During the Advent season, the Tölzer Kurier glances behind a door in the district that is normally closed to the public.
Today: The study on the Kalvarienberg.
Bad Tölz
- This is what representative rooms in old monasteries look like.
Except that, as a rule, they do not have such a magnificent view as in the case of the Kalvarienbergkirche.
The so-called chapter room is located between the two towers of the Tölz landmark.
The view from the baroque curved skylight windows falls on the Isar, the valley and goes far into the Karwendel.
It is perhaps the highest and most beautiful viewpoint in Bad Tölz.
No wonder that the former Tölz city pastor Rupert Berger literally fell in love with this room and set up a real study, so to speak, above the clouds.
Berger died in June this year at the age of 93.
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A wooden door closes the chapter room.
© cs-press
The Traunsteiner was Tölz pastor from 1968 to 1997.
And he was a renowned theologian who continued to work as a doctor of liturgy throughout his life and published for example in Herder-Verlag.
"When he wanted to have some peace and quiet, he retired from the rectory up to his study on Kalvarienberg," says Claus Janßen.
There was no phone.
A historic wood stove served as heating in the otherwise cool walls.
The table, chairs and a refrigerator are more recent.
A red and white Zacchaeus flag hangs on the wall, which, according to the sacristan Heinz Bader, is hung out at church fairs.
Four roughly hewn wooden pegs with massive iron containers attached to the tips are exciting.
It is probably about fire pans, with which one could light something in a time without electricity.
Bader estimates that they have “200 years under their belt”.
The church was built in 1718 by a wealthy Tölz salt official
The beautiful stucco ceiling indicates that the chapter room actually served as a meeting room for the monastic community, as is customary in monasteries.
Of course, it remains a mystery on Tölzer Kalvarienberg why the chapter room is extremely difficult to reach via the roof structure and the vault of the church.
It would certainly not have been easy for old monks to enter.
Which monks are you talking about?
The church was built in 1718 by the wealthy Tölz salt official Friedrich Nockher on a private initiative.
And piece by piece, which can still be seen today.
Nockher also donated a so-called hermitage, which his relatives later expanded.
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A great view even on a cloudy winter day.
© cs-press
Cells for six monks were added to the east side of the church.
These hermits also served as simple village teachers in the area.
The choir of the hermits is still preserved in the rear part of the church.
There is also a small house chapel that is not accessible.
The era of the hermits ended with secularization.
The last hermit lived there in the 1970s
Stop, not quite.
In the 1970s, Camillus Riedl settled down and, as a self-proclaimed (and affable) hermit brother Camillus, performed sacred services for 25 years in a self-tailored habit.
When he spoke publicly of a priestly ordination by an unrecognized French bishop and also celebrated church services in a small circle, the ordinariate stepped in.
Brother Camillus had to go.
Christoph Schnitzer
The series:
In the Advent season, the Tölzer Kurier takes a look behind a door in the district that normally remains closed to the public.
Among other things, the following have already appeared:
This is what the Tölz police detention cell looks like.
This is hidden behind the golden gate on Sylvenstein.
That happens in the depot in Lenggries.
Reptiles find a new home in Benediktbeuern Monastery.
An unusual look into an annual crib.
This is what it looks like in the crypt in Hohenburg Castle.
In the Advent door series, the Tölzer Kurier also looked into the bell tower of the basilica in Benediktbeuern and the railway depot in Lenggries.