Wettenhausen Abbey (German: ''Kloster Wettenhausen'', ''Reichsabtei Wettenhausen'') was an

Imperial Abbey Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of impe ...

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 ...

until its

secularization 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 ...

in 1802–1803. Being one of the 40-odd self-ruling Imperial Abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire, Wettenhaussen Abbey was a virtually independent state. Its abbot had seat and voice in the Imperial Diet, where he sat on the Bench of the Prelates of Swabia. At the time of secularization, the Abbey's territory covered 56 square kilometers and it had about 5,400 subjects. It is now a Dominican convent. The abbey is in Wettenhausen in the municipality of

Kammeltal Kammeltal is a municipality in the district of Günzburg in Bavaria in 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 ...

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 ...

History

Augustinian Canons

The abbey, dedicated to

Saint Mary the Virgin 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 of ...

and

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, was founded in 1130 by Countess Gertrud of Roggenstein and her two sons for the salvation of their soul. According to an ancient chronicle, the Countess told her two sons that she would endow the new monastery with as much land as she could plow in a day. She then mounted a horse around whose neck she hung a good luck charm and succeeded in plowing a vast area. The exact date when the Abbey obtained the coveted status of Imperial Abbey is uncertain. Wettenhaussen Abbey was dissolved in the course of the secularization of 1803 and its territory annexed to Bavaria. The library of 7,000 volumes was transferred to the library at Dillingen. The premises were thereafter used for a rent office.

Dominican sisters

In 1864 the buildings were acquired by the Dominican Sisters of St Ursula's in

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 ' ...

, who established a school here, which today is a '' Gymnasium'' (secondary school) specialising in music and the sciences. Kammeltal-Kammel mit Kloster Wettenhausen

Kammeltal-Kammel mit Kloster Wettenhausen

Abbey church

The former abbey church of the

Assumption Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Assumption may also refer to: Places * Assumption, Alberta, Canada * Assumption, Illinois, United States ** Assumption Town ...

is now a parish church. It was built in the 12th century and altered in the 17th 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 by

Michael Thumb Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

References

Bibliography

*Wüst, Wolfgang, 1983. ''Das Reichsstift Wettenhausen: Besitz, Herrschaftsorganisation und Landeshoheit'', in: ''Kloster Wettenhausen. Beiträge aus Geschichte und Gegenwart im Rückblick auf sein tausendjähriges Bestehen 982–1982'' (Günzburger Hefte 19), pp29–45. Weißenhorn. *Wüst, Wolfgang, 2001. ''Die Suche nach dem irdischen Reich in schwäbischen Gotteshäusern. Herrschaftliche Souveränität als Thema der Klosterchronistik. Wettenhausen und Kaisheim im Vergleich'', in: ''Suevia Sacra. Zur Geschichte der ostschwäbischen Reichsstifte im Spätmittelalter und in der Frühen Neuzeit (Augsburger Beiträge zur Landesgeschichte Bayerisch-Schwabens 8 — Festschrift für Pankraz Fried zum 70. Geburtstag)'' (ed. Wilhelm Liebhart and Ulrich Faust), pp115–132. Sigmaringen.

External links

* *
Wettenhausen Abbey
on
Klöster in Bayern
' {{Authority control Augustinian monasteries in Germany Dominican convents Monasteries in Bavaria 1130s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1130 establishments in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1130s Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Günzburg (district) Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03