Welcome – Historical monk processions on Mount Oybin
Welcome – Historical monk processions on Mount Oybin
At the beginning of the monk procession the visitors, who have gathered at the idyllic mountain cemetery, are welcomed by two monks. Then the Celestine monks walk down from the camera obscura to the cemetery, lit by torchlight and singing songs by for example Mozart or Beethoven, as well as sacred songs. The procession then continues across the mountain cemetery, through the group of spectators, down the special covered walkway to the open area in front of the Emperor’s residence. The visitors may join in the procession. The sound of “Dona nobis pacem” rings out repeatedly. Two monks then escort the guests into the former monastery church where the second part of the event takes place. Here the visitors can learn interesting things about the history of the Celestines as well as about the castle and the monastery of Oybin. After the monks have entered the monastery, you can listen to the chant of the choir again. You will again hear famous sacred songs such as “Ave verum” or “Sanctus”. The choir then says goodbye to their visitors with the canon “Dona nobis pacem”. The event is finished when the monks leave. We welcome you most warmly to these events in the romantic surroundings between the ruins of the castle and the monastery of Oybin. With the monk procession we would like to offer our visitors an impressive time for both eyes and ears.Treat yourself to selected pieces of classical choral music in the middle of this romantic scenery. On that note, we wish you a wonderful and exciting evening. In the years the monastery was in operation the Celestine monks certainly made their way, with torches and singing, over the mountain, not to delight tourists or music lovers but for their own edification. The first monks arrived on the mountain in 1366, and in 1369 they began to build the monastery. It was consecrated 15 years later,in November 1384, by the archbishop of Prague.The monks lived on this site, faithful to their motto “Ora et labora,” for almost 200 years. In 1547 the last monk left the monastery during the reformation and spent his last years at the Väterhof in Zittau. The monastery was dissolved, and in 1577 lightning and a week-long fire that followed destroyed all buildings on the mountain. In 1851 it was friends of the Zittau choral society “Liederkranz”, and beginning in 1883 the choral society “Liedertafel”,who recalled this historical era and allowed the monk processions to become a good tradition which, unfortunately, was forgotten in the tumult of World War I. Later, there was a variety of sporadic activities; it was not until the 725th anniversary of Oybin that a new beginning finally became reality. The musicloving activities of the members of our society, a group made up of singers from the Bakermenchoral of Zittau and Oberseifersdorf, the Spitzkunnersdorf Singerunion, the Oderwitz Volkschoral and other friends from the surrounding area, has now matured into a regular series of events.
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