St. Peter's Abbey on the Madron (Kloster St. Peter am Madron) 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 Flintsbach am Inn 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 ...

. The church, now a

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church (german: Wallfahrtskirche) is a church to which pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the graves ...

known as the Peterskirchlein, still stands on the site.

History

The Madron is a mountain known also as the

Petersberg Petersberg may refer to: * The Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, the site of the ** Petersberg Agreement, 1949, regarding the international status of West Germany. ** Petersberg tasks, 1992 and 1997, regarding European security cooperation. Also known a ...

("St. Peter's Mount"). It was occupied in ancient times, showing traces of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

settlement. A poorly documented monastic foundation dating from sometime in the 8th century and settled by monks from St. Peter's Abbey in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

was destroyed by the Hungarian invasion of the early 10th century. A supposed resettlement in about 955 by refugee monks from

Wessobrunn Abbey Wessobrunn Abbey (Kloster Wessobrunn) was a Benedictine monastery near Weilheim in Bavaria, Germany. It is celebrated as the home of the famous Wessobrunn Prayer and also of a Baroque school of stucco workers and plasterers in the 18th century. ...

is equally poorly evidenced. In 1130 however the monastery, dedicated to

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, was definitely (re)founded by Count Siboto of

Falkenstein Falkenstein or Falckenstein ("falcons' stone" in German) may refer to: Places Austria * Falkenstein, Lower Austria, a market town in the district of Mistelbach Germany * Falkenstein, Bavaria, a market town in the district of Cham * Falkenst ...

and resettled by monks from

Weihenstephan Abbey Weihenstephan Abbey (''Kloster Weihenstephan'') was a Benedictine monastery in Weihenstephan, now part of the district of Freising, in Bavaria, Germany. Brauerei Weihenstephan, located at the monastery site since at least 1040, is said to be th ...

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the Is ...

. The Counts of Falkenstein-Neuburg were also the monastery's ''

Vögte During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' (lords protector) and endowed it with a number of estates. They gave the monastery to the Bishop of Freising in 1163, but retained the office of ''Vogt''. The monastery was destroyed in 1296 during a dynastic conflict, and never rebuilt. From the early 14th century, the site became a

prebend A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

for a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

of Freising Cathedral, part of whose responsibilities was to oversee the long-established pilgrimage here. It was dissolved in the secularisation of 1803. The area for which the place had pastoral responsibility was extremely small, but against expectation, the church survived and became shortly afterward the centre of a renewed interest in the tradition of the pilgrimage. The Peterskirchlein is today a well-known landmark on its mountain.

External links

''St. Peter am Madron''
(Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte) {{coord, 47, 42, 45, N, 12, 07, 33, E, region:DE-BY_type:landmark_source:dewiki, display=title Christian monasteries established in the 8th century Benedictine monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Bavaria