A monastery that would fit perfectly into any horror movie was the Mariaberg monastery just outside Aachen. This monastery with its high walls was run by the Alexian Brothers, a Catholic lay order. The monastery was considered a sanatorium that, in addition to nursing the sick, also cared for the mentally ill. The monastery was particularly popular among clergy who were considered rebellious. When they ended up there, their lives were made a living hell. Instead of paradise on earth, they were trapped in hell, as no one was allowed to leave the monastery without the consent of the monks. In early 1893, Vicar Rheindorf, who had contracted cholera and malaria after his mission in America and was suffering from severe toothache and a nervous disorder, was sent there by the Archbishop of Cologne, Dr. Krementz, to recover. Vicar Rheindorf was not very pleased about this, as the monastery’s reputation had preceded it. Neither the food nor the medical treatment was satisfactory, not to mention the poor hygienic conditions. The monastery resembled a dirty prison to which no unauthorized persons had access, nor could anyone leave without permission. Therefore, Vicar Rheinfeld resorted to a ruse. He knew that correspondence was monitored, so in his letter to the archbishop, he praised his stay at the monastery. However, he requested a day of leave because he had an urgent legal matter to resolve. His request was granted, and the vicar used his day off to flee to a friend in Iserlohn. His friend had contacted Heinrich Mellage, an Iserlohn innkeeper who was also a legal advisor and publicist, who advocated for Vicar Rheindorf to be transferred to a monastery of his choice. The vicar was transferred to the Marienhospital in Ratingen, where he was soon discharged as recovered. He took up his post as a clergyman in Cologne. But instead of remaining silent, he and Mellage were keen to report on the scandalous conditions in the monastery. The vicar was particularly concerned about a Catholic clergyman from Scotland named Forbes. He had met him in the sanatorium, where he had been declared mentally ill, even though he was considered mentally healthy. Like many others in the monastery, he was mistreated. Since he did not speak German, he could only communicate with the vicar, who spoke English. The Scotsman begged the vicar to free him from hell. Mellage contacted the public prosecutor’s office in Aachen, which referred him to the police. On May 30, 1894, accompanied by Aachen police commissioner Lohe, Mellage visited the Mariaberg monastery to secure the release of the Scottish clergyman, who was being held there against his will. Under pressure from Mellage, Forbes was examined by police doctor Dr. Kribben, who determined that Forbes was not mentally ill. Forbes was then released and taken in by Mellage. The Scottish clergyman had come to the monastery because he had quarreled with a Scottish abbess where Forbes was working as a pastor. The mother superior had complained to the Archbishop of Aberdeen about Forbes, who had turned her nuns against her. In reality, she wanted to get back at him because he had not reciprocated her advances. He had initially been housed in a Belgian monastery. At his own request, Forbes was brought to Mariaberg Monastery in 1890. At first, the Scottish clergyman was treated well. This changed when an emissary from the bishop of Aberdeen visited him at the monastery. The emissary had portrayed Forbes as dangerous and a severe alcoholic. Forbes was then treated increasingly badly. When he was at the tavern in the evening to drink a beer, a monk followed him and asked him to return to the monastery. When Forbes refused, a second monk joined him. Both dragged Forbes into a cab, which drove to the monastery. A reception committee was already waiting for Forbes there, who was beaten up and locked in a cell. When he rebelled and broke a window, the institution’s doctor, Dr. Chantraine, and the police doctor, Dr. Kribben, were called. The monks said that Forbes was an alcoholic who had gone mad. Dr. Kribben examined Forbes for 15 minutes and, without conducting any tests, believed the monks’ claims. From then on, Forbes was considered mentally ill and was placed in the ward for the raving lunatics. Since then, he had been abused and harassed, sometimes being tied to his bed at night. Forbes wrote letters to the bishop, but they never arrived because the correspondence was monitored. There was no escape from this hell until Vicar Rheinfeld set the ball rolling through Mellage. After the news became known, Chaplain Schröder also came forward. He had once fled from the monastery to the police, but they did not believe him, so he was returned to the monastery. There, as punishment for his escape, he was put in the dirty ward for eight days. This ward was for inmates who could no longer control their bodily fluids. When the chaplain refused to eat there, he was put in a straitjacket and the food was simply stuffed into his mouth. Mellage drew up reports based on the statements made by Forbes, Rheinfeld, and Chaplain Schröder, which he forwarded to the public prosecutor’s office in Aachen. As a result, criminal proceedings were initiated against the head of the Mariaberg monastery for unlawful deprivation of liberty. These were dropped shortly afterwards. There was no trial. Mellage did not give up. He passed on his information to the press. The daily newspaper in Iserlohn printed several reports about the unacceptable conditions in the Mariaberg monastery. Mellage himself published a book entitled: “39 months imprisoned as insane while in sound mind! Experiences of the Catholic clergyman M. Forbes from Scotland in the Alexian monastery Mariaberg in Aachen during the period from February 18, 1891, to May 30, 1894.” The book caused quite a stir, prompting the medical officer Dr. Capellmann, who had been responsible for the monastery for 30 years, and the Aachen district president to file criminal charges for defamation. They simply turned the tables, and at the end of November 1894, Mellage’s book was confiscated by order of the Hagen Regional Court. Who would have thought that Mellage, his publisher, the bookbinder Johann Warnatzsch, and the editor of the Iserlohner Kreisanzeiger, Max Scharre, would now be sitting in the dock? The case was heard before the First Criminal Chamber of the Aachen Regional Court. The whole truth about the monastery, which turned out to be a dungeon for inconvenient clergymen, came to light. Even perfectly healthy citizens such as the baker Kaspar Kleinschmidt were imprisoned there. He owed his stay there to his wife, who wanted to get rid of him. He was taken to the sanatorium for no reason and held there for two months. The food consisted of barley soup, a piece of liver sausage, or half a herring. Many witnesses were heard, including the farmhand Joseph Nelleser. He had worked there for six months and had never seen a medical officer there. However, he had observed that inmates were being mistreated by the monks. The housekeeper of Pastor Rheindorf, a woman named Friesel, testified that the director of the institution, Brother Heinrich, had told her that no one was released without consent and that those who were released had been “tamed.” The epileptics Joseph Schäfer, Oprée, and Louis Meyer recounted their ordeal. They were taken to an empty room with a bathtub. They had to undress completely, were then tied up and placed in the bathtub filled with ice-cold water. Then a monk pushed their heads under the water, and before they suffocated, they were pulled out of the water. This procedure was repeated over and over again for a total of 30 minutes. When the rector of the Mariaberg monastery, Brother Paulus Overbeck, was questioned about this, he admitted everything. Treatment methods involving straitjackets or immersion baths were part of everyday life at the monastery. He had previously worked in a Belgian monastery, where these methods were even required by law. Everything came to light during the trial. The Mariaberg monastery was not a sanatorium, but a torture chamber where lay brothers, who had previously been simple craftsmen and workers, were now entrusted with the care of the sick and mentally ill. They had no idea what they were doing. Many enjoyed living out their new position of power and giving free rein to their sadistic urges within the protection of the monastery walls. After more than two hours, the presiding judge, District Court Judge Dahm, announced the verdict. All three defendants were acquitted on all counts. Justice had prevailed after all.
The monastery from the horror movie
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