Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey, also known as Hohenburg Abbey, is a nunnery, situated on

Mont Sainte-Odile , photo = Ottrott Mont Sainte-Odile.JPG , photo_caption = Mont Sainte-Odile and the Monastery , elevation_m = 764 , elevation_ref = Official maps of IGN available on the ''Géoportail''. , prominence_m = , prominence_ref= , range = Vos ...

, one of the most famous peaks of the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

mountain range in the French region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

History

It was founded about 690 by

Adalrich, Duke of Alsace Adalrich ( la, Adalricus; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Adalrik''; died after 683 AD), also known as Eticho, was the Duke of Alsace, the founder of the family of the Etichonids and of the Habsburg, and an important and influential figure in the pow ...

for his daughter, Odile, who was its first

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

. On the eastern slope of the Mont Sainte-Odile she built a hospice called Niedermünster or Nieder-Hohenburg, which afterwards became a house for ladies of nobility until it was destroyed by lightning in 1572. Originally Hohenburg seems to have been occupied by

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 ...

nuns who were replaced by

canonesses Canoness is a member of a religious community of women living a simple life. Many communities observe the monastic Rule of St. Augustine. The name corresponds to the male equivalent, a canon. The origin and Rule are common to both. As with the c ...

in the 11th century. Devastated by fire several times, the abbey church was rebuilt in 1050 and consecrated by

Pope Leo IX Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...

. When in the first half of the 12th century the monastery began to decline, its discipline was restored by Abbess Relindis of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

near

Neuburg an der Donau Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. Divisions The municipality has 16 divisions: * Altmannstetten * Bergen, Neu ...

, who became abbess of Hohenburg in about 1140. During her rule Hohenburg became famous for its strict discipline as well as the great learning of its nuns. She was succeeded in 1167 by Herrade of Landsberg, under whose rule the fame of Hohenburg continued to increase. She built the Premonstratensian monastery of Saint Gorgo on the slope of the mountain in 1178, and the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

monastery of Truttenhausen at its foot. Herrade was the author of ''

Hortus deliciarum __NOTOC__ The ''Hortus deliciarum'' (Latin for ''Garden of Delights'') was a medieval manuscript compiled by Herrad of Landsberg at the Hohenburg Abbey in Alsace, better known today as Mont Sainte-Odile. Description The ''Hortus deliciarum'' ...

'', a collection of short treatises on theology, astronomy, philosophy, and other branches of learning, also containing some original Latin poems with musical accompaniment, and some beautiful drawings. (The work was destroyed at the conflagration of the Strasbourg library in 1870). One noteworthy tradition of the abbey is the production of

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

images; illustrations of unicorn hunts were particular to female orders. Hohenburg Abbey perished by fire in 1546. Some of the nuns returned to their parents, others became

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

s and married. In 1661, Hohenburg was rebuilt and occupied by Premonstratensians. During the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

it was confiscated by the government and sold as national property in 1791.

Andreas Räss André Raess (German: Andreas Räss) (6 April 1794, Sigolsheim, Haut-Rhin – 17 November 1887, Strasbourg) was an Alsatian Catholic Bishop of Strasbourg. Life After receiving his classical training at Sélestat and Nancy, Raess studied phil ...

Bishop of Strasbourg {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 These persons were bishop, archbishop or prince-bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg (including historically Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg): Bishops and prince-bishops * Amandus *Justinus ...

, purchased the buildings in 1853 for his diocese. Perpetual adoration has been practiced at the convent since 1931.

Secret passage

Between August 2000 and May 2002 more than 1,000 ancient books went missing from the monastery library. Stanislas Gosse, a book collector, stole the books after finding an old map showing a secret entrance into the library. The route was not easy, however, involving climbing up exterior walls, a steep staircase and a secret chamber. A mechanism then opened the back of one of five cupboards. The disappearance of so many books over such a length of time confused the librarian, the monks and the police, with Gosse finally being caught by closed-circuit television cameras.Mystery at the monastery ends as CCTV reveals chamber of secrets' daring thief
at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Accessed 30 January 2006.

References

External links

*
Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey website
{{Authority control Premonstratensian nunneries Christian monasteries established in the 7th century Christian monasteries in Bas-Rhin Benedictine nunneries in France