Himmelpforten Convent (Low Saxon: Klooster Hemelpoorten, ; ) was founded as a monastery of nuns following the Cistercian Rule during the 13th century in Himmelpforten, in today's Lower Saxony, Germany. During the 16th century, it was converted into use as a Lutheran Damsels' Convent. The Himmelpforten Convent was founded before 1255 and finally dissolved in 1647.Peter von Kobbe, Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung der Herzogthümer Bremen und Verden: 2 vols., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, 1824, vol. 1: p. 120. No ISBN. The convent complex was built between 1300 and 1330. After 1645 the buildings, including the abbey, increasingly decayed, until they were little by little demolished. The dilapidated abbey was demolished in 1737 and replaced by today's St. Mary's Church which partially covers the foundations of the former abbey.
History The convent was founded in the mid-13th century on Westerberg hill in , a location later indicated by St. Andrew's Chapel.Georg von Issendorff, Kloster und Amt Himmelpforten. Nach Akten und Urkunden dargestellt, reprint of the edition by "Stader Archiv", 1911/1913, extended by Clemens Förster, Stade and Buxtehude: Krause, 1979, p. 5. No ISBN. As the Cistercian Order had restricted the incorporation of the growing number of women's monastic communities who followed the Cistercian Rule, and since no existing deed neither records the incorporation of the Himmelpforten Convent, nor the appointment of a Father Abbot, as usual for an affiliated community of women, Porta Coeli most likely never officially joined that Order.Silvia Schulz-Hauschildt, Himmelpforten – Eine Chronik, Gemeinde Himmelpforten municipality (ed.), Stade: Hansa-Druck Stelzer, 1990, p. 33. No ISBN.
In 1244 and 1245 the Cistercian general chapter had determined that a monastery of nuns could be incorporated into the Cistercian Order only if the competent bishop and the competent cathedral chapter exempted the community's temporalities and spiritualities from their control.Gerd Ahlers, Weibliches Zisterziensertum im Mittelalter und seine Klöster in Niedersachsen, Berlin: Lukas-Verlag, 2002, (=Studien zur Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur der Zisterzienser; vol. 13), partially simultaneously Berlin, Free Univ., Diss., 1997, p. 49. . However, such a wide-ranging exemption from their sovereignty is exactly what Bremen Cathedral chapter and the prince-archbishop did not want, as is described below.
The convent's main benefactor, the Brobergen family (also spelt Broc(k)bergen, extinct in 1745Peter von Kobbe, Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung der Herzogthümer Bremen und Verden: 2 vols., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, 1824, vol. 1: p. 300. No ISBN.) intended to make it their proprietary monastery.Matthias Nistal, „Die Zeit der Reformation und der Gegenreformation und die Anfänge des Dreißigjährigen Krieges (1511–1632)“, in: Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser: 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol. III: pp. 1–158, here p. 78. . The , holding allodial estates, tried to establish the nunnery as their power base out of the immediate prince-archiepiscopal reach,Konrad Elmshäuser, „Die Erzbischöfe als Landesherren“, in: Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser: 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol. II: pp. 159–194, here p. 165. .Adolf E. Hofmeister, „Adel, Bauern und Stände“, in: Geschichte des Landes zwischen Elbe und Weser: 3 vols., Hans-Eckhard Dannenberg and Heinz-Joachim Schulze (eds.) on behalf of the Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, Stade: Landschaftsverband der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden, 1995 and 2008, vol. I 'Vor- und Frühgeschichte' (1995; ), vol. II 'Mittelalter (einschl. Kunstgeschichte)' (1995; ), vol. III 'Neuzeit' (2008; ), (=Schriftenreihe des Landschaftsverbandes der ehemaligen Herzogtümer Bremen und Verden; vols. 7–9), vol. II: pp. 195–240, here p. 195. . an idea also pursued by the Brobergens' kinsman ,Silvia Schulz-Hauschildt, Himmelpforten – Eine Chronik, Gemeinde Himmelpforten municipality (ed.), Stade: Hansa-Druck Stelzer, 1990, p. 27. No ISBN. but failed.Silvia Schulz-Hauschildt, Himmelpforten – Eine Chronik, Gemeinde Himmelpforten municipality (ed.), Stade: Hansa-Druck Stelzer, 1990, p. 28. No ISBN.Adding up to the conflict was that the Archdiocese of Bremen, upholding the claim of the merged Hamburg Archdiocese, tried to enforce its claim as metropolis over the new Baltic dioceses, whose incumbent bishops again, originating from the Bremian prince-archbishopric, strove for the erection of a Baltic metropolis, succeeding in 1253/1255 with the elevation of Riga to an archdiocese, with Dorpat as its suffragan.
In their aim to establish unrivalled territorial control, the Bremen Cathedral Chapter, led by its then Provost Gerard of Lippe,Being a son of Bernard III, Lord of Lippe he was promoted by his granduncle Prince-Archbishop Gebhard to be elected provost, striving to succeed him, he gained support among the enfranchised capitular canons and acted as rivalling archbishop, however, he succumbed to Count Hildebold of Wunstorf, the other rivalling archbishop, in a feud and was most likely killed in action in 1259. besides fulfilling religious tasks of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bremen also wielding the secular rule in the much smaller Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, together with the prince-archbishop of Bremen, then Gerard's sick granduncle , since 1251 represented by Coadjutor , Prince-Bishop of Paderborn, being Gerard's uncle and Gebhard's nephew, managed to integrate the Porta Coeli convent and its holdings as a temporality within the prince-archiepiscopal sovereign territory.
With establishing Porta Coeli as a prince-archiepiscopal outpost to observe and surveil the peasants' ambitions Gerard and Simon of Lippe pursued Prince-Archbishop Gebhard's long-term project of enforcing the reign over the free peasants, e.g. manifesting in Gebhard's earlier subjection of the Stedingers. The integration of Himmelpforten Convent into the prince-archiepiscopal temporalities was fixed in a deed, issued in 1255, on the occasion of moving the convent to then Eylsede/ Eulsete village (literally: Eylo's/Eilhard's seat), later adopting the Low Saxon translation tor Hemmelporten or to der Himilporten of the convent's Latin name Porta Coeli (Gate of Heaven;Cf. the Christian imagery of Mary of Nazareth as the Gate of Heaven refers to Ezekiel's "closed gate" (). modern standard German: Himmelpforten).Silvia Schulz-Hauschildt, Himmelpforten – Eine Chronik, Gemeinde Himmelpforten municipality (ed.), Stade: Hansa-Druck Stelzer, 1990, p. 23. No ISBN.
Eylsede was most likely chosen because its location adjacent to the Osten jurisdiction (Gericht Osten; in the Oste Marshes) and to Kehdingen,Bernd Ulrich Hucker, „Freiheit und Herrschaft bei den Kehdingern“, in: Stader Jahrbuch, N.F. 61 (2001/2002), pp. 101–108, here pp. 104seq.Whereas Hucker points out that Porta Coeli was also to uphold the prince-archiepiscopal rule over Kehdingen, Hofmeister argues this was unlikely since at that time the impassable Kehdingen moorland (Kehdinger Moor) made Himmelpforten an unsuited place to access Kehdingen. Cf. Adolf E. Hofmeister, Besiedlung und Verfassung der Stader Elbmarschen im Mittelalter: 2 parts, Hildesheim: Lax, 1979-1981, (=Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Historische Landesforschung der Universität Göttingen; vols. 12 and 14), part II: 'Die Hollerkolonisation und die Landesgemeinden Land Kehdingen und Altes Land' (1981), p. 344. . both forming corporate bodies of free peasants upholding a certain inner autonomy, claiming and at times gaining seat and franchise at the diets of the estates of the prince-archbishopric (Stiftsstände) and therefore suspected by the chapter and the prince-archbishop to rival their reign.
The deed of 1 May 1255, empowering the convent's Provost Albertus to steward its possessions and waiving the prince-archiepiscopal overlordship, explicitly mentions the donation of Großenwörden village by Frederick of Haseldorf, later canon at the Hamburg subchapter, who in 1250 on the occasion of joining clergy bestowed part of the allodial holdings of his family (extinct in the 1280s) in the Lamstedt Geest and the Oste Marshes on the nunnery.Georg von Issendorff, Kloster und Amt Himmelpforten. Nach Akten und Urkunden dargestellt, reprint of the edition by "Stader Archiv", 1911/1913, extended by Clemens Förster, Stade and Buxtehude: Krause, 1979, p. 6. No ISBN He also donated to other monasteries ( in Stade, in Zeven, in Harsefeld), but preferred Porta Coeli. The capitular deed also declared that the convent held all its possessions, donated by whom so ever, only by the virtue of the Bremen cathedral chapter, thus denying any exemption from territorial prince-archiepiscopal sovereignty.
In his will, Frederick of Haseldorf, meanwhile Prince-Bishop of Dorpat, bequeathed his personal belongings to Porta Coeli Convent, however Vitslav II, Prince of Rügen, captured and withheld the bequest, so that in 1291 the abbess of Porta Coeli waived its claim, likely in return for some form of compensation.Georg von Issendorff, Kloster und Amt Himmelpforten. Nach Akten und Urkunden dargestellt, reprint of the edition by "Stader Archiv", 1911/1913, extended by Clemens Förster, Stade and Buxtehude: Krause, 1979, p. 8. No ISBN The deed of waiver of 17 March 1291 shows the oldest preserved version of the nunnery's seal, since 1955 officially used by the Himmelpforten municipality.Silvia Schulz-Hauschildt, Himmelpforten – Eine Chronik, Gemeinde Himmelpforten municipality (ed.), Stade: Hansa-Druck Stelzer, 1990, p. 5. No ISBN.
Besides the Brobergens and Haseldorfs further noble families from the Elbe–Weser triangle (Bremian ministerialis such as the ) bestowed land and dues on the convent. The Cistercian nuns elected a male provost as their legal wardenSabine Graf, „Die vier katholischen Klöster Harsefeld, Altkloster, Neukloster und Zeven im evangelischen Erzstift Bremen“, in: Stader Jahrbuch, N.F. 91/92 (2001/2002), pp. 51–78, here p. 64. as well as their representative at the diets of the prince-archbishopric.Peter von Kobbe, Geschichte und Landesbeschreibung der Herzogthümer Bremen und Verden: 2 vols., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, 1824, vol. 1: pp. 278seq. No ISBN. The provost and the convent's prioress stewarded its possessions together.Georg von Issendorff, Kloster und Amt Himmelpforten. Nach Akten und Urkunden dargestellt, reprint of the edition by "Stader Archiv", 1911/1913, extended by Clemens Förster, Stade and Buxtehude: Krause, 1979, p. 24. No ISBN. Until the secularisation Porta Coeli's provosts were usually simultaneously capitular canons residing in Bremen city. This was because any candidate for provostship had to be confirmed in advance by the Bremen Cathedral Chapter.