Hersfeld

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An ancient imperial abbey of theBenedictine Order, situated at the confluence of the Geisa and Haune with theFulda, in the Province of Hesse-Nassau,Prussia. Sturmi, a disciple ofSt. Boniface, originally founded amonastery here in 742, but, owing to its position being exposed to attacks from the Saxons, he transferred it toFulda. Some years later (about 768) after the defeat of the Saxons by theFranks, Lullus,Bishop ofMainz, re-founded themonastery at Hersfeld.Charlemagne (who had recently succeeded to the crown) and other benefactors provided endowments, andPope Stephen III granted exemption from episcopaljurisdiction to the house, which soon possessed 1050 hides of land and a community of 150monks. It became a place ofpilgrimage after 780, owing to the bringing thither of therelics ofSt. Wigbert, and the reputed occurrence ofmiracles. A valuablelibrary was collected, the annals of themonastery were regularly kept, and it became renowned as a seat ofpiety and learning. Towards the close of the tenth century Hersfeld suffered from the general decadence of the age, and the monastic discipline became relaxed. Some years later, however, the observance was reformed by St. Gotthard (afterwardsBishop ofHildesheim), and we find members of the community sent out to other houses of the order to carry out in them the work of religious revival.

During the long struggle between theEmperor Henry IV andPope Gregory VII, Hersfeld espoused the imperial cause. Henry himself visited it not infrequently, sometimes accompanied by his consort; and their son Conrad (who afterwards succeeded to the throne) was born andbaptized within the precincts of theabbey. In the last decade of the eleventh century theabbey seems to have been fully restored topapal favour, and it continued to prosper for a long subsequent period. The town of Hersfeld, outside theabbey walls, also grew and flourished, one result of this being that it found itself strong enough to assert its independence of the rule of themonks, and in 1371 formally placed itself under the protection of the Landgraves ofHesse. As time went on the state of themonastery again deteriorated, and in 1513 it was at so low an ebb that theabbot (Wolpert) resigned his office into the hands ofPope Leo X, and theAbbot ofFulda was authorized by the Emperor Maximilian to incorporate the house into his own famousabbey. A melancholy account has come down to us of the condition into which the venerable Abbey of Hersfeld had at this time been allowed to fall. Thelibrary was in a state of ruin and decay, many precious volumes had altogether disappeared, andmanuscripts containing the archives and records of the house were used in the kennels as litter for the dogs. This forced union between Hersfeld andFulda lasted little more than two years, and a newAbbot of Hersfeld was chosen. Abbot Krato, who held office in 1517, was in sympathy withLutheranism, and heswore allegiance to Philip, theLutheran Landgrave ofHesse, in 1525. Theabbey church was consequently closed toCatholic worship, theHoly Sacrifice of the Mass being said only in achapel within themonastery.

During the remainder of the century theabbey dragged on an inglorious existence, and on the death of the lastabbot (Joachim Röll) in 1606, Otto, hereditary Prince ofHesse, was elected lay administrator. Thepope made a fruitless endeavour, after Otto's death, to replace theabbey underCatholic administration. It continued in the hands of the princelyfamily until about the middle of the seventeenth century, when, after the conclusion of the Treaty ofWestphalia, Hersfeld was, as an imperial fief, united toHesse under the title of a principality. The town of Hersfeld continued to rank as the capital of a principality until 1828. It is now the chief town of a circle in the government district of Kassel, and has a population of nearly 8000, with some important manufactures. The Stadtkirche, dating from about 1300, was restored in 1899, and there is a Rathaus of the sixteenth century. The ruined collegiate church, in the Romanesque style, was built in the early part of the twelfth century, but was destroyed by the French in 1761, in the course of the Seven Years War. Outside the town, of which the old walls are still preserved, are the remains of the once famousmonastery, with its extensive surrounding grounds. The "Annales Hersfeldienses" are often cited as sources ofmedieval German history (see below).

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