![Abbazia di Ettal - Baviera](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Abbazia_di_Ettal_-_Baviera.jpg)
Ettal Abbey (german: Kloster Ettal) is a
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
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
in the village of
Ettal close to
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...
and
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the Ob ...
in
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 lan ...
,
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 betwe ...
. With a community (as of 2005) 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.
History
Middle Ages and Early Modern period
![Monasterio de Ettal, Baviera, Alemania, 2014-03-22, DD 09](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Monasterio_de_Ettal%2C_Baviera%2C_Alemania%2C_2014-03-22%2C_DD_09.JPG)
Ettal Abbey was founded on 28 April 1330,
Saint Vitalis of Milan's day, by Emperor
Ludwig the Bavarian
Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328.
Louis' election as king of Germany in ...
in the Graswang valley, in fulfilment of an vow, on his return from his coronation in Rome, on a site of strategic importance on the primary trade route between Italy and
Augsburg
Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...
. The foundation legend is that Ludwig's horse genuflected three times on the site of the original church building, where a marble statuette of the
Madonna and Child
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
("Frau Stifterin" or the "Ettal Madonna") now stands. The statuette was brought by Ludwig from
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
as a gift for his new foundation. It soon became an object of pilgrimage. The church is dedicated to the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic_Mariology#Dogmatic_teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and d ...
.
The foundation originally consisted of a Benedictine double monastery – a community for men and another for women – and also a house of the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
.
The original
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
abbey church, built between 1330 and 1370, was a modest structure in comparison to the great churches of medieval Bavaria.
The abbey suffered great damage during the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
at the hands of the troops of
Maurice of Saxony
Maurice (21 March 1521 – 9 July 1553) was Duke (1541–47) and later Elector (1547–53) of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity.
...
, but survived the troubles of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
(1618–1648).
Baroque expansion
![Ettal abbey 003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Ettal_abbey_003.JPG)
In 1709, under Abbot Placidus II Seiz, the golden age of Ettal began with the establishment of the "Knights' Academy" (''"Ritterakademie"''), which developed into a highly successful school and began the educational tradition of the abbey. In 1744, the abbey and the abbey church were largely destroyed in a fire. The subsequent spectacular re-building in the
Baroque
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 including t ...
style, with a double-shelled dome, was to the plans of
Enrico Zuccalli
Enrico Zuccalli (''Johann Heinrich Zuccalli''; c. 1642 – 8 March 1724) was a Swiss architect who worked for the Wittelsbach regents of Bavaria and Cologne. Biography
Zuccalli was born in Roveredo, Switzerland. From 1669 he lived in Munich ...
, a Swiss-Italian architect working in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, who had studied with
Bernini. The decoration was primarily carried out by
Josef Schmutzer Josef may refer to
*Josef (given name)
*Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people:
* Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher
* Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...
of the
Wessobrunn School of stuccoists and
Johann Baptist Straub
Johann Baptist Straub (1 June 1704 (baptism) – 15 July 1784) was a German Rococo sculptor.
Biography
Straub was born in Wiesensteig, into a family of sculptors. His father Johann George Straub and his brothers Philipp Jakob, Joseph, and ...
, who was responsible for the altars and the chancel.
Ettal's importance as a place of pilgrimage grew with the new buildings and it became one of the most important monasteries in the
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
region.
Secularization
The abbey was dissolved in 1803 during the secularization of church property in Bavaria. The site was acquired in 1809 by Josef von Elbing and sold by his descendants in 1856 to Count Pappenheim. Some small building works were completed during the 19th century, principally the renovation of the façade and the twin bell towers.
Second foundation
![Ettal abbey 013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Ettal_abbey_013.JPG)
In 1898, the buildings were acquired by Baron Theodor von Cramer-Klett and, in 1900, given to the Benedictines of
Scheyern Abbey
Scheyern Abbey, formerly also Scheyern Priory (german: Kloster Scheyern), is a house of the Benedictine Order in Scheyern in Bavaria.
First foundation
The monastery at Scheyern was established in 1119 as the final site of the community founde ...
, who re-founded the monastery here. It has been a member of the
Bavarian Congregation The Bavarian Congregation is a congregation of the Benedictine Confederation consisting (with one exception) of monasteries in Bavaria, Germany.
It was founded on 26 August 1684 by Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689).
First Congregation
Until the secul ...
of the
Benedictine Confederation
The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Confœderatio Benedictina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti) is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict.
Origin
The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monasti ...
since 1900. The abbey church of the Ascension was declared a
basilica minor
In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular b ...
in 1920.
During the winter of 1940–1941, the German pastor and theologian
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world have ...
(1906–1945) spent some months at the monastery as the friend and guest of the Abbot. Like Bonhoeffer, a number of those in the Ettal community were involved in the
conspiracy against Hitler. While at Ettal, Bonhoeffer also worked on his book ''Ethics''. Catholic priest
Rupert Mayer
Rupert Mayer (23 January 1876 – 1 November 1945) was a Germans, German Jesuit Priesthood (Catholic Church), priest and a leading figure of the Catholic German Resistance to Nazism, resistance to Nazism in Munich. In 1987, he was beatified by ...
was kept at the Abbey under house arrest from 1939 to 1945 by the Nazis to prevent him from further anti-Nazi preaching.
In 1993, Ettal re-founded the former
Wechselburg Abbey
Wechselburg Priory, formerly Wechselburg Abbey (Kloster Wechselburg) is a Benedictine order, Benedictine priory in Wechselburg in Saxony, dissolved in the 16th century and re-founded in 1993.
First foundation
Dedo V of Wettin (dynasty), Wettin f ...
in
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, an old monastery of the
Augustinian Canons
Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...
, as a Benedictine priory.
Ettal maintains a Byzantine Institute. The abbot of Ettal, Joannes Hoeck, made a significant contribution on the role of Patriarchs in Church government at the Second Vatican Council.
Sex abuse scandal
In early 2010, ten priests at the Ettal Abbey boarding school were accused of sadistic beatings, molestation, or making sexual advances on boys as well as sadism. In March 2010, authorities raided the monastery as part of a probe into allegations that priests sexually abused children there.
By an Apostolic Visitation and an independent investigation, these allegations have been surveyed and consequences have been drafted. The major part of the alleged abuses took place in the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. Both the monastery's Abbot Barnabas Bögle and the head of the school Maurus Kraß both resigned in February 2010 after being pressured to do so by Munich Archbishop
Reinhard Marx
Reinhard Marx (born 21 September 1953) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Marx to the cardinalate in a consistory in 2010.
Biography
Born in Geseke, Nort ...
.
However, Bögle was re-elected Abbot in July 2010 and Kraß was later reinstated by the Bavarian Education Ministry.
On September 6, 2011, the monastery agreed to pay €700,000 to 70 former pupils who were victims of abuse, with each victim receiving between €5,000 and €20,000 each in compensation.
Economy
The monastery runs a brewery, a distillery, a bookstore, an art publishing house, a hotel, a cheese factory joint venture, and several smaller companies. The distillery produces Ettaler Kloster Liqueur, a herbal liqueur which, like
that of the Carthusian monks, comes in sweeter yellow and more herbal green varieties.
School
In the tradition of the ''Ritterakademie'', the abbey established a secondary school (''"
Gymnasium"'') specialising in the humanities and modern languages, with a boarding house. The boarding school and its clergy were charged with sexual and physical child abuse and have been under investigation since 2 March 2010 by the German Federal Prosecutor. The abbot has since resigned.
Notable alumni include
Karl Joseph von Firmian
Karl Joseph von Firmian (15 August 1716, in Trento – 20 July 1782, in Milan) was an Austrian noble, who served as Plenipotentiary of Lombardy to the Austrio-Hungarian Empire. His proper name was Karl Gotthard von Firmian, and in Italy known as C ...
,
Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza
''Dom'' Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (23 September 1907 – 24 December 1976) was the claimant to the defunct Portuguese throne, as both the Miguelist successor of his father, Miguel Januário, Duke of Braganza, and later as the head of the ...
,
Franz, Duke of Bavaria and diplomat
Rupprecht von Keller.
Abbots
* Heinrich I. Rieter von Kornburg, 1331–44
* Eberhard aus Niederaltaich, 1344–49
* Jodok von Agenwang, 1349–53
* Konrad I. Kummersprugger aus Tegernsee, 1360–90
* Heinrich II. Zucker, 1390–93
* Berner/Werner, 1393–99 († 1407)
* Konrad II. Duringfeld, 1399–1413
* Heinrich III. Sandauer, 1413–14
* Ulrich Hohenkircher, 1414–19
* Konrad III. Schifflein/Schifflin, 1419–39
* Johannes I. Kufsteiner, 1440–52 († 1455)
* Simon Hueber, 1452–76
* Stephan Precht, 1476–92
* Benedikt Zwink, 1492–95 († 1495)
* Johannes II. Spangler, 1495–1511
* Maurus I. Wagner, 1511–22
* Maurus II. Nuzinger, 1522–49
* Placidus I. Gall, 1549–66
* Nikolaus Streitl, 1566–90
* Leonhard Hilpolt, 1590–1615
* Othmar I. Goppelsrieder, 1615–37
* Ignatius Rueff, 1637–58
* Virgil Hegler, 1658–68
* Benedikt II. Eckart, 1668–75
* Roman Schretter, 1675–97
* Romuald Haimblinger, 1697–1708
* Placidus II. Seitz, 1709–36
* Bernhard I. Oberhauser, 1736–39
* Benedikt III. Pacher, 1739–59 († 1796)
* Bernhard II. (Ludwig) von Eschenbach, 1761–79 (son of Maximillian III Joseph Karl)
* Othmar II. Seywold, 1779–87
* Alphons Hafner, 1787–1802 († 7 May 1807)
* Secularization, 1802–1906
* Willibald Wolfsteiner, 1907–33
* Angelus Kupfer, 1933–51
* Johannes Maria Hoeck, 1951–61
* Karl Gross, 1961–73
* Edelbert Hörhammer, 1973–2005
* Barnabas Bögle, 2005–10
** Emmeram Walter, February - July 2010, Administrator
* Barnabas Bögle, since 11 July 2010
Gallery
File:Kloster Ettal von oben.jpg, Aerial view
File:Ettal Abbey Church, August 2017.jpg, Exterior
File:Ettal19.jpeg, Organ
File:Ettal10.jpeg, Interior
File:Ettal9.JPG, Dome
File:Monasterio de Ettal, Baviera, Alemania, 2014-03-22, DD 28.jpg, Dome
See also
*
Roman Catholic Marian churches
Catholic Marian churches are religious buildings dedicated to the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These churches were built throughout the history of the Catholic Church, and today they can be found on every continent including Antarctica. ...
References
Sources
*
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*
*
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External links
Ettal Abbey's website(with separate pages for th
boarding housebrewerypublisheran
hotel
Benediktinergymnasium Ettal Klöster in Bayern: Benediktinerabtei Ettal* Photos of the Interior of the Abbey Church, in th
''Warburg Institute Iconographic Database''
{{Authority control
Benedictine monasteries in Germany
Monasteries in Bavaria
1330s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1330 establishments in Europe
Basilica churches in Germany
Christian monasteries established in the 14th century
Roman Catholic churches in Bavaria
Buildings and structures in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district)
Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Germany
Violence against men in Europe
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor