The Rupertsberg near Bingen
On the left bank of the Nahe river near Bingen, lies the Rupertsberg. According
to legend, it is named after St. Rupertus who built a chapel there in the
second half of the 7th century. His rich parents owned the area almost as
far as the city of Mainz. They were the pagan nobleman Robolaus and
the Christian daughter of a prince named Bertha. After the early death
of her husband who was involved in continuous warlike disputes, Bertha moved
to the left shore of the Nahe with her three-year-old son. There, on the current
Rupertsberg, she erected her house not far from the place where the Rhine
and the Nahe flow into each other. Far away from she tried to protect her
son from military and worldly life. In the years that followed Bertha did
many charitable works and soon gained the reputation of a popular saint. When
he was nearly 15 years old Rupertus went on a pilgrimage to Rome, and after
his return built churches and accommodation for the poor on his land. Around
732 however he died from a severe fever, and Bertha outlived her son by 25
years. Both were buried in a small church on the Rubertsberg. Later the grateful
inhabitants erected a chapel in their honour. The Rupertsburg gained world
fame through
Hildegard von Bingen
(1098-1179) who was one of the most important women of the Middle Ages and
the founder of the Rupertsberg Monastery. She was a woman who knew how to
succeed in her goals against the powerful forces of her time and was astoundingly
"modern" in many of her ideas. Today, the rather modest Rupertsburg is difficult
to find in the extensively built up town of Bingerbrück. Even from the outlook
tower of Klopp castle, it is hard to identify. Of course this was totally
different in the summer of 1147 when Hildegard, along with 18 other women
from the nearby
Disibodenberg
monastery at
Bad Sobernheim
arrived here to found their own monastery above the mouth of the Nahe. This
did not happen without resistance from the official church. It was Hildegard's
charismatic personality along with her far sighted persistence which finally
brought success for her plans. On May 22nd 1158, the archbishop Arnold of
Mainz granted it official recognition as a Benedictine monastery. A letter
of protection from Emperor Friederich Barbarossa in the year 1163, ensured
the monastery politically.
Around the year 1152, the monastery entered a period of prosperity. It was
not long before the monastery took over property of Disibodenberg monastery
and, through a series of substantial donations, could claim extensive properties
nearby and further away. The Eibingen monastery on the opposite side of the
Rhine was added to this in 1165. This former Augustinian monastery had been
donated less than 20 years before previously by the noblewoman Marka of Rüdesheim.
Due to war-associated chaos under Emperor Barbarossa however, it was involved
in hostile disputes and ultimately destroyed. After acquisition of the remains
Hildegard immediately started renovating the monastery in Eibingen, and in
the same year 30 Benedictine nuns were accommodated there. Hildegard herself
drove to her "Rupertsbergian branch" twice a week. The most important source
of income for the monastery was wine growing, in which all monastery women
participated. With increasing prosperity, a proper little monastery city developed
on the Rupertsberg. Its centre was the cathedral with its two towers. The
entire complex was surrounded by walls protecting the inhabitants from intruders.
The illustration above from 1620, gives a good impression of the size of the
monastery grounds. Just a little later, in the confusion of the Thirty Years
War, the nuns were expelled and the monastery was occupied by Swedish soldiers.
It was finally plundered and burned by the Swedish general Hanna in April
of 1632. The buildings were largely rendered uninhabitable so the administration
of Rupertsberg and its remaining property was carried out from Eibingen. It
was only partly rebuilt, since the location of the monastery was very difficult
to reach. The Marien chapel, built from remnants of the monastery church,
was consecrated by the bishop of Mainz in 1729. In 1801, as a result of secularization,
the monastery officially came to an end with the auctioning off of its ruins,
farm and vineyards on the Rupertsberg. In the second half of the 19th century,
the town of Bingerbrück, expanding quickly due to the construction of the
railway, bought large parts of the vineyard for building upon although the
Rupertsberg remained a vineyard until 30 years ago. In 1975, a fire burned
the main building down to its foundation. This was a useful opportunity to
excavate the rest of the monastery church, and to restore it.
In cooperation with the office for historical monuments, the present owner
has taken great pains to integrate the arcades of the monastery church into
the exhibition rooms of his newly (25 year old) constructed building. As a
result, at least a part of the monastery church has been retained as a monument
to the cultural influence which radiated and still radiates from this place
through Hildegard von Bingen and her works.