Niederaltaich Abbey (Abtei or Kloster Niederaltaich) is a house of the

Benedictine Order , 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 ...

founded in 741, situated in the village of Niederalteich on 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 ...

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 l ...

Foundation and early history

After its foundation in 741 by Duke

Odilo of Bavaria Odilo, also Oatilo or Uatilo (died 18th January 748) of the Agilolfing dynasty was Duke of Bavaria from 737 until his death in 748. He had the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' compilation edited, the first ancient Germanic law collection of the Bavarians. O ...

, the monastery, dedicated to

Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is the ...

, was settled by monks from

Reichenau Abbey Reichenau Abbey was a Benedictine monastery on Reichenau Island (known in Latin as Augia Dives). It was founded in 724 by the itinerant Saint Pirmin, who is said to have fled Spain ahead of the Moorish invaders, with patronage that included Charl ...

under

Saint Pirmin Saint Pirmin (latinized ''Pirminius'', born before 700 ( according to many sources), died November 3, 753 in Hornbach), was a Merovingian-era monk and missionary. He founded or restored numerous monasteries in Alemannia (Swabia), especially in ...

. Eberswind, the first abbot, is considered the compiler of the ''"

Lex Baiuvariorum The ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' was a collection of the tribal laws of the Bavarii of the sixth through eighth centuries. The first compilation was edited by Eberswind, first abbot of Niederaltaich, in 741 or 743. Duke Odilo, founder supplemented th ...

"'', the first code of law of the Bavarian people."The History of Abtei Niederaltaich", Benediktinerabtei Niederaltaich
/ref> The monastery brought great areas of

Lower Bavaria Lower Bavaria (german: Niederbayern, Bavarian: ''Niedabayern'') is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany, located in the east of the state. Geography Lower Bavaria is subdivided into two regions () – Landshut and Donau-W ...

into cultivation as far as the territory of the present

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, and founded 120 settlements in the

Bavarian Forest The village of Zell in the Bavarian Forest The Bavarian Forest (German: ' or ''Bayerwald''; bar, Boarischa Woid) is a wooded, low-mountain region in Bavaria, Germany that is about 100 kilometres long. It runs along the Czech border and is co ...

. In the reigns of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

and

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...

the abbey extended its possessions as far as 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 "connois ...

. Abbot Gozbald (825-855) was the latter's arch-chancellor. In 848 the monastery received the right of free election of its abbots, and in 857 became ''reichsunmittelbar'' (that is, free of all territorial lordship except that of the monarchy itself). By the end of the 9th century over 50 monks had become abbots in other monasteries or been appointed bishops. The 10th century however brought the turmoil of the Hungarian incursions, and between 950 and 990 the abbey was a collegiate foundation (''Kollegiatstift''). Under Abbot Gotthard or Godehard of Hildesheim (996–1022), better known as Saint Gotthard, the abbey entered a renewed golden age. Saint Gotthard, who along with Duke Henry of Bavaria, later Emperor Henry II, was a key supporter of contemporary monastic reform, was probably the abbey's best-known abbot. He later became

Bishop of Hildesheim This list records the incumbents of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim (german: link=no, Bistum Hildesheim). Between 1235 and 1803 the bishops simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-bishop) in the Prince-Bishopric of ...

, where he was buried. The abbey was granted by Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...

to the Bishop of Bamberg in 1152, and as a consequence lost its ''reichsunmittelbar'' status. In 1242 the

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

s inherited from the Counts of Bogen the office of

Vogt 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 ...

(''lord protector'') of the abbey. Important abbots from this time on were Hermann (in office from 1242 to 1273), the author of the "Annales Hermanni", and the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

abbots Kilian Weybeck (1503 to 1534) and Paulus Gmainer (1550 to 1585). Construction of the Gothic monastery church was begun in 1260 under Abbot Herman. Vitus Bacheneder, abbot between 1651 and 1666, created after the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

the foundations of the economic prosperity of the abbey 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 ...

period. Under Abbot Joscio Hamberger (1700–1739) the creation of the

abbey and church took place, as well as the construction of the school. The church was the first commission for the later famous Baroque architect Johann Michael Fischer, who worked on it from 1724–1726.

Later history

The abbey was dissolved at the secularisation of Bavaria in 1803.Lankes, Christian. "Niederalteich, Bavaria's Gateway to the East", (Deborah Lehmann-Irl, trans.) Centre for Bavarian History, Augsburg.
/ref> A fire in the church in 1813, caused by a bolt of lightning, signalled the beginning of the demolition of the Baroque complex. The monastery buildings were sold off to private individuals. The side chapels of the abbey church, the

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 ...

cloisters and adjoining buildings, as well as the parish church, were demolished. In 1918, with the help of a legacy from the theology professor Franz Xaver Knabenbauer, a native of Niederalteich, a monastery was re-established here and settled from

Metten Abbey Metten Abbey, or St. Michael's Abbey at Metten (in German Abtei Metten or Kloster Metten) is a house of the Benedictine Order in Metten near Deggendorf, situated between the fringes of the Bavarian Forest and the valley of the Danube, in Bavari ...

. In 1932 the monastery church received from the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

the title of "

Basilica minor 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 ...

". In 1949, under Abbot Emmanuel Maria Heufelder, the monastery became once again an independent abbey. In 1946 the ''St.-Gotthard-Gymnasium'' (''"St.-Gotthard-Grammar School"'') was refounded after having been closed by the Nazis. The remaining parts of the Baroque buildings were incorporated into new buildings in 1953–1954 and gradually renovated. In 1959 the ''Katholische Landvolkshochschule'' (''"Catholic State Secondary School"'') was established here, and between 1971 and 1973 a new school building was erected for the ''St.-Gotthard-Gymnasium'' because the number of pupils had continually risen in the 1960s. Its boarding facilities, however, were shut down in 1994 and converted in 1999–2001 into the St. Pirmin Conference and Hospitality Centre. In 2006 and 2007 the school building of the ''St.-Gotthard-Gymnasium'' was refurbished. The school itself is now a ''Ganztagschule'', which provides obligatory lessons from 7.45 a.m. until 4.00 p.m.. Niederaltaich Abbey has been a member of the

Bavarian Congregation The Bavarian Congregation is a congregation of the Benedictine Confederation consisting (with one exception) of monasteries in Bavaria, Germany. It was founded on 26 August 1684 by Pope Innocent XI (1676-1689). First Congregation Until the secul ...

of the

Benedictine Confederation The Benedictine Confederation of the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Confœderatio Benedictina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti) is the international governing body of the Order of Saint Benedict. Origin The Benedictine Confederation is a union of monasti ...

since its re-foundation in 1918. Image:Klosterkirche Niederaltaich 2.jpg Image:Klosterkirche Niederaltaich 5.jpg Image:Klosterkirche Niederaltaich 3.jpg Image:Klosterkirche Niederaltaich 4.jpg

Byzantine Catholicism

In 1924

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City f ...

gave the Benedictines the task of making the theology and spirituality of the east known in the west. Niederaltaich, as a consequence of these ecumenical goals, has since been a monastery of two ecclesasiatical traditions or rites, one part of the monks living and praying according to the Roman rite, the other part according to the Byzantine rite. The

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institu ...

and the Divine Office are celebrated by the monks in the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

in both rites, and in addition, liturgical texts from

Church Slavonic Church Slavonic (, , literally "Church-Slavonic language"), also known as Church Slavic, New Church Slavonic or New Church Slavic, is the conservative Slavic liturgical language used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in Belarus, Bosnia and Her ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

have also been translated. In 1986 a church and a chapel, both dedicated to Bishop

Nicholas of Myra Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

(Saint Nicholas), were set up for the celebration of the

Byzantine rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. The canonical hours a ...

in the buildings of the former monastery brewery."Monastery Niederalteich", Straße der Kaiser und Könige
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

Kloster Niederaltaich

Förderverein für die Byzantinische Kirche

St.-Gotthard-Gymnasium

Klöster in Bayern: Niederaltaich
{{Authority control Monasteries in Bavaria Benedictine monasteries in Germany Eastern Catholic monasteries in Europe Carolingian architecture Christian monasteries established in the 8th century Basilica churches in Germany Deggendorf (district) Burial sites of the Luitpoldings