Hamburg

The Franciskan cloister in Hamburg was demolished in 1806-07 and nobody really know what it looked like. Recent archaeological excavations have however resulted in remarkable findings. As the history behind the cloister is rather fascinating, the archaeologist are exited. The story goes:

In 1231 Count Adolph IV von Schauenburg won a decisive victory over a Danish army headed by the King, Valdemar Sejr. The story behind is that a German Count Heinrich von Schwerin kidnapped the king and his son in 1223. In a Danish chronicle the incident was described as follows:

“1223. King Valdemar was together with his son treacherously kidnapped, while they were lying in their beds, by count Heinrich at the island of Lyø of the 6th of May. They were taken to the castle of Schwerin. There they had to stay the next three years, while the Danes ransomed them for 60.000 mark Lübish. But the horses, clothes and other things, which were captured by the Saxons that year was worth the double. Notice reader, that the Germans never or very seldom have won and triumphed without deceit and treason, as it is in their nature, which is apparent from the kidnapping of the two kings and from many other incidents.” (Rydårbogen).

From other sources it appears that the count was the vassal of the king and had taken part at both the hunt and the following party. His plan was to deliver the two kings into the hands of the holy Roman Emperor. Unfortunately the Pope intervened and threa-tened with ban if the king was not returned unharmed. The emperor held back, but the German counts continued to pursue a heavy ransom. After some warring it ended at Christmas 1225 with the release of the king and at Easter 1226 with that of his son. The ransom was extremely heavy. All in all it consisted of 45.000 mark plus the je-wels of the queen Berengaria plus equipment of dresses and horses for 100 knights. Added to this was the loss of all the land between the rivers Ejdern and Elbe (the duchy of Schleswig-Holstein) plus the Slavic provinces captured in the endless wars along the Baltic and Northern German seashore. Well at home, the Danish king mustered an army in order to pursue the aggressors and regain the lost. July 1227 the two armies met at Bornhöved in Holstein where the army of the king was routed. Although he lost an eye, the king barely escaped.

One of the counts, which took part in the politics and the battle of Bornhöved was Adolph IV, the count of Schauenburg. According to the legend he prayed to God and promised to found a cloister if the Germans won the battle. Miraculously the weather shifted, the Danes lost and the Franciscans got their new Maria Magdalena cloister in Hamburg. In 1239 the count himself withdrew to live according to the Franciscan rule and in 1244 he was ordained a priest in Rome. His last years were however spent in another Franciscan cloister in the city of Kiel (which he also founded).

The new archaeological findings consist of foundation stones of the church as well as graves.

Read more at Hamburgs Archaeological Museum