Monastery information | |
---|---|
Order | Benedictine |
Denomination | Catholic |
Site | |
Location | Landkreis of Starnberg (Upper Bavaria) |
Country | Germany |
Coordinates | 47°58′28.776″N11°10′56.838″E / 47.97466000°N 11.18245500°E |
Website | www |
Andechs Abbey is a Benedictine priory in the municipality of Andechs, in the Landkreis of Starnberg, Upper Bavaria, Germany . A place of pilgrimage on a hill east of the Ammersee, the Abbey is famed for its flamboyant Baroque church and its brewery, Klosterbrauerei Andechs, the proceeds from which help fund the monks' mission of help. Composer Carl Orff is buried in the church.
In 955, relics brought from Rome and the Holy Land by Rasso, count of Diessen, to his monastery at Wörth (later called Grafrath) were transferred to the heilege Berg (holy mountain) to preserve them from the ravages of the Hungarians. Around 1100, Berthold II, Count of Andechs built a new residence on a hill outside Andechs. In the 12th century three hosts, reputed to have been consecrated by Pope Gregory I and Pope Leo IX, were added to the relics at the heilige Berg. [1] The first documented pilgrimages to Andechs were in 1138, when Count Berthold ordered his subjects to make the journey to venerate the relics in the chapel of St Nicholas at the Schloss . The Andechs were also benefactors of Langheim Abbey.
In his struggle with the House of Wittelsbach over his Bavarian possessions, Otto II of Andechs and Merania lost his ancestral seat in Andechs. Andechs castle falls into disrepair around the middle of the 13th century and only the Chapel of St. Nicholas remains. With Otto's death in 1248, the Duchy of Merania expired. Upon the death of his uncle, Berthold (patriarch of Aquileia), the House of Andechs became extinct.
The legendary rediscovery of long-lost reliquaries in 1388 revived the ancient pilgrimage trade. The Andechs hosts were approved by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, otherwise a foe of such cults of wonder hosts. [2]
Ernest, Duke of Bavaria (1392–1438) built the late-Gothic collegiate church which was completed in 1423. He also named the Andechs mountain the “Heilige Berg”. At first, the church was tended by Augustinian canons from Dießen. They were replaced by Benedictine monks from Tegernsee Abbey in 1455. In 1458 it was raised to the status of an abbey, and thenceforth enjoyed a period of uninterrupted prosperity as a popular pilgrimage site. [3] A pipe organ was built at the abbey by Daniel Hayl the elder in the year 1615. [4] In 1669 lightning struck the top of the tower causing a fire which burned down everything but the Chapel and the guest wing. The church was re-roofed and the monastery re-occupied two years later. The monastery was remodeled (in Baroque style) in 1712; it came under the secularization laws in 1803.
It was refounded in 1850 as a Benedictine priory, affiliated to the Abbey of St Boniface in Munich. [5] During World War II, much of St Boniface's library was sheltered at Andechs. In 1974 the monks began construction of a new monastery brewery.
The present church dates from the 18th century. The 20th-century German composer Carl Orff is buried there. There are also the graves of 11 members of the House of Wittelsbach inside the church, mostly from the 15th and 16th centuries. More recent burials of members of the former Bavarian Royal Family took place on a graveyard in the abbey garden, installed by Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria in 1977, as the royal tomb at Theatine Church, Munich had no more space.
The monastery hosts a number of cultural programs including a summer organ festival, the Carl Orff Festival and various symposiums. [6]
Erling, huddled at the foot of the abbey, was created as an independent town in 1818. Erling, Frieding and Machtlfing were united in 1978 as the Gemeinde Andechs.
Klosterbrauerei Andechs is a monastic brewery at the Abbey run by its monks, well known for its Andechser beers. Every year, the brewery produces over 100,000 hectolitres (85,000 US bbl ) of beer. [7] A portion of the beer is served on-site at a restaurant and Biergarten at the abbey, Klostergasthof Andechs; the remainder is exported throughout Germany and worldwide. The Andechs monks finance their many activities, such as help for the homeless in Munich, with proceeds from brewery - without the aid of any church tax funds. [8]
Hedwig of Silesia, also Hedwig of Andechs, a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from 1232 until 1238. She was canonized by the Catholic Church in 1267 by Pope Clement IV.
Ettal Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Ettal close to Oberammergau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. With a community of more than 50 monks, with another five at Wechselburg, the Abbey is one of the largest Benedictine houses and is a major attraction for visitors.
Tegernsee Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in the town and district of Tegernsee in Bavaria. Both the abbey and the town that grew up around it are named after the Tegernsee, the lake on the shores of which they are located. The name is from the Old High German tegarin seo, meaning great lake.
Scheyern Abbey, formerly also Scheyern Priory, is a house of the Benedictine Order in Scheyern in Bavaria.
Benediktbeuern Abbey is an institute of the Salesians of Don Bosco, originally a monastery of the Benedictine Order, in Benediktbeuern in Bavaria, near the Kochelsee, 64 km south-south-west of Munich. It is the oldest and one of the most beautiful monasteries in Upper Bavaria. It was badly damaged in an extreme weather event in 2023.
Weissenohe Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Weissenohe in the district of Forchheim in Bavaria, Germany.
Weltenburg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg near Kelheim on the Danube in Bavaria, Germany.
Weihenstephan Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Weihenstephan, now part of the district of Freising, in Bavaria, Germany. Brauerei Weihenstephan, located at the monastery site since at least 1040, is said to be the world's oldest continuously operating brewery.
Berthold IV, a member of the House of Andechs, was Margrave of Istria and Carniola. By about 1180/82 he assumed the title of Duke of Merania, referring to the Adriatic seacoast of Kvarner which his ancestors had conquered in the 1060s and annexed to Istria and Carniola.
Andechs is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria in Germany. It is renowned in Germany and beyond for Andechs Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that has brewed beer since 1455. The monastery brewery offers tours to visitors.
Johann Baptist Straub was a German Rococo sculptor.
The House of Andechs was a feudal line of German princes in the 12th and 13th centuries. The counts of Dießen-Andechs obtained territories in northern Dalmatia on the Adriatic seacoast, where they became Margraves of Istria and ultimately dukes of a short-lived imperial state named Merania from 1180 to 1248. They were also self-styled lords of Carniola.
Berthold III, a member of the Bavarian House of Andechs, was Margrave of Istria from 1173 until his death.
Saint Rasso of Andechs was a Bavarian count and military leader, pilgrim, and saint. He was the count (Graf) of Dießen-Andechs, leading the Bavarians against invading Magyars in the tenth century. No contemporary Vita of Rasso has survived and various legends arose around his cult in the late Middle Ages. However, there is no reason to doubt that there existed a count named Rasso who fought against the Magyars in the 950s.
Mechtildis of Edelstetten, also known as Mechtildis of Diessen or Mechtildis of Andechs, was a Benedictine abbess and, according to legend, a renowned miracle worker. Mechtildis was the daughter of Count Berthold of Andechs, whose wife, Sophie, founded a monastery on their estate at Diessen, Bavaria, and placed their daughter there at the age of five. In 1153, the Bishop of Augsburg placed her as Abbess of Edelstetten Abbey. Mechtildis was known for her mystical gifts and miracles. She died at Diessen, Germany, on 31 May 1160. Her adorned remains lie in a glass shrine within the Marienmünster church of that town.
Heilika of Pettendorf-Lengenfeld was by marriage Countess Palatine of Bavaria.
The Klosterbrauerei Andechs is a monastic brewery in Andechs, Upper Bavaria, Germany, well known for its Andechser beers. The brewery is run by the monks of Andechs Abbey, a priory of St. Boniface's Abbey, a Benedictine abbey situated 40 km away in Munich. It is the only monastic brewery in Germany that brews Bock beer year-round for nationwide distribution.
Henry II, Margrave of Istria, born c.1175 and died 18 July 1228 in Slovenj Gradec (Windischgraz), was a noble from the House of Andechs who ruled the March of Istria and Carniola from 1204 to 1228. He inherited the County of Stein, and expanded his domains to the Windic March through marriage. He died childless, and his vast possessions were eventually inherited by his niece Agnes of Merania.
The Duchy of Merania was a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire from 1152 until 1248. The dukes of Merania were recognised as princes of the Empire enjoying imperial immediacy at a time when these concepts were just coming into use to distinguish the highest ranks of imperial nobility.
Klostergasthof Andechs is a monastery restaurant in Andechs Abbey, Bavaria, Germany.
Jedes Jahr werden über 100.000 hl Bier am Fuße des Heiligen Bergs gebraut.