faika: Altenberg. Der Bergische Dom. Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg i. Allgäu 2008,.
  • Hansjörg Laute: Die Herren von Berg – Auf den Spuren der Geschichte des Bergischen Landes. Boll, Solingen 1988, .
  • Sabine Lepsky, Norbert Nußbaum: Die Westfassade der Zisterzienserkirche Altenberg. Beobachtungen zur gotischen Bautechnik.. Altenberger Dom-Verein e.V., Bergisch Gladbach 1999.
  • Sabine Lepsky, Norbert Nußbaum: Gotische Konstruktion und Baupraxis an der Zisterzienserkirche Altenberg 1: Die Choranlage. . Altenberger Dom-Verein e.V., Bergisch Gladbach 2005,.
  • Sabine Lepsky, Norbert Nußbaum: Gotische Konstruktion und Bautechnik an der Zisterzienserkirche Altenberg 2: Quer- und Langhaus.. Heider-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2012,.
  • Brigitte Lymant: Die mittelalterlichen Glasmalereien der ehemaligen Zisterzienserkirche Altenberg. Herausgeber: Altenberger Dom-Verein, Bergisch Gladbach 1979.
  • Heike Ritter-Eden: Der Altenberger Dom zwischen romantischer Bewegung und moderner Denkmalpflege. Die Restaurierung von 1815 bis 1915. Altenberger Dom-Verein, Bergisch Gladbach 2002, .
  • Ulrike Wirtler: Das ehemalige romanische Zisterzienserkloster Altenberg.. Rheinisches Landesmuseum Köln 1976, pp 84–86.
  • Vincenz von Zuccalmaglio: Altenberg im Dhünthale und der Bergische Dom: mit Ansicht, Grundriß und Beschreibung und einer Orientierungskarte für Touristen. Düsseldorf 1884.