Churches and Monestaries

Archeology at Schinna Monastery, Nienburg/Weser district

© J. Berthold/S. Neupert/B.Päffgen

Project management: Prof. Dr. Bernd Päffgen
Project staff: Sikko Neupert, M.A.

Collaborative partner

  • Lower Saxony State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments
  • Dr. Michaela Harbeck, State Collection for Anthropology and Paleoanatomy
  • Dr. Jens Berthold, Municipal Archaeology, Schaumburg Region
  • Eastern Atlas, geophysical prospecting

Financial support

  • Weser-Hunte Regional Association
  • Municipality of Stolzenau
  • Schinna Monastery Foundation
  • LMU Munich

Project description

In 1148, Count Wilbrand von Loccum founded the Benedictine Abbey of Schinna. Apart from the founding document, nothing else is known about this complex today. The convent buildings that still exist today are dated to the 13th and 14th centuries in terms of art history. After a period of decline, the convent experienced a renaissance towards the end of the 15th century when Schinna joined the Bursfelde Congregation and various renovations and new buildings were carried out under its last abbot, Friedrich von Soltau. Shortly after his death, the monastery church was demolished by Count Erich von Hoya and replaced by a Renaissance half-timbered church designed as a "temporary church," which today is a historical monument of national importance.

Questions

  • Architectural design of the complex as a whole and the monastery church in the 12th century
  • Flood-induced changes during climate deterioration in the crisis-ridden 14th century
  • Transformation processes during the Reformation and their manifestation in archaeological findings.
  • Historical and geographical contextualization of the monastery's founding in relation to the neighboring monasteries of Loccum and Nendorf
  • Analysis of the living conditions and circumstances of the monastery residents

Archaeological investigations

2009: Test excavations A-G by the Municipal Archaeology Department (Dr. Jens Berthold)

2010: Geophysical survey of the site by eastern atlas (ground-penetrating radar)

2010: Sections H-L. Teaching excavation by the Institute for Prehistoric and Early History Archaeology and Provincial Roman Archaeology at LMU Munich in collaboration with the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at LMU Munich.

2011: Sections M-P. Teaching excavation by the Institute for Prehistoric and Early History Archaeology and Provincial Roman Archaeology at LMU Munich

2012: Section Q. Joint teaching excavation by the Institute for Prehistoric and Early History Archaeology and Provincial Roman Archaeology at LMU Munich with the Chair of Anthropology (Prof. Dr. Gisela Gruppe, Dr. Michaela Harbeck)

Initial results

  • A Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age scattered find and many Imperial period settlement finds throughout the site attest to the favorable location of the complex for settlement.
  • The fragment of a late antique keel cup and the remains of a golden garment appliqué provide evidence of a manor house in the 4th century AD.
  • Construction phases of the monastery church:
    • 12th century: Large Romanesque basilica with three apses and no transept. Destroyed in a flood, probably during the Magdalene flood of 1342.
    • 14th/15th century: New construction as a Gothic monastery church
    • Demolished before 1539/40
  • Anthropological investigation of monastic burials beneath the cloister
  • Identification and dating of a previously unknown monastery building from the late 15th century/early 16th century.
  • Living conditions in a Renaissance monastery (buildings, tiled stoves, ceramic furnishings)
  • Evidence of personal or economic ties to the Benedictine monastery in Siegburg through goods produced by the local potteries

Publications on the project:

J. Berthold/S. Neupert/B. Päffgen, Monastery Archaeology in Schinna – The Investigations of 2009 and 2010. Archaeology in Lower Saxony 14, 2011, 109–112.

Chronicle of Finds in Lower Saxony

J. Berthold/S. Neupert/B. Päffgen, Final report on the investigations conducted between 2010 and 2012 at Schinna Monastery – Archaeology, Geophysics, and Anthropology. Concepts and Reports of Municipal Archaeology Schaumburger Landschaft 20 (Bückeburg 2012)

Dr. h.c. Peter Tholen (1882-1950), Early Churches in the Rhineland - Documentation of the Scientific Legacy

Plans and a Photo of Dr. h.c. Peter Tholen

© Bernd Päffgen

Project management: Professor Bernd Päffgen

Dr. h.c. Peter Tholen (1882-1950) examined numerous early to high medieval church buildings in the Cologne Bay between 1920 and 1950. The preserved documentation is kept in a private family archive. It was processed between 2007 and 2009.

Project staff: Dipl.-Des. Kay-R. Lippmann

Cooperation partners: Archaeology Foundation in Cologne; Romano-Germanic Museum Cologne; Rhineland Office for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments.