Banz Abbey (german: Kloster Banz), now known as Banz Castle (german: Schloss Banz), is a former

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery, since 1978 a part of the town of

Bad Staffelstein Bad Staffelstein is a small town in the Bavarian Administrative Region of Upper Franconia in Germany. It has around 10,000 inhabitants. Bad Staffelstein is known for several landmarks, such as the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen designed by B ...

north of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, southern

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

History

The abbey was founded in about 1070 by Countess Alberada of

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban ag ...

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 Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

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 The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires includin ...

, 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 A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...

and ebonist of Schönborn, Johann Georg Nesstfell. In the second half of the 18th century Banz Abbey was known throughout the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

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 Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

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 The CSU-associated Hanns Seidel Foundation (german: Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung) is a German party-associated and taxpayer-money funded political research foundation. It was founded in November 1966 after most of the other party-associated foundations ...

, an organisation closely associated with the political party

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...

, and is used as a conference centre. It also accommodates a collection of fossils and other curiosities, such as

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

. The estate of the former monastery, including vast forests, is today owned by Duke

Max Emanuel Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

's eldest daughter

Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, Countess of Rietberg (born Duchess Sophie in Bavaria; 28 October 1967) was born a member of the House of Wittelsbach, with the courtesy title of Duchess in Bavaria, and second in line for the Jacobite ...

Sources

*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. * Stühlmeyer, B., Stühlmeyer, L., 2016. ''Johann Valentin Rathgeber. Leben und Werk.'' Verlag Sankt Michaelsbund, München 2016, .

External links

*
Official website

Klöster in Bayern: Kloster Banz
*

Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung, Kloster Banz
{{Coord, 50, 07, 58, N, 11, 00, 03, E, region:DE-BY_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Monasteries in Bavaria Benedictine monasteries in Germany 1070s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Christian monasteries established in the 11th century Baroque architecture in Bavaria Lichtenfels (district) 1803 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire

History

After dissolution

See also

Sources

External links