Osterhofen Abbey (german: Kloster Osterhofen, also called Altenmarkt Convent german: Altenmarkt-

Damenstift The term (; nl, sticht) is derived from the verb (to donate) and originally meant 'a donation'. Such donations usually comprised earning assets, originally landed estates with serfs defraying dues (originally often in kind) or with vassal tenan ...

) is a former monastery 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, It is located in the Altenmarkt section of

Osterhofen Osterhofen is a town in the district of Deggendorf, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, 16 km south of Deggendorf. The town surrounds Osterhofen Abbey Osterhofen Abbey (german: Kloster Osterhofen, also c ...

, a town to the south of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

between

Deggendorf Deggendorf () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, capital of the Deggendorf district. It is located on the left bank approximately in the middle between the Danube cities of Regensburg and Passau. The Danube forms the town's natural border towards th ...

and

Vilshofen Vilshofen an der Donau is a town in the German district of Passau. Demographics Religion The population of Vilshofen is predominantly Christian. In Vilshofen there is a Catholic Church, a Protestant Church and a new Apostolic Church. 78.3 ...

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

. It has its origins in a collegiate built in 1004–09. From 1128 to 1783 it was a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

monastery. For a while it was then a convent. Today it contains a girls' secondary school. The former abbey church, a magnificent late baroque building erected in 1726–40, is now the Basilica of Saint Margaret.

Monastery history

Henry V, Duke of Bavaria Henry (died 1024), of the House of Ardenne–Luxembourg, was the count of Luxembourg (as Henry I) from 998 and the duke of Bavaria (as Henry V) from 1004. He was the son of Siegfried I of Luxembourg and Hedwige of Nordgau. He was the advocate of ...

and his wife Luitgard erected a collegiate abbey of

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 ...

in his palace in Osterhofen in 1004–09. In 1017 the Emperor

Henry II of Germany Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler o ...

transferred the abbey to the

diocese of Bamberg The Archdiocese of Bamberg (lat. ''Archidioecesis Bambergensis'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria and is one of 27 Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% of tho ...

. In 1128 Bishop

Otto of Bamberg Otto of Bamberg (1060 or 1061 – 30 June 1139) was a German missionary and papal legate who converted much of medieval Pomerania to Christianity. He was the bishop of Bamberg from 1102 until his death. He was canonized in 1189. Early life Th ...

brought men and women from the Premonstratensian

Ursberg Abbey Ursberg Abbey (german: Kloster Ursberg) is a former Premonstratensian monastery, now a convent of the Franciscan St. Joseph's Congregation, situated in the small village of Ursberg in the district of Günzburg, Bavaria. History The monastery, de ...

to the Osterhofen collegiate abbey. The abbey was endowed with extensive properties in the

Wachau The Wachau () is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the Danube river. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, located midway between the towns of Melk and Krems that also attracts "connoiss ...

valley of Austria. The female branch of the abbey was probably extinct after 1200. In 1288 the head of the abbey become a provost. In 1414 the abbot was granted the right to wear the miter in liturgical celebrations. Michael Wening Stift Osterhofen

Through its history, the monastery and the town had a checkered history, suffering damage from warfare and fire. There was a fire in the monastery in 1512. In 1701 a major fire caused by lightning destroyed the monastery. It was rebuilt in 1717–27. The former

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 ...

church also suffered great damage, and in 1726 it was decided to erect a new building. The fantastically ornamented monastery church was designed and built in 1726–40.

List of abbots

*Richwinus (1138–1140) *Truhemar (1140–1155) *Engelschalk (1155–1180) *Dietmar (1180–1181) *Walther (1181–1195) *Gerungus (1195–1227) *Heinrich (1228–1237) *Ulrich, Berthold *Heinrich II. (1241–1254) *Eberhard, Ulrich II., Hermann I. *Albert I. (1256–1260) *Konrad (c. 1267), Albert II. (c. 1284) and three others *Ulrich IV. (1288–1324) *Ulrich V. (1324–1335) *Hermann II. (1335–1348) *Petrus I. (1349–1359) *Wilhelm (1362–1367) *Ruger (1367–1390) *Andreas I. (1390–1405) *Johann I. (1405) *Johann II. Vötter (1405–1422) *Ernest (1422) *Andreas II. Kamp (1422–1429) *Martin Wirsinger (1429–1437) *Peter II. (1437–1447) *Johann III. (1447–1461) *Johann IV. Schiltl (1461–1483) *Georg I. Hölzl (1484–1500) *Johann V. Retzinger (1500–1504) *Vitalis von Seyboldsdorf (1504–1508) *Stephan Wirsinger (1508–1544) *Johann VI. Pock (1544–1547) *Georg II. Schregl (1548–1555) *Wolfgang Scharfnickl (1555–1557) *Johann VII. Bitterle (Administrator 1558, Abbot 1560–1579) *Johann VIII. Wolf (Administrator 1579, Abbot 1583–1593) *Michael I. Vögele (1593–1604) *Johann IX. Wöckhl (1604–1625) *Georg III. Greiß (1625–1630) *Christoph Dimpfle (1630–1672) *Gottfried Molitor (1672–1675) *Michael II. Steinmayer (1675–1701) *Ferdinand Schöller (1701–1717) *Joseph Mari (1717–1727) *Paulus Wieniger (1727–1764) *Michael III. (1765–1781) *Bernhard (1781–1783)

Later history

In 1783 the monastery was dissolved by the Bavarian state. Maria Anna Sophia, the widow of the Elector of Bavaria, wished to give the noble-born nuns of the convent of Saint Anne in Munich a better endowment. The Pope agreed to assign the monastery and its properties to the sisters. The last of the Premonstratensians remained in the building until 1800. The church became the parish church in 1818. The convent sold the monastery building to the state in 1833. In 1858 the

Sisters of Loreto The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609. The congr ...

moved into the building and founded a girls' secondary school. The school had six English lady teachers with twelve pupils. It was intended for girls "from better homes". In 1859 it was designated a school for middle-class girls to learn housework, and from 1859 to 1873 as an institute for neglected children. In 1886 it became a college of education. Care of small children began in 1901. The school started accepting day pupils in 1913. A dilapidated part of the abbey's west wing was demolished in 1938. In 1942 the school was temporarily closed, opening again in 1946 as a 3-class middle school for girls. It became a 4-level secondary school in 1961, and a 6-level secondary school in 1999. The Realschule Damenstift (Convent Secondary School) was transferred to the

Mary Ward Mary Ward may refer to: Scientists and academics * Mary Ward (nurse) (1884–1972) English nurse to the boat people on the waterways * Mary Ward (scientist) (née King, 1827–1869) Irish amateur scientist, was killed by an experimental steam car ...

Foundation of the Diocese of Passau in 2001. It is a government recognized secondary school for girls.

Church

The monastery church, built in colored stucco and marble, is one of the most lavishly decorated in Lower Bavaria. It was designed and built between 1726 and 1740 by the Munich architect and master-builder

Johann Michael Fischer Johann Michael Fischer (18 February 1692 – 6 May 1766) was a German architect in the late Baroque period. Fischer was born in Burglengenfeld, Upper Palatinate. He is a major representative of south German Baroque architects. He studied in Bohem ...

(1727–28) and the brothers

Cosmas Damian Asam Cosmas Damian Asam (29 September 1686 – 10 May 1739) was a German painter and architect during the late Baroque period. Born in Benediktbeuern, he lived in Rome from 1711 to 1713 to study at the Accademia di San Luca with Carlo Maratta. ...

and

Egid Quirin Asam Egid Quirin Asam (1 September 1692 – 29 April 1750) was a German plasterer, sculptor, architect, and painter. He was active during the Late Baroque and Rococo periods. Born in Tegernsee, Bavaria, Asam worked mainly together with his brothe ...

. The nave is large, bright and spacious, with a high ceiling. The Asam brothers created a throne room in honor of God, a "theatrum sacrum". Cosmas Damian Asam, a brilliant painter, created the wonderful frescoes in the church. His brother Egid Quirin Asam filled the church interior with sculptures and ornaments, notably the impressive high altar. The altarpiece represents Saint Margaret set within a pagan environment, with a statue of Venus in a temple behind her. The church is considered a masterpiece of late baroque Bavarian church architecture. In 1983 the church became the

Minor Basilica 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 ...

of St. Margaret, known as the Asambasilika. File:Asambasilika Altenmarkt.JPG, Asam Basilica in Altenmarkt File:Altenmarkt - Nepomukaltar.jpg, Asam Basilica altar of Saint

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV ...

File:Klosterkirche Osterhofen - Innenraum Gesamt.jpg, Nave File:Altenmarkt - Hochaltar 1.jpg, Theatrum sacrum and high altar File:Altenmarkt Hochaltar 3 Kampf gegen Unglaube.jpg, High altar - Faith fighting against infidelity and evil File:Altenmarkt - Annenaltar.jpg, Altar of Saint Anne File:Altenmarkt - Hochaltar 4 Hoffnung.jpg, High Altar - Hope in support of mankind File:Altenmarkt - Orgelempore.jpg, Organ loft File:Altenmarkt - Apostel 3.jpg,

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

File:Altenmarkt - Apostel 2.jpg,

File:Altenmarkt - Putto.jpg,

Putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Osterhofen Abbey Monasteries in Bavaria Deggendorf (district)