The abbey was founded in about 1070 by Countess Alberada of Schweinfurt and her husband, Count Hermann of Habsburg-Kastl, and until the secularisation of 1803 was the oldest monastery on the upper Main.
In the late Middle Ages and until 1575 only members of the nobility were accepted as monks.
After the Thirty Years' War the abbey had to be rebuilt. The abbots Eucharius Weiner and Kilian Düring commissioned Johann Leonhard Dientzenhofer and after his death in 1707, his brother Johann Dientzenhofer. Construction began in 1698. The church, built in Baroque style, was consecrated in 1719. The interior is built, not with right angles, but with a series of ellipses. The main altar, the chancel and the statues of saints in the church and on the façade are by Balthasar Esterbauer; the ceiling frescoes are by Melchior Steidl. The choir stalls were made by the court cabinet maker and ebonist of Schönborn, Johann Georg Nesstfell.
In the second half of the 18th century Banz Abbey was known throughout the Holy Roman Empire as a place of Catholic enlightenment and for the scholarship of its monks. This did not save it from secularisation and dissolution in 1803.
After dissolution
In 1813 Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria acquired the former abbey premises, which were thereafter known as Schloss Banz ("Banz Castle").
In 1933 Duke Ludwig Wilhelm in Bavaria sold the buildings to the Community of the Holy Angels ("Gemeinschaft von den heiligen Engeln"), an order dedicated to the spiritual care of expatriate Germans. Since 1978 the former monastery has been in the possession of the Hanns Seidel Foundation, an organisation closely associated with the political party CSU, and is used as a conference centre. It also accommodates a collection of fossils and other curiosities, such as Egyptianmummies.
Dippold, G., 1991. Kloster Banz. Natur, Kultur, Architektur. Staffelstein: Obermain Buch- und Bildverlag.
Wüst, W., 2001. Kloster Banz als ein benediktinisches Modell. Zur Stiftsstaatlichkeit in Franken. in: "Zeitschrift für bayerische Kirchengeschichte" 70 (2001), pp.44–72.
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.
Duke in Bavaria was a title used among others since 1506, when primogeniture was established, by all members of the House of Wittelsbach, with the exception of the Duke of Bavaria which began to be a unique position. So reads for instance the full title of the late 16th century's Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and patriarch of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld: "Count Palatine by Rhine, Duke in Bavaria, Count to Veldenz and Sponheim". The title grew in importance as Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen began to use it, in the early 19th century, as his primary title – Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria. This choice has also had effect for his descendants.
Metten Abbey, or St. Michael's Abbey at Metten is a house of the Benedictine Order in Metten near Deggendorf, situated between the fringes of the Bavarian Forest and the valley of the Danube, in Bavaria in Germany.
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.
Wessobrunn Abbey was a Benedictine monastery near Weilheim in Bavaria, Germany.
Scheyern Abbey, formerly also Scheyern Priory, is a house of the Benedictine Order in Scheyern in Bavaria.
Altomünster Abbey was a monastery in the small Bavarian market town of Altomünster.
Prüfening Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on the outskirts of Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany. Since the beginning of the 19th century it has also been known as Prüfening Castle. Notably, its extant dedicatory inscription, commemorating the founding of the abbey in 1119, was created by printing and is a unique document of medieval typography.
Steingaden Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastery in Steingaden in Bavaria, Germany.
Ebrach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Ebrach in Oberfranken, Bavaria, Germany, now used as a young offenders' institution.
The Imperial Abbey of Kaisersheim, was a Cistercian monastery in Kaisersheim, Bavaria, Germany.
Langheim Abbey was a well-known Cistercian monastery in Klosterlangheim, part of the town of Lichtenfels in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, in the Bishopric of Bamberg.
Johann Dientzenhofer was a builder and architect during the Baroque period in Germany.
St. Mang's Abbey, Füssen or Füssen Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Füssen in Bavaria, Germany. It was founded in the 9th century, and dissolved during the post-Napoleonic secularisation of Bavaria.
Fürstenfeld Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria, Germany.
Marchtal Abbey is a former Premonstratensian monastery in Obermarchtal in the Alb-Donau-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The minster church of Saints Peter and Paul, the former abbey church, located on a prominent elevation, still dominates the landscape for miles around.
Leonhard Dientzenhofer was a German builder and architect from the well known Dientzenhofer family of architects.
Johann Valentin Rathgeber was a German composer, organist and choirmaster of the Baroque Era.
Prüll Charterhouse, previously Prüll Abbey, is a former Carthusian monastery, or charterhouse, in Regensburg in Bavaria, Germany.
Michaelsberg Abbey or Michelsberg Abbey, also St. Michael's Abbey, Bamberg is a former Benedictine monastery in Bamberg in Bavaria, Germany. After its dissolution in 1803 the buildings were used for the almshouse Vereinigtes Katharinen- und Elisabethen-Spital, which is still there as a retirement home. The former abbey church remains in use as the Michaelskirche.
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