> Extracts from the College house chronicle

Extracts from the College House Chronicle

Purchase of the old Schoenstatt cloisters 1901

House Chronicle, p. 12:

So, except for the usual shortage of money, nothing stood in the way of carrying out the plan, and on 19 April 1901 the contract of sale was signed and the Schoenstatt convent became the property of the Missionary Socity. The land register of the parish of Vallendar, Vol XI, §545 noted: “The Missionary Institute of the Pallottines according to the conveyance of 18 April 1901 are registered as the new owners on 3 June 1901.” The purchase price was 35000 Mk. The new property covered 2 ha 70a 70qm and was divided as follows: [8 lots]. If someone were to have draw up a document recording this important acquisition by the Pallottine Society, it could have run as follows:

‘In the year of salvation, nineteen hundred and one, on the nineteenth day of the fourth month, under the richly blessed pontificate of Leo XIII, and the glorious reign of the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, when Dr Michael Felix Korum was Bishop of Trier, Fr Gulielmus Whitmee General of the Society, Fr Max Kugelmann the Provincial Superior of the German Pallottines and Rector of the Mission House in Limburg, and Nikolaus Varain the Dean of Vallendar, the Pallottine Congregation bought that part of the Schoenstatt Convent that had belonged to Mr Karl Dorsemagen …’

On the first Friday in July the first High Mass was celebrated as solemnly as possible in the Chapel of St Michael. A document confirming this fact was built into the wall of the other chapel, which was being built at the time.

Discovery of skeletons when a drainage ditch was built in March 1902

House Chronicle, p. 18:

In order to drain off the rain water that collected in the courtyard in front of the house, a drainage ditch was built in March. It begins close to the well, takes in water at three points, and ends in the vegetable garden in a soakaway. When the ditch was being dug the workers discovered an old cemetery. At one spot in an area of about 2 meters, three complete skeletons were uncovered. They are probably the remains of nuns from ancient times. They were reburied behind the Chapel of St Michael …

Renovation of the Chapel of St Michael as
Second Oratory 1902

House Chronicle, p. 19:

There was only room for one altar in the house chapel, which meant a long wait for two of the three priests who wanted to celebrate Mass during the week. So the Chapel of St Michael was again renovated as a second oratory. A new altar was put in. The permission of the Bishop had to be obtained if there were to be two oratories in the same house, and this was willingly given

Laying of electrical cables

House Chronicle, p. 26:

Already in May 1903 work was started to supply the house with electricity. Br Heinrich Tenhaf was sent from Limburg to carry out this work. He brought Br Justus Freienstein with him, who had been here for some time the previous year

The generator was naturally installed in the old woolen mill, and the space was divided in a number of sections. The 3-4-horse power generator and a battery with 60 cells produced 110 volts and was driven by the canal that is part of the Wambach. At the end of September everything was complete, and to everyone’s joy it worked very well.

Convent gardens