Going East (2): 800 years of Crosier Art in Western Europe on show at Rheine (Germany)

A 3-hour drive away from Brussels lies the town of Rheine in Nordrhein-Westfalen: close to Holland and Belgium, and a bow's arrow from Niedersachsen. And adjacent to the German highway, but tucked away in greenery lies Kloster Bentlage, which the city of Rheine beautifully restored and which serves as municipal museum grounds.

This city museum now plays host to an exhibition highlighting 800 years of Crosier art in Western-Europe. Fittlingly, because in 1437 members of the order of the Holy Cross, Crosiers, settled in Rheine and built Kloster Bentlage. The order wasn't dissolved until 1803, when the monastery grounds came into the family Looz-Corswarem from Liège-Rhine territory.

The order of he Holy Cross was founded in the 13th century in Belgium in the city of Huy. From the river Meuse/Maas and other places in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and the Rhineland, the order spread all over Europe, to places like Paris and London. St Agatha in Cuijk (Holland) for instance played an important role in the order's history in the 15th century.

Although the Crosier order of canons regular today is thriving on four continents, it must be very pleased to see that Rheine took the lead in an exhibition celebrating its origins and involving artefacts from at least three countries.

Our interest involves the many items on loan from places like Brussels, Liège, Denderleeuw and Cuijck for among others sculpture, manuscripts, and bindings, all handled and placed expertly by curators and conservators at Rheine.

The exhibition opened on 29 August 2010 with festivities and representation from the Crosier's Generalate. It remains on show until 27 February 2011.

Venue:
Museum Kloster Bentlage
Bentlager Weg 130
48432 Rheine
www.kloster-bentlage.de

Opening hours:
Wednesday-Sunday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.