Elchingen Abbey (german: Kloster Elchingen, Reichsabtei Elchingen) was 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 in Oberelchingen (in
Elchingen
Elchingen is a municipality about 7 km east of Ulm–Neu-Ulm in the district of Neu-Ulm in Bavaria, Germany.
Municipality parts:
* Thalfingen: 4 211 residents, 8.83 km²
* Oberelchingen: 3 024 residents, 7.31 km²
* ...
) 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 ...
, in the
diocese of Augsburg
Diocese of Augsburg is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich.
Dedicated to the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
, the monastery was founded by the Counts of Dillingen. The abbey was one of the very few that enjoyed
Imperial immediacy
Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...
(independent of the jurisdiction of any lord and answering directly to the
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
, and thus a territorial principality in its own right). The abbot sat in the Reichstag of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
.
Like all the other imperial abbeys, Elchingen lost its independence in the course of the
secularisation
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
process in 1802-1803 and the monastery was dissolved. By 1840 the buildings had been almost entirely demolished.
On October 17, 1805 (25 Vendémiaire, Year 14), at 2 o'clock in the afternoon,
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
wrote from the Abbey of Elchingen to
Prince Murat
Prince Murat is a Nobility of the First French Empire, French princely title that traces its origin back to 1804, when Emperor Napoleon granted the rank of Nobility of the First French Empire#Princes, ''prince français'' to his brother-in-law Joa ...
: " ... It seems to me that you should have slept where the 9th light is, so as to be able, at daybreak, to follow the enemy and outrun him"
In 1921 the
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...
settled on the site.
References
Bibliography
* Brenner, Bernhard, 2003. ''Das ehemalige Reichsstift Elchingen/Oberelchingen''. In: ''Klosterland Bayerisch Schwaben'' Werner Schiedermair (ed.), pp216–219. Lindenberg Fink. .
*Correspondance de Napoléon, t.11, letters 9386; Correspondance générale de Napoléon, t.5, letter 11007.
* Dirr, Albert, 1926. ''Die Reichsabtei Elchingen von der Mitte des 15. bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts''. Augsburg (also dissertation, University of Munich 1925)
* Konrad, Anton H., 1965. ''Die Reichsabtei Elchingen. Ihr Bild im Wandel der Jahrhunderte''. Weissenhorn: Konrad.
* Kramer, Ferdinand Kramer, 1991. "Wissenschaft und Streben nach 'Wahrer Aufklärung'. Ein Beitrag zur Aufklärung im ostschwäbischen Benediktinerkloster Elchingen", in: ''Zeitschrift für bayerische Landesgeschichte'', 54 / 1991, 1:269-286 ()