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Kulturlandschaft
Trithemius

The Rupertsberg near Bingen

On the left bank of the Nahe river near Bingen, lies the Rupertsberg. According to legend, it is named for St. Rupertus who built a chapel there in the second half of the 7th century. 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 'Cloister Rupertsberg'. 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 make out. Of course this was totally different in the summer of 1147 when Hildegard, along with 18 other women from the nearby Disibodenberg cloister, arrived here to found their own cloister over the grave of St. Rupertus. This did not happen without resistance from the official church, though. It was Hildegard's charismatic personality along with her far sighted persistance which finally brought success to this endeavor. On May 22nd of the year 1158, the archbishop Arnold of Mainz granted it official recognition as a Benedictine cloister. A letter of protection from Emperor Friederich Barbarossa in the year 1163, ensured the cloister politically.

Photo: We see today's Eibingen monastery, which Hildegard von Bingen had acquired in 1165 as «Rupertsberg Branch» for the extension of her Rupertsberg monastery. Eibingen Monastery is located not far from Bingen on the opposite side of the Rhine and was visited by Hildegard twice a week.

vSpacer hSpacer Hildegard von Bingen; Eibingen Monastery (Nahe Valley) rFrame
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