Women’s club discovers Trappist trail

TUESDAY Rostrum members and their friends were recently taken on a ‘field excursion’ in their own back yard.

October speaker Steven Kotze, a research officer at the Durban Cultural Museum, has made a study of a living Southern KwaZulu-Natal heritage, the 21 mission stations, still in use today, established by the monks of Mariannhill Monastery between 1882 and 1909.

Three of these missions, Maristella, Maria Trost and Otting, are in the Port Shepstone region and can be recognised by their Bavarian style of architecture. These churches, with their old-world European grandeur, are true gems in the midst of rural KZN.

A confident, erudite speaker, Steven fascinated his audience with his knowledge and historical facts, supported by excellent visuals. He followed the establishment of the Cistersian order of monks in Europe during the sixth century, through their growth and to their subsequent missionary work beyond Europe.

The design of the monasteries built for these monks was identical and missionary monks could therefore move from monastery to monastery confidently knowing their way around the buildings. In spite of there being 1 802 rules that governed behaviour and daily routine of monks, young men flocked to the monasteries during the Middle Ages. Living hard lives of extreme poverty and being denied any luxuries, monks made a great contribution to the world as we know it. Their contributions include libraries, medicine, wine making and even accountancy.

The austere Trappist order, with Abbot Franz Pfanner as its leader, grew out of the Cistersian order and still has its headquarters in France. In response to a request in 1880 from the Bishop of Grahamstown for missionaries, Pfanner travelled with 31 monks to South Africa. They landed at Port Elizabeth and settled in the Sundays River Valley, the area now occupied by Addo Elephant Park. However, with an extremely dry climate, farming was hard and there were few people living in the area to evangelise.

Following an invitation in 1882 from Chief Manzini, the monks moved north and established a monastery and farm at Mariannhill Manzini felt that if his people saw how hard-working the monks were, they would convert to Christianity.

The success of the monks’ work and growth of Christianity became well known and Nkosi Sakayedwa of Polela (near Bulwer) requested that the Trappist monks establish a mission station to serve his area. Thus Reichenau Mission, the first of a trail of missions, was built in 1886. Its St Andrews Church and famous water wheel for its mill can be seen from the R612 between Ixopo and Underberg.

According to Trappist rules a monk must spend each night in a monastery. To address the need for overnight stops during the long horse ride from Mariannhill to Reichenau various monasteries were then established, each a day’s ride apart. These were Mariathal, Otting, Kevelaer, Lourdes, Centacow and Maristella, all designed by Brother Nivard Streicher, Pfanner’s right-hand man. The churches were true works of art .

The more monasteries that were built, the more that could be added, and so Abbot Pfanner’s empire spread. As a clever entrepreneur, Pfanner secured all the funding necessary for the building of these missions from sponsors in Europe. Quality products were used and finishes were of the highest standard.

By the beginning of the 20th century the population of Trappist monks of Mariannhill had grown and become self-sufficient. Therefore in 1909 the Pope issued a Decree of Separation whereby the monks were no longer part of the Trappist order, but became the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries, which still manages many of the mission churches today. At this time 80-year-old Pfanner died at the mission station that had been built at Emmaus and was buried at Mariannhill. Nowadays the Sisters of the Precious Blood work at these mission stations and these nuns are passionate about the work they do, especially in the field of teaching.

This trail of mission churches stretches from Durban to beyond Matatiele. There you can find the beauty of such mission stations as Hardenberg, Maria Linden and Mariazell, with the backdrop of the Southern Drakensberg mountains. Each of these treasures revealed by Steven are surely worth a visit. How privileged we are to have them on our doorstep.

Having previously worked with David Rattray at Rorke’s Drift, Steven envisages great tourist potential in Southern KwaZulu-Natal and sees the ‘Trappist Trail’ becoming as popular as the Battlefields of Northern KZN. Together with the Ingwe Municipality, he offers tours and lectures as an endeavour to make the art, architecture and amazing history of these mission stations more widely known. To find out more call 082 3182243 or visit www.missiontours.co.za.