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Guide to Bach Tour
Ebstorf [V] |
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Contents |
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Description | History
J.S. Bach: Connection | Events in Life History | Performance Dates of Vocal Works | Festivals & Cantata Series
Features of Interest | Information & Links
Photos: Part 1 | Maps |
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Description |
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Ebstorf is a municipality in the district of Uelzen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km northwest of Uelzen, and 25 km south of Lüneburg.
The municipality Ebstorf belongs to the integrated municipality Bevensen-Ebstorf . Ebstorf was the seat of the former Samtgemeinde ("collective municipality") Altes Amt Ebstorf. |
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Country: Germany | State: Lower Saxony | District: Uelzen | Area: 27.26 km² | Population: 5,400 (December 2015) |
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History |
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Church: The Flecken Ebstorf consists of the Ort Ebstorf and the village until the municipal reform in 1972 independent village Altenebstorf and Tatendorf. Until October 31, 2011, it was a member church and the seat of the Samtgemeinde Altes Amt Ebstorf , which merged into the Samtgemeinde Bevensen-Ebstorf on 1 November 2011.
History: At Ebstorf an army of Vikings defeated in 880 an Saxon army under the Saxon Count Brun. The army of the Saxons suffered a terrible defeat. The Duke fell in battle; with him Bishop Theoderich von Minden, Bishop Markward von Hildesheim, the 11 Counts Wigmann, Bardo, Bardo and Bardo, Thiotrich and Thiotrich, Gerrich, Liutolf, Folkward, Awan, Liuthar, as well as the 14 known ministerials Bodo, Aderam, Alfuin, Addasta, Aida, Aida, Dudo, Wal, Halilf, Humildium, Adalwin, Werinhard, Thiotrich and Hilward.
Since June 24, 2010, the place officially bears the name Klosterflecken Ebstorf.
Incorporations: On July 1, 1972 Altenebstorf was incorporated into the Flecken Ebstorf.
Place name: Old names of the place are: 1084 Ebbekestorp, 1131 Ebbikesdorp, 1136 Ebbekesthorp, 1152 Ebbekesdorf, 1156 Ebbecstorp, 1195 Dingelstide, 1196 Ebekestorp, 1212 Ebbikestorp, 1225 Ebbekestorp and 1270 Ebekestorp. Both names contain Low German "t(h)orp" for "Dorf, Siedlung" (village, settlement) and a personal name "Eb(b)ek-", a reduction (element "-ek-") from a base "Ab-" (originated from reductions of Adal-, Athal-, Adel-). |
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Sons and daughters of the town |
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Johann Friedrich Meister (1638- 1697), composer and organist
Source: Wikipedia (February 2018), BCW |
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Bach Connection (1707/1702) |
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Ebstorf, originally a Benedictine monastery, became a Protestant convent for noble ladies after the Reformation, when most of its landholdings were transferred to ducal ownership. The ducal estate Ebstorf (Amt Ebstorf), the eponymous village, and to a lesser degree the convent were obliged to house and feed the Celle court during hunting season and on other visits. According to oral tradition, a princely room (Fürstenzimmer) in the monastery’s large dormitory was fitted out for Eleonore d'Olbreuse. The fall hunting season under Duke Georg Wilhelm lasted “almost a quarter of a year” (Dose 1994, 344) and included visits by foreign dignitaries and diplomats, as well as noble relatives. The duke arrived "with his household."
The long reigning of the dukes covers, of course, the time when J.S. Bach was attending the Michaelisschule in Lüneburg in 1700-1702. The Obituary refers to J.S. Bach's encountering well-managed French music played by the 'then-famous band kept by the Duke of Zelle'. It states that most of the players were actually French- a result of its having been formed by the French duchess of the ducal line, Eléonore Desmier d'Olbreuse. The duchess retired to her dower house in Lüneburg in 1705, but she had already chosen it by 1700, and it may have been there, or elsewhere in Lüneburg, that J.S. Bach heard the orchestra. The assumption made by J.N. Forkel and others that the young J.S. Bach actually travelled to Celle is today regarded with scepticism.
Would the entourage have included the court kapelle? It seems unlikely that the court would deprive itself of musical entertainment over a sojourn of two to like the Lüneburg , three months. J.S. Bach, therefore, could possibly have heard the court kapelle not in Celle but in Ebstorf, considerably closer to Lüneburg: 26 km/16 miles to the south - a day’s trip. The Obituary simply does not reveal precisely where J.S. Bach had heard the duke’s kapelle: in Celle, Lüneburg, or somewhere else.
Ebstorf Monastery still functions as a Protestant women’s convent. The late-14th-century church includes a balcony for a nuns' choir. The complex consists of several large connected wings, including a so-called lords' residence (Herrenhaus), which accommodated the provost. In 1705, the director of the Lüneburg Ritterakademie was assigned the function of Ebstorf monastery commissar, an appointment attesting to the close links between St. Michael’s monastery in Lüneburg and Ebstorf (Dose 1994, 39).
The monastery is famous for its unique "Ebstorf World Map" (Ebstorfer Weltkarte), measuring ca. 12 ft. x 12 ft., created by the nuns c1300 and representing the world as it was imagined in the late Middle Ages. The map is a mixture of biblical history, geography, and mythology. Two wings of the cloister contain rare stained glass windows dating from the 14th century that present an iconographic cycle connecting Old and New Testament scenes.
J.S. Bach’s possible route from Lüneburg:
Lüneburg-Melbeck-Velgen-Ebstorf.
Literature: Homarm; BDOK III; NBR; Reinecke 1907; Wolflheim 1910; Linnemann 1935; Fuck 1950; Wolff 1986a; Dose 1994; Basso 1997; Petzoldt 2000; Marshall 2016; Gödecke.
Source: Robert L. Marshall & Traute M. Marshall: Exploring the World of J.S. Bach - A Traveller's Guide (University of Illinois Press, 2016), pp 113-114 |
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Events in Life History of J.S. Bach: See above. |
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Performance Dates of J.S. Bach’s Vocal Works : None. |
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Bach Festivals & Cantata Series : None. |
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Features of Interest |
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Kloster Ebstorf (Ebstorf Monastery/Abbey): Before 1150 Premonstratensians founded a canon double pen for men and women, but after a fire, the men left Ebstorf to participate in the construction of the Ratzeburg Cathedral. At the latest from 1197 Ebstorf was a Benedictine convent. In 1565, the Protestant Reformation finally prevailed in Ebstorf Monastery. Even today, the monastery is inhabited and preserved by Protestant conventuals within the framework of an independent body of public law within the 1818 founded Verbundes der Klosterkammer Hannover (Association of the Klosterkammer Hannover). The present monastery buildings are mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries. The Conventualinnen offer tours of the monastery, where they also show many pieces of equipment such. B. Sculptures, stained glass, textiles, paintings, furniture and altar device mainly from the Middle Ages; The most famous sight is a replica of the 1943 burned Ebstorf's world map .
Ebstorfer Weltkarte (Ebstorf's world map): The Ebstorf's world map was a round map of 3,57 m diameter on 30 parchment leaves with Jerusalem as center. It is supposto be the imitation of a Roman map of the world from the 4th century. It is the largest cycling map and representation of the world view from the Middle Ages. It is named after its locality, the Benedictine convent Ebstorf. There it was found in a storage room in 1830; two parts of the map were destroyed by mice, including the area of today's Brandenburg. In addition, an approximately 50 ª 60 cm large piece of map in the upper right half in the area of today's India shortly after the rediscovery was cut out for reasons unknown.
Architectural Monuments: See: List of monuments in Ebstorf (Wikipedia) [German]
Natural monuments: King oak with a breast height of 8.50 m (2016). |
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Information & Links |
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Ebstorf (Wikipedia) [English]
Ebstorf (Wikipedia) [German]
Klosterflecken Ebstorf (Official Website) [German] |
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Prepared by Aryeh Oron (April 2018) |
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