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.

Around the year 1152, the cloister entered a period of prosperity. It wasn't long before the cloister took over property of Disibodenberg cloister and, through a series of substantial donations, could claim extensive properties nearby and further away. Added to this was the cloister Eibingen on the opposite side of the Rhine, in the year 1165. With increasing prosperity, a proper little cloister village developed on the Rupertsberg. Its center was the cathedral with its two towers. The entire complex was surrounded by walls. The illustration above from the year 1620, gives a good impression of the size of the cloister grounds. Just a little later, in the confusion of the 30 years war, the nuns were expelled and the cloister was occupied by Swedish soldiers. It was finally plundered and burned by the Swedish general Hanna. The administration of Rupertsberg and its remaining property was then carried out from Eibingen. It was only partly rebuilt. The Marien chapel, built of pieces of the cloister church, was consecrated by the bishop of Mainz in 1729. In 1801, as a result of secularization, the cloister officially came to an end with the auctioning off of its Ruins on the Rupertsberg, its farm and its vineyards.

In the second half of the 19th century, the town of Bingerbrück, growing quickly due to building of railroad lines, bought large parts of the vineyard for building upon although the Rupertsberg remained a vineyard until 30 years ago. In 1975, a fire burned the main building down to its foundation. This was used as an opportunity to excavate the rest of the cloister church, and to maintain it. In cooperation with the office for historical monuments, the present owner has taken great pains to integrate the arcades of the cloister church into the exhibition rooms of his newly constructed building. As a result, at least a part of the cloister church has been retained as a monument to the cultural influence which radiated and still radiates from this place through Hildegard von Bingen and her works.

Acknowledgments: I wish to thank the owner of the mansions "Am Rupertsberg" and his daughter, for their help when collecting material for this article.